trolling for polls

I have become a hermit. At least, I am in danger of becoming one.

Not the religious type who isolates himself from society to improve his inner life. Though, there may be an element of that.

I am talking about the J.D. Salinger-type who reduces contact with the outside world to live a life in seclusion. The kind of life you associate with curmudgeons.

Since I returned from my trip to Australia, I have been spending almost all of my days inside the walls of my house -- usually in the courtyard. Part of that was due to two bouts of illness that required me either to be in bed or within dash distance of a toilet.

As a result, my usual routine has been shredded. I have continued to read and practice my Spanish. But my writing has become sporadic -- and my walk regimen no longer exists.

The other day I had a long conversation with Jennifer Rose (red shoes are better than bacon). She noticed that my mood was a bit different ever since my Panama cruise in December.

Our conversation naturally turned to travel. She enjoys the thrill of jetting off to foreign lands as much as I do. But she had a suggestion for me. She noted that I have had a tendency recently to talk about visiting only places I have never seen before. "Why not go back to places you have been, but you really enjoy? That is what I plan to do on my next trip."

Even though that makes sense to me (because there are a lot of cities I thoroughly enjoy visiting -- Paris, London, New York), there are still a lot of new places that fascinate me.

I am telling you this because I once again have a travel urge, and I am not quite certain which option I should take. I have narrowed it down to three.

The first is to travel to the Caucasus region (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia). There is a bit of trouble brewing there -- not to mention its wealth of history. It is one of those places I could dine out on for months. There is an added bonus: there is lots of walking. It is the red circle on the left of my travel map. Those green spots are places I have already been. Turkey. UAE. China. Russia.
The second is a bit of nostalgia. When my nephew Ryan graduated from high school, I gave him the choice of accompanying me on a two-week trip to England or a three-week trip to Kyrgyzstan. I was positive he would choose pistols, ponies, and bandits over the allure of London. He didn't.

If I go to Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, it would fill that hole I have long wanted to fill. When I lived at Oxford in the 1970s, I saw a brochure advertising a trip along the Silk Road to Tashkent and Samarkand. My occupation, at the time, kept me from going. As of last year, I am now free to go. And, yes, there will be lots of walking. It is the red circle on the right of the map.

The third option would be visiting ground I have already trod. Opera and the Louvre in Paris. Plays and the Tate in London. The Guggenheim and Broadway in New York City.

If I go to the Stans or to the Caucasus this year, the trip can be no later than September. A trip to Paris, London, and New York City will have to wait until the social season begins. Either way, it means skipping the chamber music festival in San Miguel de Allende this year.

I now welcome you to play agony aunt and give me your opinion by comment. I tried to add a poll for your convenience, but it appears that my platform no longer supports such devices.

So, opine away. If you suspect from my text that I have a front-runner in mind, you would not be entirely wrong.