Theology of the Body: And She's Off- Again

Thursday, February 08, 2007

And She's Off- Again

I am off to spend the weekend in Rome.
This is crazy.

For those of you who have expressed anxiety about my travel schedule (and consequently, about the state of my soul), let me reassure you with a brief apologia and a few of my reasons...

1) Airport Apostolate. I swear I have one. DO YOU KNOW how many people are more open to talking about spiritual things and hearing about the Gospel while in transit? Our Lord puts me to work on almost every flight, with very nice results, except when I am just too tired. Then He lets me sleep.

2) Student Universe. Anyone remotely affiliated with education (as a student or a teacher) is eligible for drastically reduced airfares from this amazing website. I never fly without booking with them. They are great because they sell seats that are pre-reserved by the airlines for students; thus you can purchase these seats at any time before your flight, and the routes are often direct between major cities- no crazy going to NYC through Amsterdam or anything like that. Check them out.

Also, I have not actually stayed in a hotel on any of my personal trips in years; this means that if you are staying abroad with a friend, or in an apartment shared with friends, and cooking for yourself most of the time, you can afford to be in Europe for a total cost of just a few hundred dollars. And in my line of work, can I afford NOT to go?-

3) Girl friends who are studying abroad need company. The children that we hope to have someday need to hear great stories. And I need to keep up with international news for the International Institution that I work with.

So I'm off! Saints Peter and Paul...

PS. For a great read on "Essential Travel for Theologians," see the post written at the excellent Faith and Theology blog. I also fondly remember reading Peregrinator's description of his journey to Rome last year. That trip precipitated his subsequent conversion, I heard...