People ask me why – why I do it. Whole books have been written about this and about people who do proper travel and exploration and mountaineering very far removed from my meanderings which are very tame by comparison. I read one which asked women why they do it.

And the answer was always the same and is my answer too. They – we – don’t know why we do it but we just have to.

Today, stepping out of the train during a longish stop for some fresh air, there were people hawking stuff to passengers – big fur hats, huge teddy bears, shawls, stuff. A woman caught my eye. She was small, ordinary, middle aged. We smiled. And there you have it – a connection, for a moment, with someone whose life is so different from mine and will go on unaffected by mine the minute I’m gone – for that moment we connected, there was nothing in our lives but each other, 2 women connected by a smile.

Oh yes, and my insatiable curiosity. I want to KNOW what is round the next corner, over the next hill and what it feels like to be there.

Getting reacquainted with Tolstoy. Fabulous!