Our 13th wedding anniversary is in two days and I have been feeling nostalgic about travel. Don't really know if they are related but here are the three thoughts I wanted to share:
1. In 1983, I went to Sierra Leone with the Peace Corps. Five years later, in 1988, I was traveling mostly in Thailand and Guatemala (taking time off before graduate school). Ten years later, in 1998, Bobbie and I took 3 months off and rented an apartment within the castle in Budapest. We used that as a base to visit Turkey, Greece, Italy, Germany and Austria, and had such great a great experience that we vowed to do another long adventure ten years later. Ten years later, in 2008, we moved to Japan. But this move wasn't really a conscious effort to comply with that promise to ourselves. It just worked out that way. And looking back, it feels like it was the right choice.
2. Japan was not on our travel radar. It was never a vacation destination. We always dismissed it as too far and too expensive. Sierra Leone was not on my radar when I joined the Peace Corps. When the position was offered to me, I had to find it on the map. But both places are fantastic adventures because they are off the beaten bath. Unlike Europe, which we visited in March with other hoards of tourists, we can get lost here and hardly encounter another westerner. I remember, in Sierra Leone, stopping any traveler we saw up country to find out what their story was. The other blessing about coming here is that we had very few expectations of how it "had" to be. Fewer expectations result in less disappointment. Each mini-adventure is a wonderful surprise.
3. The type of travel that occurred in five and ten year increments is a poignant parallel to the periods of my life. Sierra Leone was testosterone fueled outdoor adventure. Brief intense encounters, and impulsive changes of plans. Defying authority. Fishing the ocean in a rubber dingy and line wrapped around a board. Sailing up the west coast of Africa and jumping ship in the the Canaries. Thailand in the late twenties--still single and adventurous-- searching for deeper connections and meaning. Budapest, married and trying to build the nest nest and family. Big focus of that trip was trying to decide if we would want to live in Hungary and deciding that San Diego was so much easier. But we were childless and still willing to pop into town without reservations. Since Danny was born our vacations have been mostly to warm places on the beach. Now we are discussing our plans to visit China and saying, "it would be OK with me if we went on an organized tour and had all arrangements taken care of by others."
1. In 1983, I went to Sierra Leone with the Peace Corps. Five years later, in 1988, I was traveling mostly in Thailand and Guatemala (taking time off before graduate school). Ten years later, in 1998, Bobbie and I took 3 months off and rented an apartment within the castle in Budapest. We used that as a base to visit Turkey, Greece, Italy, Germany and Austria, and had such great a great experience that we vowed to do another long adventure ten years later. Ten years later, in 2008, we moved to Japan. But this move wasn't really a conscious effort to comply with that promise to ourselves. It just worked out that way. And looking back, it feels like it was the right choice.
2. Japan was not on our travel radar. It was never a vacation destination. We always dismissed it as too far and too expensive. Sierra Leone was not on my radar when I joined the Peace Corps. When the position was offered to me, I had to find it on the map. But both places are fantastic adventures because they are off the beaten bath. Unlike Europe, which we visited in March with other hoards of tourists, we can get lost here and hardly encounter another westerner. I remember, in Sierra Leone, stopping any traveler we saw up country to find out what their story was. The other blessing about coming here is that we had very few expectations of how it "had" to be. Fewer expectations result in less disappointment. Each mini-adventure is a wonderful surprise.
3. The type of travel that occurred in five and ten year increments is a poignant parallel to the periods of my life. Sierra Leone was testosterone fueled outdoor adventure. Brief intense encounters, and impulsive changes of plans. Defying authority. Fishing the ocean in a rubber dingy and line wrapped around a board. Sailing up the west coast of Africa and jumping ship in the the Canaries. Thailand in the late twenties--still single and adventurous-- searching for deeper connections and meaning. Budapest, married and trying to build the nest nest and family. Big focus of that trip was trying to decide if we would want to live in Hungary and deciding that San Diego was so much easier. But we were childless and still willing to pop into town without reservations. Since Danny was born our vacations have been mostly to warm places on the beach. Now we are discussing our plans to visit China and saying, "it would be OK with me if we went on an organized tour and had all arrangements taken care of by others."
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