'OOBER' trips

‘OOBER’ TRIPS.
(Out-Of-Body-Experiences Recorded)

Once upon a younger day
I travelled rail, sea and airway
for fun and for my holiday,
but I cannot do this today.

To far-flung places I would go
just so I could get to know
countries and cultures that were
different for this littérateur.  (writer)

With my journey’s termination,
I enjoyed each destination,
but travelling would get to me
on each and every long journey.

As I got older, I could see
that this was not the life for me,
for CPAP, stoma gear and such
made these journey’s much too much. 

So, I’ve reverted to my skill
of using ‘OOBER’ that will still
take me to any place I wished
with travelling aspects now vanished.

With ‘OOBER’ I can simply skip
that physical travel on each trip
and I’m no longer burdened by
my stoma, CPAP, or redeye. 

I reach my target in a flash
without the hassle or the cash
that physical travel piles on me
so I can be an escapee.

For I can sort of teleport
myself to destinations sought,
without the need for past transport,
which, before, I’d found so fraught. 

                                            B. Withers 2023

The first thing I thought when reading this is that it sounds like you have been reading Jack London's "The Star Rover" (or "The Jacket" in the UK). :-)

Don't ask me why I thought of that particular book. I haven't read it in over 50 years. Well worth the read if you haven't already read it.

Daniel

Hi Bill, Your imagination can sure help in transporting yourself to the places you'd like to see, but I also find that what helps is watching lots of programs about different places. National Geographic, Nature, Knowledge Network, and the like can transport you to just about anywhere in the world and usually provide you with some interesting and useful knowledge about the place. I have resigned myself to the fact that I probably won't be doing any more of the kind of travel I did in the past. We would spend weeks traveling in different countries, using various means of transportation, planes, boats, trains, buses, staying in different places along the way. Much of it was unscheduled and spur of the moment. Now I think of finding myself in a precarious situation, i.e., with a full pouch badly in need of emptying, in a train station with no bathroom in sight and a language barrier thrown in to boot. I'm not sure I could cope and the prospect scares me. I guess I will join you in your OOBER trips!

Terry

Hello Daniel.
Thanks for your reply to this post - it is much appreciated.
I haven't read the book you mention, probably because I haven't read many books at all. But, if I see 'The Jacket' on the shelves, I will now have an incentive to pick it up and read it.

Best wishes

Bill

Hello Terry.
Thanks so much for your positive contribution to this post. I was wondering how it might be received.

This is just one of a series of rhymes on the ‘OOBER’ concept and several others cover your important observation that watching programmes about different places can have the same effect of ‘transporting’ us, with the added advantage of having a ‘guide’ to important information.
My contributions to MAO tend to at least mention the stoma aspect (in order to keep them relatively relevant  to the site). However, in the absence of HenryM and the introduction of AI posts, it seems that the subjects being brought up do not necessarily relate directly to stomas. 
For my part, I am still not sure as to whether I want to follow this trend, so for now at least, I’ll stick to stoma related rhymes.  The next one is about how my family recently assisted with OOBER by keeping me informed about what they were doing and what they were seeing on the island of Mull (a bit like the programmes you mention, except the ‘guides’ are the family I would have wished to be travelling with if it was 'in the flesh'). 

Best wishes
Bill

How to Manage Emotions with LeeAnne Hayden | Hollister

Hi Bill,  Please don't worry about restricting yourself to ostomy related topics.  So much of what we talk about here is not related at all.  The other thing is that a subject not necessarily related to ostomies, ie, OOBERS, can actually have a certain significance to an ostomate.  Travel is one topic that has come up on this site quite a lot, and I've always been amazed and impressed with people who continue to go about their pre-ostomy travelling, especially people with ileostomies.  I'm glad I've reached a certain age and have travelled quite a lot, so that I'm now fairly content to use my imagination to transport myself, with the aid of technology (TV programming) to enhance the experience.

Terry

What Terry said. 👍

Daniel