It’s time for another week of gratitude. This time, we’re with the letter “T”!
Whenever I find myself getting impatient during a long flight, I always remind myself that it took St. Francis Xavier more than two years to get to India on a small and, probably, stinky boat.
Don’t get me wrong – there are many hassles involved with travel these days – crowds, delays, encounters with the TSA, etc. But, that having been said, isn’t it mind-boggling that we can get inside an aluminum tube and emerge several hours later on a different continent?
I have been privileged to see many wonderful places and hope to see more before I die. (Africa and Australia/New Zealand, get ready for me!)
Of all my travels, however, I think my first stop in Asia was the most memorable of all. On my way to Japan for the first time, I stopped off in Thailand for a week. I’d been to North America and European countries, but Thailand was my first encounter with a completely different culture. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it – well, all except the visit to an enormous crocodile farm… I hate those things and being “up close and personal” with thousands of them was ghastly. The worst part was having to pretend to the kind Thai Jesuit who brought me there that I was having a great time! But visiting pagodas and whooshing along the klongs [canals] are memories I’ll cherish for the rest of my life.
What is the most memorable journey – to near or far – that you have made?
{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
Well, reading this after a week away in which pretty much everything that could go wrong, did go wrong, I thought that the most memorable things in life and the lessons learned come after some “breakage” or other. That certainly happens when travelling as we are out of our comfort zone.
The one journey that springs to mind is one to the rain forest in Queensland, Australia. A beautiful place but full of beasties, big and small. I’m not a big fan of either variety when up close but I deal with it. My travelling companion on this trip was a doctor who had regaled me with tales of some training during their elective in Africa and operating in theatres with dirt floors and lizards and beasties crawling everwhere about. Naturally I assumed this person would be quite comfortable in this environment. WRONG!
Upon opening the hut in which we were staying, we found a spider the size of my hand taking a siesta on the pole that was holding the hut up. My travelling companion started to shriek and wail for me to deal with it. With the aid of a training shoe I dispatched said spider and we started to settle in (I’m not proud of dispatching the spider but some of these things are highly venomous and I didn’t have my Observor book of venomous spiders to hand to determine which was which.)
Worse was to come later that night when the generator that supplied power to the hut shut down and the site was plunged into darkness. The bats came out, hunting the insects that had been buzzing around the flourescent tube in the hut before dark. Needless to say, my travelling companion, and thus my, night’s sleep was less than sound!
Moral of the story: I’m not sure but I am certainly more sceptical when hearing my travelling companions’ back stories these days.
Simon, this post completely freaked me out! You poor thing!! Memorable indeed! Glad you live to tell the tale though!
Simon,
I’m with Annette. I too was freaking out as I read your story. Ye gods!
Paul
Well, I look forward to your Kiwi expedition! I have been fortunate to have had a few memorable travel experiences, and find it a little hard to choose. I’ve been home just over six weeks from walking part of the ‘Camino’ in France and Spain. But perhaps my most memorable trip was in 2006 in France when I cycled for a month in the Loire region. Before this trip I was mostly just a commuter cyclist, used to cycling a few kilometres to work, and occasionally taking a weekend bike ride of some 20km or so. But I had this ‘mad dream’ to go cycling in France, carrying all my gear in panniers, and staying in a small tent in camping grounds. I chose the Loire region as I knew it was fairly flat(!) and I had an absolutely wonderful time for a month. I had some brochures that listed cycle routes, and I also used maps to work out some of my own routes. It was pure heaven, and at the end I was astounded with what I had achieved. So when I had the next ‘inkling’ that I might walk the Camino, I was brave enough to take on the ‘challenge’.
Margaret,
Good for you! I’m glad that your bike trip was such a great experience and led you to the Camino.
Paul
Going to a zoo in India. We traveled in a bus driving through the lions preserve and several of them jumped on the roof of the bus and pawed at windows that were partially open.
Going to Mass one night in Aachen, Germany and saying the Our Father in English while everyone around smiled as they said it in German.
Seeing the beauty in Vietnam. Rice paddies on the sides of mountains are breath-taking. You just have to see it to appreciate it.
Having a brew in a pub in Killarney, Ireland and having the locals slap me, “the Yank” on the back as we told stories.
Looking at the image of Our Blessed Mother on the shawl in the church in Guadelepe (sp?), Mexico. Absolutely inspiring.
Praying in St. Peters in Rome at the graves of Blessed John XXIII and Blessed John Paul II. Beautiful.
There’s more, there’s always more with travel…
Have a good week everyone.
Bob,
You have been around! The experience in India sounds amazing – it would be something I’d never forget.
Paul
I have been to the Canadian Arctic twice in recent years – once in July and the second time in April. The first time I went with a friend on a week’s vacation and we just became part of the community and thoroughly enjoyed the stark landscape and the icebergs floating offshore and especially our interaction with the people. The second time I went for two weeks during Lent and Easter to help with Holy Week and Easter weekend. I stayed in the rectory and did what I could to ease the workload for the Bishop, the priest and the missionary – one of my first assignments was to cook cariboo meat and when I asked the missionary how she cooked it, she replied that she had never done it! So each day was a new adventure. We went to Mass with our parkas on because the church never got warm enough to take them off – as an aside, the chairs in the church are metal! We celebrated confirmation on Easter Sunday because the Bishop was there. There were so many special moments to treasure.
Lynda,
Cooking caribou in the artic! Wow. What an experience. Can’t wait to hear more.
Paul
This is a tough one to answer! I suppose that an October morning during a week of backpacking on Isle Royale (an island national park in Lake Superior) is one of my top twenty or so travel memories. The early (VERY early) part of the day was clear and chilly, and as I climbed out of our tent, skein after skein of Canada geese lined the sky – hundreds and hundreds pf geese honking their way south just before sunrise. It was a reminder of what the Great Lakes must have looked and sounded like 200 years ago.
Right now I am on a roof top deck at the Jersey shore having tea. I can hear the waves on the beach, dogs barking and little children playing. My grandchildren are downstairs sleeping after last nights birthday party. My daughter and her boyfriend are sitting next to me laughing over something on their computers. It is a beautiful day. You could say astounding. Right now this is my most momentous journey: Monday morning at the Jersey shore
My most memorable journey may have been the time I decided to go and listen to the Dalai Lama’s teachings in Dharamsala in 1986. I was to go with three other women friends but ended up going alone.
I thought the Dalai Lama was going to give introductory teachings on Tibetan Buddhism. It turned out they were to be the highest teachings… For this, I had to obtain a ticket at the Tushita Center, (a Western extension of Tibetan Buddhism) to attend the teachings at the Temple.
When I reached the Center, I was asked when I had taken refuge. Taken refuge??? Yes, in the Buddha, the dharma, and the sangha. Oh… I had never done such a thing. Well, then I could not be given a ticket then.
Remembering some Zen Buddhist books I had read long ago, I went and sat down on the sidewalk curb in front of the Dalai Lama’s palace and I waited. Not long afterwards, a small man all dressed in black, came out of the palace and asked me what I wanted. To attend the teachings, I answered. Go to … tomorrow and there will be tickets for you (I might well have had to go to the Tushita Center).
I went therefore to the first teachings, sat outside the temple (which is without walls), seeing all the monks and nuns sitting inside. There was a simultaneous translation in English. The Dalai Lama gave a meditation, where we had to visualize a blue Buddha…
We were all given some grass to put under a pillow and see the dreams we would have.
I had a beautiful dream, with a gorgeous Tibetan mountain landscape, and also three beautiful Tibetan bells set on a table. What struck me then was that being placed on a table, they could not ring…
The following day, I decided not to return to the teachings. I did not feel ready for them. I still had to stay the whole week till my return plane. I went on a walk to a Shiva temple. On my way I thought of the disciples going to Emmaus and was sorry no one was walking with me. I suddenly ‘saw’ Jesus on one side and Lord Buddha on the other and we had a conversation together.
During my week in Dharamsala, I realized that I could not become a Tibetan Buddhist (something I had thought about), because “this would make Jesus sad.” …
My trip to Africa last fall. Nothing I had read or seen prior to my trip prepared me for how beautiful it was. It was overwhelming. I am grateful that I was able to take this trip on my own, so that I had time and space in the evening to process all the new experiences.
I got to visit several cities in the southern part of the continent. I have lived in or visited other places with enormous differences exist between the poor and the wealthy, but I thought there was something different about Johannesburg. I wasn’t there long enough to get to know the people or the culture well, and I am open to being told I am completely wrong about this — but my first impression was that that tension and fear made it difficult for people to relax and enjoy what they have.
My most memorable trips were to Singapore, Italy and Alaska. In Singapore I was the kind of traveler I always wanted to be. I wandered around with no agenda. I tried foods whose names I couldn’t even pronounce, and I watched the University of Florida Gators win the national basketball championship on the other side of the world at 9 o’clock in the morning. I took a Thai cooking class in the home of a lovely and talented local Singapore woman and I stalked an exquisite looking lizard in a Chinese garden with my camera. (I later learned that the lizard was a Komodo dragon who could easily have killed me. But he didn’t.) I made my way around the island nation’s subway system by myself and shopped in Indian open air markets and bought batik fabrics from the people who made them. I had tea at the Raffles Hotel in a totally British Colonial atmosphere with my husband, and we went to Palm Sunday Mass in a huge old Cathedral packed with worshipers who prayed through the 90-something degree heat with no air conditioning without complaint.
In Italy, the part I’m most grateful for is praying for my children in Saint Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, the painting of The Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel and the statue of David in Florence.
In Alaska we saw multiple views of Denali, flew more than 300 feel above the forest floor on a zip-line, and went whitewater rafting in freezing glacial run-off water.
Now, I’m thinking of the Grand Canyon and Olympic National Park and Hawaii…. I have many travel memories of which I am supremely grateful. All have brought me closer to my travel companions and to God.
I am torn between Yosemite National Park in Ca. and Fundy National Park in New Brunswick. I am a water and mountain girl and they both awed me with thier splendor but for different reasons. Fundy was a total surprise, a gift after driving a ridiculous amount of time (on horrible roads!) when we were on our Honeymoon. And for those who don’t know, it boast the highest and lowest tides in the world (one of the natural wonders)….I never knew it existed but it was there simply for us to enjoy. (and as a bonus the lodging was really cheap! It is one of those things that my husband and I always refer too when we need to remember that sometimes the best thing are completely beyond our prediction!) Yosemite is just jaw-dropping. Or as a friend of mine says “Yo-so-mighty.” But the roads….ahhhhh! How people don’t just plunge to thier death on a regular basis I can’t figure out! Still, I would return to either in a heartbeat and I am ever awed by the many ways which God presents his creativity in this world.
My mnost memorablr trip was to the beautiful island of Malta. My fther was born there and wanted to take my Mom on his first trip back. M y Mom would not fly and as he had already bought the ticket, I was fortunate enough to go. As a 21 year old American in 1959 Iwas not use to no bathroom facilities and food still being rationed. Also at that time men aand women sat on opposite sides of the church. I was fortunate enough to live with my grandparents. My grandfather lived and worked in the States for 30 years and still knew a few words of English. I’ve been back to Malta twice since then. the last time staying in a hoel right on the Mediteranean, but the first trip was the most memorable. I will never forget my grandfaher bringing me a bouquet of flowers that he picked in the fields.
We have been blessed to have had the opportunity to travel to many distant, exotic, and exciting places. Each destination in the own right is a wow and a half. Through all our travels, towards the end, I always look forward to getting back home, since after all, there is no place like it.
Sticking with the letter “T” I would say taize was a memorable trip for me. I have written about it somewhere on my blog. I remember walking alone up towards Taize through a field full of sunflowers,. A gentle breeze started to blow through the stems and the heads all bowed ~ I sewar I heard a still small voice whiispering in the leaves and I felt God moving ion that place. I was only in taizxe a short while but I have never forgotten it. The people, the tents, the shared meal, the service, the icons in the church ~ all profoundly moving. Thanks for reminding me.
I went to a Mass during Lent in Sedona, Arizona, just to see the church itself, ot because of Lent or even because of the Mass. It so happened the priest saying Mass was from my home town, San Jose CA. During his homily, he said words that have been imprinted on my mind ever since: God is with you 24/7. Can you not give him one single hour of your day in return?
Ever since I heard that question, I have been going to daily Mass. And what a gift he gave me. I hadn’t known up til then that I could return a gift to God. Made a HUGE difference in my life.
I’m grateful for all the chances I’ve had to travel, and to see new things along the way, and so often see things with “new eyes” when I come back.
I’m perhaps most grateful to my family for the “trip” they gave me for my 50th birthday — to Gloucester, MA to make the Spiritual Exercises.
But if we keep it to leisure travel, I’m utterly grateful still for a camping trip to Prince Edward Island before my youngest was born (17 summers past). Light until late, lobster, mussels, oysters, blueberries, beautiful beaches and amazing Celtic music…I can still remember sitting outside, holding my son asleep in my lap, listening to the music swirl up and out of the little house nearby.
If you want a quick world tour, a friend sent me a great link to a video in the mail today. From NASA’s picture a day feature, it’s a whirling tour of dancers all over the world: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120710.html
I loved the words “we’ll see with new eyes”!
Michelle, I loved that!!! Thank you!
Thanks Michelle I enjoyed this so much.
We have been blessed with the opportunity for so many wonderful trips over the years. It is so hard to choose one. I think the trip we took to the Southwestern US(Arizona, Utah, Colorado, NM) about 10 years ago was truly a blessing. We trekked through 5 or 6 national parks over a three week period, day hiking in each one. It was a revelation to see the beauty of God’s artistry and to be in the company of my spouse. We found so much peace and quiet joy both in the land and in each other. Truly a gift from God.
One of my most memorable travel experiences was during my summer off in 1990: I decided to go out West to see some relatives, and for reasons I can’t recall, decided to go via Amtrak. This involved taking three different trains, and I initially chose to go coach class, being much more limber than I am nowadays. Being in coach enabled me to hobnob with all sorts of people, from foreign students (Europeans, who travel via train frequently,) to a few Amish folks that were traveling that way. It was interesting to talk to people with whom I normally wouldn’t encounter in my daily life. I learned a lot from everyone I met.
By the time I got to my third train, I upgraded to a roomette, needing some space to stretch out when I slept. Very early one morning, as we rumbled through the desert, I was awakened by a pastel sunrise and discovered, much to my delight, that because it had rained there the previous week, the entire desert was in full bloom! While I enjoyed the panorama from the observation car upstairs, it reminded me of some places I had been interiorly.
I thought back on some of those spiritual experiences, when I had entered into what I had thought would be a place of barrenness and interior soul-searching, only to discover that these spiritual deserts were alive with so many things I had never dreamed existed.
Paul, hope it won’t be too long before you come to Australia, and don’t forget to include Adelaide on your itinerary. It’s one of the smaller capital cities (of the state of South Australia), but it’s a lovely little city with lots to recommend it, including a Jesuit community (I think there’s only one here now), plus of course it’s the place where I live! I look forward to meeting you in person
I was traveling so I missed the week of gratitude and am catching up. I figured if there were on post to comment on, it would be the travel one!
I have been so richly, richly blessed to travel far and wide. When I was a little girl, a globe and my set of encyclopedias, along with the Time-Life travel books that weighed down our shelves, gave me so many dreams. Add to that the books I read that gave me the imagination to think about so many places and what must go on there!
As an adult, I have been to a great deal of Europe, to the Middle East (Israel and Jordan), to Asia and to South America. And I have been able to visit 37 out of all 50 states.
So my gratitude goes out for the bounty of gifts and graces that travel has afforded me. From the chance meeting, to a converted heart, to the exposure to so much of God’s grandeur. It is all rich gift and I am so deeply thankful!
Of course, when pressed I will always say that my two favorite journeys were Peru and Bolivia in 2005, and Israel and Jordan in 2006!