I've decided to re-read Henry Rollins' "Smile, You're Traveling." Since I originally read it in 2003, I've started traveling on my own on a regular basis and felt I could relate to it even more now than the first time I read it. In fact sometimes I think that it really might have been this book that inspired me to fly around the country at a moment's notice by myself, solely for the purpose of seeking out fun times and good memories.
The only reason I bought this book 4 years ago was actually to keep me occupied while waiting in long general admission lines at shows. It was around then that I started to go to shows on my own. I was tired of dealing with my concert buddy at the time. I felt like they only paid me back for concert tickets after I chased the hell out of them. Besides that, their constant sourpuss kept me on edge all night, worrying whether they were having fun or not. In other words, they were a drag, and I found out that I had more fun on my own than when they were there.
When I read his book, I walked away having a whole new appreciation for this man. I always liked listening to his interviews on Stern and thought his spoken word show was entertaining. Reading it again, I am already right back on the level with him where I left off after finishing a few years ago.
"Sharon (Osbourne) told me that the original line up of Black Sabbath were reuniting for two shows in their home town of Birmingham, England on December 4th and 5th. I told her that I would be there without fail. There was no way I was going to miss that."
Henry doesn't detail his emotions about why he's intent on being there. And you know what? He certainly doesn't have to, especially not to me. I get it. I SO get it. I get it so much that, to give you an example, I flew to the Middle-Of-Nowhere, USA just to see my two favorite bands play a one-off together. It ended up being one of my favorite days ever. Although I felt sort of weird about going at first, I am glad I got over it and made my way to that show.
For me, flying out somewhere just for a show that lasts a couple of hours is really not that big of a deal. In my mind, it's like going to any other show, it just takes longer to get there and will obviously cost me a couple bucks more than if I stayed local.
The positives outweigh the negatives of dealing with airport hassles and cheap hotels: I get to see a part of the world I would never go to otherwise, I meet cool people from all over the country, and I have great stories to tell my friends when I get back. I have experiences that I never would have had if I decided to give into my insecurities about looking weird and stayed here and did the same ol' same ol' instead. So yes, I smile when I'm traveling.
OK seriously I need to work on how to wrap up blog endings better.
