Solivagant

January 23, 2018 — Pat Bertram

So many cool words to describe wanderers and travelers!

Wanderlust, of course, means a strong desire to travel, and though I never had any particular inclination for traveling before Jeff died, now I feel the need (or anyway, a periodic need) to keep on the go. Maybe I’m running away. Maybe I’m running to, but all I know is that wanderlust fills a bit of the void in my soul that his death created.

Wayfarer describes a person with wanderlust who generally travels by foot, which is my preferred method of wandering.

Resfeber is the mingled excitement and dread a traveler feels just before the journey begins. This is a Swedish word, and though I only heard of it recently, the feeling itself is very familiar! A couple of years ago, I stayed with a friend who would drop me off at the beginning of a trail and pick me up hours later on the other end. The moment before that first step, I always succumbed to that heart-racing feeling of anticipation and anxiety, but it never lasted more that that brief moment. As soon as I took the first step, I was fine.

Coddiwomple, meaning to travel purposefully to a vague destination is a great word I talked about yesterday.

Sauntering, with its connotation of a spiritual ramble, is also a word I’ve already discussed.

And today, I discovered another perfect word: solivagant, which means to wander alone. Not much to discuss here! Wandering alone. Yep. That’s me.

Who knew there were so many ways to describe my sojourn through life?