Looking over the Tyrolian Alps from atop a pass
I have posted nearly four thousand times on this blog. My hope has been, and will continue to be, that readers will get the "travel bug".
It is my sincere belief that many of the world's problems lie in not knowing nor understanding other cultures and people. When you travel you learn that folks in other countries are generally like us and they also have things to teach us. My family has been changed for the better by travel.
A number of years ago, my wife and I decided to take each of our grandchildren on a trip. We wanted to get to know them better, bond, and have them show us new things through their fresh perspective. While we left the trips up to them, we were surprised at the choices and of the amount of homework each did.
Our oldest granddaughter at 12 years-of-age chose to go to Paris for a week and then down the Seine by riverboat to Normandy and the visiting of D-day sites. She read up on artists she might see in Paris and we visited a bunch of galleries and museums.
Our grandson was next, When he turned twelve he took us to Brussels, Amsterdam and on safari in South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Not in that exact order, We went places and shared experiences that we would not have if it were not for him choosing to go. We spent about four days in each place.
The middle granddaughter took us back to places where we had spent a good deal of time: Paris and Scotland. While we did some of the same things, we did others as well. In Scotland we went boating on Loch Ness, shearing sheep, staying in a haunted castle and lots more. We did a long stay in Edinburgh with a boat trip on the Firth of Forth.
Because of Covid-19 our youngest granddaughter had to wait until fourteen to go. We cancelled trips to China and Costa Rica in the process. Her choice was to visit an area of Italy that we had not explored. She took a trip to Tuscany with a final week in Paris. As an artist she made a point to visit Montmartre and paint a picture of the city.
One thing we helped design was the places to add. By this I mean it is expensive and tiring to fly somewhere like Europe or Africa and not spend as much time as possible. Say you are going to Scotland. Why not add a week in Paris and fly in and out of there? When we take a trip, we usually go for a minimum of three weeks and take our time.
We think it is unpleasant to see a bunch of interesting places in a short amount of time. The photo above is taken while in the Dolomites of northern Italy for almost a week. We had already been to Rome, Florence, Venice by then. When we left Venice we went to Verona and rented a car to drive to Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and back to Verona. The latter part of our trip convinced us to limit our visit to longer stays. I admit that we are retired and have the time and money to do this. Actually we choose to set aside the time and money to do it.
We have traveled the USA in much the same way. It is more fun for us to focus on one place for a couple of days or a week than rush to the next place.
I am now getting to a physical condition from childhood polio that I am not going to places that require walking. Yet, I still can go many places plus I have a huge reserve of memories to count on.
Hit the road. Fly the sky. Hike out back. Get on the go.
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