When Wanderlust and Women’s Rights Meet Head On

We were supposed to be in Galveston, Texas on the weekend. Our flight home from Houston would have been yesterday and we’d be driving home from Detroit today. We had been looking forward to the trip for months but it was cancelled due to (understandable) issues beyond our control.

Calling off the trip was sudden. It came with a cost – literally. But if I’m honest, inside a heaping helping of disappointment, I also feel a tiny bit of relief.

I would love to see Galveston. It seems like a unique piece of the continent. But it’s also in Texas, a state whose laws surrounding women’s health differ greatly from my wishes. You could even call it the polar opposite on many issues.

Take a Stand or Take a Seat?

I’m always wrestling with how far to take a stance on politics, women’s rights, etc.. I do believe in the right to decide for oneself. I take a little bit from every ideology and it becomes an ingredient in the stew of my point of view. But when it comes to women there’s no wiggle room: leave our bodies alone.

Until vasectomies are mandated – but no, men are allowed to govern their own bodies – unwanted pregnancies will happen. Criminalizing medical professionals and female patients over wanting to end one is like The Handmaid’s Tale come to life.

So, can the beauty of Galveston’s beaches and climate be separated from the abortion ban and the election of super-gross Senator Ted Cruz? We don’t have a lot of ways to show our support or opposition to something important other than where we spend our money. Wonderful people live and work in Texas just like everywhere else. But do I want to support the state as a whole by contributing to the 6.25% state tax?

The November 5th Decision

Plenty of smart people are saying that no matter which way the American election goes there will be volatility in the US. Not necessarily storm-the-capital volatility, but many people will be extremely upset. How will that look? No one really knows.

Historically, what’s going on there is nothing new. An irrational fear of immigrants (as if Americans or Canadians for that matter are so effing superior) stirred up by candidates spewing lies is part of an old political playbook. Assassinations and attempts on politicians’ lives have happened before. They’ve never gotten over the Civil War. It’s not a united country. And I’m not sure how much time I want to spend in the thick of it. Parts of it, anyway.

A Promise Broken

There was a time when I said on this page that I’d never go back to the US. I love my American friends and so many things about their country. And let’s face it, when it came to North American settlers, the Americans got most of the good weather. There are valid reasons to want to visit and I’m sure I have several more trips to California in my future. But I’m torn. I’ve greatly reduced my consumption of US political news coverage because it simply makes me anxious. There isn’t a damn thing I can do about it. It’s not my pig, not my farm, unless I choose visit there.

I would never go to Iraq because of the way they treat women. (As if ANYONE is going to Iraq as a tourist!) Not a great example. I don’t want to visit China either, partly because of its terrible human rights record. But how far do I take it? Women are risking their health, freedom and sometimes their lives to gain the power to decide for their own bodies. This is a concern we women thought was answered after Roe V Wade. Yet here we are.

A Personal History Tour

In the spring, my cousin and I are planning to go to Poland and Hungary. We’re taking this trip to research some of our family history and see where our grandparents came from. Overall, Poland treats women well, although society mainly follows the views of the Catholic church. But will I cancel if I find out something that upsets me? Probably not, because it’s Poland or nothing. I can’t suddenly decide that my maternal grandparents were from a different country.

So, maybe that’s the answer. It’s about the size of the stake I have in the trip. Now – is that hypocritical? If there are options, it’s easier to skip the journey that’s less palatable to my liberal (progressive? woke?) point of view.

Travel is a pain in the ass. The payoff is getting through the (sometimes) shit-show and enjoying someplace new. The older I get, the more of a homebody I become. So it’s got to be a pretty special trip for me to want to take it. Maybe I’m manufacturing reasons not to go someplace. And that, my friends, is probably okay too.

This week, Meryl Streep talked to the UN General Assembly about the horrifying lives women lead in Afghanistan because of the Taliban. She says it clearly and calmly. And it matters, dammit, those women matter, regardless of where in the world they live.