I am posting this entry from my airport nemeis, LAX. The last time I was here I was sick (sorry fellow passengers), tired (I was arriving back from a 4 month trip) and I had just missed my connecting flight. My travel agent couldn’t rebook me until the morning but I wanted to be home so badly it hurt. I called my parents, bawled my eyes out and then deposited myself onto a padded bench with a table built into the middle of it. (It may have been an early prototype of those sleep-proof park benches.) That night sucked. It still stands as my most miserable day of travel to date… in fact – I can remember the date exactly, because it was my 24th birthday. Looking back, it was just discomfort, not danger and I count my lucky stars for all the years of safe travel between now and then. May they continue.Now, onto happier memories… that I haven’t made yet.
*An introspective moment at a temple. (I’ll write a whole blog about ‘thin places’ where the centuries of worshipers have worn thin the veil that separates heaven and earth.)
*A unique connetion with another traveler. (ie. “No way! You were at that Beck show in Nashville this summer!?)
*An annoying interaction with monkeys. (A monkey broke into my room in Kenya & ate all my gum on the 1st week of a 4 month study abroad program. Plus, they are creepily human looking.)
*Make someone smile, even though we don’t speak the same language.
*Eat fresh Sushi, Pho (Vietnamese soup) and at least 1 fresh fruit I’ve never had before.
*Take a cooking class! (If you’re lucky, I’ll make you some Pho when I get back!)
*Awkward communal nudity at a Japanese Onsen. (When in Rome….right?)
*Riding bikes down ancient streets.
*Hiking in the rice terraces of northern Vietnam.
*Hanging out with an Asian elephant at a sanctuary.
*Visiting Meaghan’s classroom of Cambodian 2nd graders.
*Give someone a gift.
That’s my list so far…
What things do you look forward to when you travel?
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I always enjoy that moment when I feel completely at home. Even though I am miles and miles away. It is the time when you realize that humans are the same the world over; we all have a love for our families and others; we all enjoy having new experiences with people. I think that Adrienne reaches this moment with others more quickly than the rest of us. What a blessing!
I love meeting a local person who is willing to show me ‘real life’ in the place I’m visiting. Like a family inviting me over for dinner, or this time in South Korea where I couldn’t read a bank sign and this guy stopped and told us he was in college in the states and offered to show us all around South Korea, including a crazy basement club we wouldn’t have even known about, let alone gotten into. Knowing you, I bet you meet lots of locals willing to invite you in! Have fun!