With the winter getting into full swing, I’m looking forward with a degree of eagerness to my trips abroad this year; first to Israel and then to China. This will be the second trip to China but to a new area. I was in Beijing last time and was completely bowled over by the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, among other things. This time I’ll be further south and can’t wait to see what cultural treasures this area has to offer.
It will be the first time I visit Israel, and this will be more of a spiritual journey. In both places I hope the creative juices will be flowing in torrents. I love coming back to an empty hotel room, Knowing the phone won’t ring, the washing machine and dishwasher won’t be yelling for attention, and no delivery persons will be knocking on the door interrupting just as I’m in the middle of a perfect thought. A few my fellow writers bemoan the loneliness of those empty hotel rooms. Me? I adore them.
Valerie Bloom 