Over a delicious homemade dinner with a few friends and family last night, the conversation turned to travel as we wrapped up the main course. For a good twenty minutes or so, we traded transportation stories about nightmare bus rides, traffic jams and our favorite budget airlines. There was praise for Jet Blue and Southwest, several scoffs for Independence, and a brief debate over alternative plane boarding procedures. And then of course, there was the obvious holiday travel banter: "We're expecting at least five hours on the Turnpike Wednesday evening…" or "Our return flight from Iowa lands at Dulles around midnight on Sunday… if there are no delays."

Was I the only one who noticed a theme? Things continued as the plates were cleared, the topic shifting to talk of vacation destinations and honeymoon hot spots. Someone mentioned the pirate fiasco to a newlywed couple just back from a cruise, and a few high seas horror stories soon followed. Another friend shared how much he was enjoying his latest read, Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods. To top it all off, we pondered the (possible?) latest trend in matchmaking after learning about two different couples who had started dating after meeting while using DC's Zipcar sharing service.

As someone who reads and writes about these topics incessantly, I was particularly aware of how much conversation revolved around travel and transport. There were a few questions for me too, about my '06 trip plans, but I really wasn't leading most of the discussions, despite my wanderlust ways. I dined with a well-traveled bunch whose roots stretch from Nebraska to India. But I was still slightly astounded (and pleased, of course) at the level of travel chit-chat. With my globetrotter radar in full effect, I enthusiastically noted that travel truly does make the world go round.

[Photo courtesy of my photoblogging travel pal, Tamara Nicol]

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