After reading 9/11 remembrances, I thought, where would I rather be than here and now? A friend mentioned that he was in the Army stationed in Germany in 1956, the year I was born. And I, unthinkingly, replied, "That was a good time to be in Europe." He laughed. "Sure, we just had the Cold War with the USSR going on, and the uprising in Hungary." 

Yep. Something is always going on around the world. History often steps up on its own treadmill. 

That's not what I mean by where I'd rather be. I'm not interested in going back in time or anything but there are friends and family members whose company I greatly enjoy. I'd like it if there were with me.

And I'd like to have them with me at some of my favorite places and events, take them with me on my magic carpet to Sicily, Paris, Manila, Rome, Half Moon Bay, Hong Kong, San Francisco, London and Chicago. Let's visit the museums and book stores and have a beer at a cafe. Let's watch the sunset on the Pacific in Santa Barbara and the sunrise on the Med. Let's go to Portland, Astoria, Lake Tahoe and Big Sur, or the Ku'damm in Berlin. Let's return to the Smoky Mountains and the Pyramids of Egypt. Let's head up to Maine or down to Charleston, SC. Let's visit Cape Kennedy.  

But there are so many other places I've never been that I dream of visiting. Such a list - the Cuba, Mexico City, Thailand, the Great Wall of China, Beijing and Shanghai, St. Petersburg and Moscow, so many parts of Australia, New Zealand, and more of North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, South America. I love such travel, and seeing the imprint of human civilization and life, where we once were and where we are now. I want to see the sunset on the Artic and the sunset on Antartica. I want to meet the people and chat with them, and share their food. 

Then, once I'm done with Earth, there are those other worlds and star systems, galaxies and universes. Once I visit them, there are other dimensions....

It'll be fun. Come along. There is nowhere I'd rather be, but there are a lot of places that I want to see and remember. I just need to get there.