Dorothy was right, after all. But if you
can't be at home, here are some of your favorite next-best places
to be. Illustrations by Tim Bower.
The air puffer security scanner at Fort Lauderdale
airport. After … having to go through sometimes incredibly
long lines at security, to be pointed to the air puffer machine is
a pleasure. Fifteen seconds of peace and the quick blast of air
that covers you from head to foot just give me a nice little
pick-me-up. - Charles Maurice, Hollywood, Florida
Slovenia. It is a very small country in
Europe that very few people have ever heard of. It is part of the
EU and also a member of NATO. My dad's parents came from there and
met in
America. We took a trip back with my dad and met 19 cousins.
… Half the country is forest. It looks like the
Sound of Music, with the
Alps and beautiful meadows. I
have traveled a lot, and I think
Slovenia is an undiscovered gem. I
am reticent to write about it, because everyone will want to go!
Lake Bled is beautiful, and the customs are rich; the food is a
mixture of Austrian, Hungarian, Italian, and Slovenian. My dad was
a naval officer when I was growing up, and I lived in a lot of
places, so I don't feel like I am from any one place, but Slovenia
makes me feel like I have a hometown.
- Mark Dvornik,
Lewisville, Texas
On an open sea in a sailboat with my wife.
Many places will do, although if I had my choice, then the southern
tip of Barbuda would do quite nicely. No phone, no radio, no TV, no
newspaper, no computer connectivity … just the tranquility of the
gently rolling waves, incredibly fine pinkish white sand of the
distant beach, and the slowly sinking sun off to the western
horizon. … It is quite delightful to trade in the hustle and bustle
of the road warrior's existence for the enchanted silence of a warm
Caribbean night, a hotel room for a cozy cabin, and a business suit
for a pair of old shorts. Oh, and yes, that barefoot feeling of the
deck under your feet cannot be replaced by any pair of fancy shoes,
and I do not care if they have been custom-made by the best
shoemaker in West End
London. … A smile gradually replaces the
ever-present frown, the whiteness of the skin vanishes in a matter
of a day, and the hurried pace of life is only a distant memory. I
wake up early in the morning not because I need to rush to the
airport but because the ocean calls, the sails want to be filled
with the trade winds, and there is yet another remote cove to be
discovered just a little farther down the coast. Indeed, besides
home, for me, there is no place like a sailboat on an open sea. -
Zdenek Holy, Cary,
North Carolina