The Rambling Man Fellowship

A Sense of Not Belonging

There was a time when I wouldn’t have considered myself a Rambling Man, but a much-dreamed-of trip to Old Blighty when I was 16 changed all that. Drastically. To this day, London is still my true love. There is nothing like walking along the Thames on a sunny day, for me, nothing.

And it was during that trip that I first started getting a hankering for travel. Like most first-timers, I thought it was the building, the interesting snippets of history, the place. But as more experienced Rambling Men will tell you, it’s the journey itself.

Cliche as it may sound, it’s the act of going someplace else that turns us people on, not so much the place itself. And much as I’ve indulged this desire down the years, I’ve always felt there was something slightly wrong about it. Like, why can’t I just settle? Why can’t I just be content? Some people will book the occasional city break and get their fill, but me, I’m constantly scouting cheap airline tickets, and scrolling through apps like Booking and Tripadvisor. I have 4 or 5 international travel apps (For trains, buses, flights of course, and accomodation) going at all times. Even if I haven’t used, say, my FlixBus app in over a year. Never once have I considered removing it, for that would be defeatist.

As it is, it’s just there, a tap away for when I really urgently need it.

So as I say, I always thought that type of thinking was a bit defective. (Which didn’t stop me getting…