There have been two distinct periods of my life so far, and I really can't determine when the first ended and the second began. What I do know is that certain things are completely different for me "now" than they were "then." For example, now I am a "morning lark," to use a phrase I didn't even know then. Almost an extreme one -- I'm generally up at 4 a.m.

At some point in the last 20 years, that aspect of my life changed. On up through graduate school, I was a "night owl." Again, almost to extremes. Back then, when left to my own devices, I didn't go to bed until around 5 a.m. Back then, I ate breakfast as a snack before sleeping and saw more sunrises as a going-to-bed ritual than a getting-out-of-bed one.

In my younger life, I kept what one friend dubbed "vampire hours." Now, I keep what I call "monastic hours" or "old-timey hours." Mom always did say that "one hour of sleep before midnight is worth two hours of sleep after," and I believe her now. I am so much sharper from 4 a.m. until about noon than I am after noon.

That's one big change; the other big change from Dave 1.0 to Dave 2.0 is that I don't really like to travel now. I simply don't. Such a big fuss.

There's a fine line, though. I always like to travel when I get "there," wherever I'm going, but I truly dislike the fuss of prepping for going and then "de-prepping" from going.

There's also a fine line in how I get "there." I love to drive, and I really want to take a long train trip one of these days.

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Flying is not comfortable for me. I have no fear of flying, but a passenger jet simply isn't designed for men as big-framed as me. On one flight on a small jet, I had the window seat; I had to hold my head at an angle the entire flight to keep it from touching the fuselage of the plane. Luckily, that was a short connecting flight. Flying is absolutely exhausting for me.

Driving, on the other hand, is quite enjoyable ... as long as I don't have to take the interstate system. Of course, I drive on the interstates when I have to go somewhere quickly, just like I fly when I have to, but interstate drives aren't nearly as enjoyable as drives on smaller highways.

I said earlier that I want to take a long train trip -- completely true. There are lots of people who enjoy train travel, evidently, and not enough "supply" to meet the "demand." Nice accommodations for a long train trip are a little pricey and must be booked a long time in advance. Come to think of it, I'd love to take a cross-Atlantic trip on a ship. It's possible (I've checked), but somewhat expensive and one also has to book it well in advance.

It has occurred to me in the past that it's the view that I crave. There's not really much of a view from an airliner, but ships, trains and automobiles have great views. Especially cars on smaller highways. That's why I dislike interstate travel -- once you've seen one interstate exit, you've seen 'em all.

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And I think that's the key right there -- I dislike preparing to travel so much that I like to wake up with a whim and just go. My best travel tale starts with, "So I hadn't made reservations for a hotel ..." and goes on from there. It's within the realm of possibility to do that with air travel, but not with train or ship travel.

Right there is my problem today. About an hour ago, I thought to myself, "I need a vacation." That's a real problem because it's a workday. I have to be in the classroom in a few hours (yes, it's very early). In fact, I'm booked up with obligations until mid-February; there's no way that I can even go somewhere for a weekend until after then.

I never think that I need to go on a vacation. Like I said, I prefer to stay at home. I like to read, and I don't need to go anywhere to read. (By the way, reading on an airplane is difficult for me, before y'all ask.)

My friends and family love to travel -- some get all antsy if they have to go a month without going somewhere. I don't. Honestly, I've gone months -- plural, months with an "s" on the end -- without even leaving Etowah County.

But for some strange reason that I don't understand ... I really, really want to take a vacation right now. I want to throw some clothes in a bag, get in the car, go to the end of the driveway and flip a coin. Heads for left, tails for right. And just go.

I've done it before. However, it's been a long time -- over four years now. The difference with that trip and the vacation I want today is time. I was back by evening on that last trip.

This trip? I'd like to say tonight, "No, I don't have a reservation."