Watching replays of Corner Gas this morning. I think the Comedy Channel is running them 24 hours a day over the New Year.

The one on right now is where Brent goes on vacation, a staycation. He is sitting right at the gas station, wearing a Hawaiian shirt, but ignoring everyone. He even sends postcards from Dog River as if he was sending them from exotic locations.

If you were taking a vacation like Brent how would you make sure no one knew you were actually home? Could you hide in plain sight? Write yourself into the ultimate staycation.

I remember luggage from the old movies. Big trunks, body size standing up and deep enough for a couple of bodies. Inside were drawers and a full closet with a mirror.

When I started planning for my first big trip as a kid I wanted one of those. My Mother and I went shopping for my first luggage (of my own!)  I was looking for one of those big trunks. Even though I had no idea how I would cart that trunk around on my own, I was already having the adventure of  planning everything I would pack into it!

I didn't find a big trunk. But I wasn't disappointed. I got a new suitcase, vintage 1970's, blue, with tiny wheels. Mine was pretty plain and practical, none of those handles that extend out, no extra pockets on the outside to stash secret treasures or books to read. It's long gone now. On some kind of trip of it's own I guess.

Later, I wanted a suitcase like my Grandmother's. It was plain brown with a broken handle. It's only real charm were stickers from all kinds of places. I don't know if she had been to all of them herself or if some came from other family and she kept adding to them that way. I do know that she came from Ireland as a young woman and went out to BC as a married women with her husband and children. After that she moved back to Ontario again, when I was already born or at least heading that way.

We went on family trips, sometimes my Grandmother took trips with us. I never noticed her getting stickers for that suitcase then, but I was just a kid. There was a lot I didn't notice and a lot I did notice. We were in dozens of US states up and down starting from Ontario and ending up back there eventually. We took drives out to BC in a big, huge camper which we delivered to Red Deer, Alberta and then took the train the rest of the way. She may have added more stickers to that suitcase all along the way.

She's been gone awhile now. I don't know where the suitcase is. I never would have dared to go looking through her things, it just wasn't something I would have felt right to do and I know she liked to have her things left alone. I don't have any truly firm beliefs about what happens after we die. But, if we get to choose I think my Grandma would be keeping up with what we are doing and yet, I hope, she takes a few road trips too. Pack up her suitcase with the essentials and enjoy her sense of adventure forever.

Flickr: Vintage Luggage

Go Nomad: Travel Chic: How to Refurbish Vintage Luggage

The Queen of Re: Vintage Luggage as a sculpture.

If you've read this column now and then, you've probably wondered about the vagabond part. Well, she is back!

I love to travel and road trips in particular are one of my favourite things. I don't need to hop on an airplane and go to Russia to be happy. Not that I would pass up the opportunity! But, just to wander around my own Canada is plenty happifying for me.

So, now that I have bought myself a car, my first car, I will be off wandering as soon as the ink is on the paperwork. Tomorrow, Wednesday, I will pay the rest of the car money and start packing. Likely I will fill up the tank with gas here in town when I leave on Thursday morning. I still don't like self serve gas stations. It's nice to see the lady here in town and chat for those 30 seconds or so. Plus, I don't have to look like a twit trying to figure out how each set of pumps works. Why are they all different?

Anyway, tonight I am going to look up local events in Ontario. I am thinking of Kincardine and Sarnia, both would be great but they are in different directions. That much driving could be too much for the little grey car, or me as a fairly new driver.

Both Sarnia and Kincardine are on the Great Lakes. But Kincardine has an actual lighthouse and a beach with great big rocks that I remember from when I was a kid. (We lived on a farm in the area, just for a few years). But, Sarnia is cheaper and I am thinking to move there. Not till after the winter though. Even I can not cope with another move this soon after moving in July.

So, tonight , after I look for a grape jelly recipe for my Mom, I will be cruising the sites and finding the most interesting things to see. Planning routes, pit stops and what is the least junk I need to pack for a couple of nights away in the little grey car, as yet unnamed. No doubt by the time I get back I will have named the car.

PS- She bought 3 baskets of grapes. They smell wonderful! I don't even like grapes.

A time machine would be like keeping time in a bottle. There is an old song about that. Would you keep time in a bottle? Then uncork it when you have some free time to explore. The past would be interesting. You could see castles when they were new or just being built. Famous people long just dust in the wind would be alive and busy doing what ever made them famous.

You might go back in time to the days of dinosaurs. Just be careful not to get stepped on. How fun it would be to see a real dinosaur. Some would be dinosaur families, Moms and babies, or just new born hatchlings. Would you keep a baby tyrannosaurus rex in your pocket? I'd go to Loch Ness and see what's there before all the rumours about Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster.

What else would you do in the past? Cavemen would be scouting for food, painting on cave walls or maybe learning how to make fire. Knights would be jousting, designing castles and rescuing fair maidens from dragons. The druids would be busy with deep thinking, honouring nature and avoiding the Romans. Alchemists and herbalists would be discovering things we are only just beginning to rediscover now. Kings would be counting their treasure, making laws and fighting wars. Pirates would be sailing the seven seas, taking over other ships and burying their treasure.

Women would be busy too. We've always been there. Some of us were famous but most of us were looking after families, sewing, cooking and keeping things going. There weren't many women pirates or knights but some were.

Once you've explored the past look ahead to the future. If you just go a week ahead you can see your family and friends, see what they are all up to. But, the real adventure would be going far ahead to see what the world is up to. What clothes are people wearing? What cars are they driving? Do kids still go to school? There are so many things coming in the future, so many different ways things can grow and develop. Do kids still play the same games? Are families still going to the zoo, parks and circus together? Are there still roller coasters? Are there still family pets? Do kids still have to go to bed early?

So much to see and find out about in the future, it would take several trips just to see one time period. Keeping time in a bottle would be a real adventure. Where would you go first?