This blog should come with a disclaimer: Travel is
addictive.
We began making trips early in our marriage, first to places
in the US and later farther afield.
Our first major trip, in 1979, was a three-week vacation to
Hawaii. I worked for a year to pay for it. We planned with a travel agent and
created our own itinerary. Five islands, eight flights, thirteen hotels later,
we still hadn’t seen everything. It’s why we keep going back.
We have returned to Hawaii often, several times with good friends. Our last trip was in March of this year for a writing conference.
In 1980, we took a Caribbean cruise at the recommendation of
friends. This was not our favorite vacation. I spent the whole week feeling
queasy. However, we were one of the last cruise ships to dock in Haiti. This
was the most severe poverty I had ever observed. One of the benefits of
visiting foreign lands is the reminder of just how blessed we are.
In December of 1984, we had the joy of accompanying Kimberly’s
high school choir when they sang in Bethlehem on Christmas Eve. Afterward, we
toured Israel for a week with the group. I recently posted the link to the
short video we made of the trip. It is fuzzy, and the sound isn’t perfect, but
it still brings back special memories:
In 1993, our friend, Bob Schwenck, did a pulpit exchange in
Scotland. Larry was reluctant to take time off work for a trip to visit there,
but I finally negotiated for ten days. We visited with the Schwencks for a
couple of days, and then split the remainder with my family and traveling a
bit. As we boarded the plane for the return flight, Larry said, “We should have
stayed longer.” Can you say annoyed?
We learned our lesson. We now take whatever time is
required.
Between 1998 and 2001, we lived in Japan and received an
in-depth education in the Japanese people and the country. While we were there,
we tried to visit a different location each weekend. One of my Japanese
coworkers said she thought we’d seen more of the country than she had.
During one holiday weekend in 2001, we had decided to travel
to the northern island of Hokkaido. My friend contacted travel agencies and
made inquiries. Even though we would only be gone three days, the cost was outrageous.
(Earlier, we had made a trip to Okinawa to visit a friend, and it was also
expensive.)
As we were investigating the options, the head of HR asked
if we would like to take a trip to Beijing. It would be for a week, and it cost
less than the trip we had been considering. Of course, we decided to go.
In 2003, right after I learned I was losing my job, an
opportunity for a trip to Italy came to us. Rather than my normal caution, this
time I decided we were going, no matter what. This country had been on my
bucket list for many years. So, we went, and I never regretted a minute!
The following year, we went to Ireland with the same group.
What a terrific experience. The highlight was a visit with my mother’s distant
cousin, Jean, who invited the entire group to her home for tea.
We have traveled to Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and many
other places, with several more on the bucket list. In 2014, I checked off
another when we traveled to France. The country was everything I had imagined
and so much more!
When we retired in 2011, we went to San Mateo to visit my
aunt and uncle. When we told them we were retiring, each of them said the same
thing: “Travel.”
Where have you visited? What was your favorite place?
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