Travel Bug, by Graham Attenborough

I want to travel, he said, see the world, experience other cultures, find myself.

Great, why not? She said, I'm sure it will change you, perhaps even make you a better person.

What's that supposed to mean? He said, a better person? Are you saying I'm not a good person?

No, no not at all, she said, I'm just saying. I'm agreeing with you. Travel expands the mind and all that.

Yes, he said, but it doesn't follow that it makes you a better person. I just want to travel, see the world, find myself.

You keep saying that, she said, finding yourself, but, what does that mean? Don't you know who you are? Can't you find yourself here?

No but, what I mean, he said, is there's no spirituality here is there, no way of finding your true identity. It's just work and going out for a meal and a drink with your friends on a Friday night. Shopping, buying stuff, watching telly, surfing the net. I mean that's not life is it? You're never going to find yourself just doing all that.

Maybe you're right, she said, but isn't that what everybody does? Or would do if they had the chance?

Perhaps, he said, I don't know. I just keep thinking that there's got to be more than this.

So, these other cultures, she said, do they know who they are then?

Yes, of course, he said, they're in touch with nature aren't they, they don't need all this rubbish to be happy.

Oh, she said, happy. Aren't you happy?

I don't know, he said, are you happy?

I think so, she said, I think so, but I'm not sure.

Me neither, he said.