Today I was looking at different word prompts, and websites to generate ideas for blogging and for writing stories. I found a really cool website called plinky.com .
The question of whether I’d rather have one free trip to outer space or free international travel for life. It really intrigued me. But I knew immediately, hands down, the answer would be free international travel for life. That’s one of my biggest fantasies. Having unlimited resources to travel anywhere in the world for the rest of my life. I love the idea of traveling to different countries exploring different cultures, languages and traditions. Once you get out-of-state and out of country, a whole new world opens up to you. And you know? You’re never quite the same when you return.
It really saddens me to know that young people and even baby boomers like us haven’t had a chance to get out-of-town or out of country just to see how other people live. I think we can learn to better understand each other when we take the time to celebrate, experience and share in the cultural diversity in our world. Gives us a chance to get a different perspective on things.
For me, this started at a very early age. When our family picked up stakes here in the USA and moved over to Norway in 1968. We learned the language, researched the geography of the land, learned the metric system, transportation system and the foreign exchange rate for the currency. Not to mention the food, music, rituals and holiday festivities! It’s a major culture shock, but it’s also the experience of a lifetime.
If I had to come up with a list of the places I would most like to see, it would look something like this: Italy, England, Germany, Russia and Egypt. That’s just for starters! The first three encompass my family heritage, Italy being on the paternal side of my family and England and Germany being on the maternal side. going back to their roots at the very places where your families have come from is a deeply spiritual experience. I’ll never forget the time I traveled to London, England to see my grandfather’s birthplace. There, on a city street, we found the house number and a very small door. It was probably about 5 feet tall. I guess the people were little better than! LOL And standing there, I was moved. This is where my Poppy lived as a little boy. This is where he played with his friends as his parents prepared for his family to embark on a journey across the Atlantic Ocean to start a new life in the United States.
When you start making those authentic connections with people and places of your past, travel takes on a whole new meaning. And you meet so many wonderful people along the way. Whether you’re traveling by air, train, bus or backpacking, you all always learn something new and exciting every day. And while you may never see the people who cross your paths ever again, you get to take the memories you shared with them for the rest of your life and into eternity.
The idea having a free trip to outer space just isn’t my cup of tea. I like my feet planted firmly on the ground. Yep, it’s terra firma for me baby! No way, no how am I getting catapulted out into limbo. Granted, the view would be spectacular from up there, but I would rather watch reruns of the lunar space landing, and let the astronauts give me their first hand accounts of what that;s like. Now don’t get me wrong. I love everything about the space program and exploring deep space, other planets and the constellations. I’d just like to do it from the comfort of home.
Besides, don’t you think it would be awful lonely up here, out there? Just dangling out in outer space? I mean, what if something happened and your life line snapped and you floated off to who knows where? I have visions of the second coming of Close Encounters and alien lifeforms. Getting cryo-freezed or something. So maybe I’m far out. For the time being though, I’ll leave it to the scientists and astronauts to figure out ways for us to live off planet and survive.
My feeling has always been you get much more bang for your buck by traveling the world and expanding your horizons. And if you’ve never had that opportunity, this would be my greatest wish for you!
peace out,
Lissy
International travel. Any day
This is definitely how I feel as well! Recently I’ve been consumed with the idea of traveling internationally long-term. So much so that I’ve started planning how I’d do it! Haha. I don’t like the idea of tourist-traveling, but more so the slow acclimation of each place.
Other countries, especially European ones, are so ahead in realizing the importance of global travel! Many of them emphasize a gap year before starting higher education.
Hey, mishfish! Thanks for subscribing! I’m delighted to have you along.
What you said about tourist-traveling resonates so much for me as well. When you get off the beating path on your own and don’t have time limits, you get a more authentic view of the way things really are. It’s a much more intimate and personal journey. Some of the best moments I’ve ever had traveling occurred in the most unlikely of places. The spontaneity of it all can lead to experiences that transcend everything. Take language for example. You may not have even rudimentary knowledge of a foreign language, but some language is universal. And you learn there are no borders. We are all the same under the sun. A simple smile or laughter can convey much more than words. It is the language of the heart.
I seriously laughed out loud at the idea of being cryofreezed or something….girl, you are too funny…Now, I would also pick the international travel AND for a lot of the same reasons. And Italy is my number one, first to go to place once I hit the international soil.
Space travel holds no affection for the disassociated soul that I am. I’ve spent my life trying to ground myself and travel so many places in my sleep that I am always happy to wake up back in my bed again….
My goodness, I stopped and stood there with you as you looked around at your father’s childhood home and his neighborhood, wonderful visual, good stuff….