OK. I Admit it. I’m a Total Fanboy
It took an overnight trip to Chattanooga to see one of my favorite authors, Alix E. Harrow, promote her latest novel, “The Everlasting,” to make me realize that I’m a fanboy, pure and simple. There was no other reason for the trip: no business conference, client interaction or friends to visit. The trip consisted of a two-hour drive either way, a night in an Airbnb, a bento box at a local Japanese restaurant and being one of the few male faces in a crowd of about 150 people.
Why didn’t I realize this before?
You would have thought that flying to Washington, D.C. — twice — to see my favorite Radio Paradise artists Vienna Teng and Elbow perform would have been a huge clue. But hey, in D.C., we get to see friends and the occasional historic site.
Maybe staying up late on a Friday in New York after Marilynn gave a talk at Columbia University’s Irish Studies Seminar to see our favorite Irish band The Prodigals would have provided that spark of recognition. When Declan was small, we drove from Atlanta to Tampa to see The Prodigals, but the fanboy thing didn’t some up because we visited family. In other words, just part of a vacation. Same thing when we saw them in Chattanooga several years ago (Tennessee Aquarium) or drove four hours to see Mindy Smith at City Winery in Nashville (friends).
The biggest clue should have been last year when Marilynn and I interrupted a trip to Oxford, England, to travel to Birmingham overnight to see Elbow for the first time before returning to Oxford. You can read about that adventure here.
I can’t remember whether the fanboy recognition manifested itself while fighting rush-hour traffic in Chattanooga, trying to follow the accurate (yet confusing) directions to the flat or realizing that this could have been an out-and-back day trip. But it did.
In some ways, I guess we’re all fanboys (and fangirls, naturally), whether that be Irish literature (Marilynn), all things football (Declan) or favorite bands (and spas, definitely spas of both the clothed and textile-free kind — me). My family definitely are fans of travel, especially in Western Europe or visiting friends in Ireland, Northern Ireland, England and Scotland.
What gets you excited probably doesn’t work for me, and vice versa. And that’s perfectly fine — as long as what you’re into isn’t illegal and doesn’t impinge on the enjoyment of those around you. Despite the travel time and overnight nature of the visit, I’m glad I made the trip. It was nice to support an author I admire and get my book signed. When I told her about driving up from Atlanta, she inscribed my book “to the person who drove the greatest distance.”
To Europe ... and Back 