travel-writing

I went to Africa to work. Finding myself and falling in love were not items on the agenda. Those were the stuff of daydreams, borne of long, icy Canadian winters. At age 30, I felt I already knew my priorities, talents and limitations. The year in Africa forced me to question all of these assumptions.

A difficult journey is spiritual rewarding.There is a more dependence on God, His supernatural power, grace and divine favour long the travel.

Dare to seize all the opportunities on your paths.

And so we went. And so it went. And, slowly, I began to learn: speaking in the same language does not equal communication, especially when there is a cultural divide.

Once back home I would adjust my lens to the resolution through which I perceived the people and provinces of the globe. My daily commute, the supermarket check out line, neighborhood walks, pedestrian tasks of any job would inspire me as much as the stir of white linen canopies in Venice__ Piazza San Marco; the velvety dunes of the eastern Sahara; Bali__ kaleidoscope of color; my Vietnamese sisters.

When you travel, buy a historical book about the place, read to increase your knowledge on the beautiful places of the world.

People add color to their story because they think it happened in black and white.

When you follow the right steps you will never get lost.

The gift of solo moments is that they are wholly ours. On or off the road, solo moments connect us inward to ourselves with heightened clarity and insight. They also direct our energies out into the world, magnetizing us to new people and experiences we may not have encountered under any other circumstance.

During those days of whirling about the globe, I had an epiphany: travel was the only area of my life where I had no expectations. I anticipated nothing while fully engaging each moment. What bred adventure, surprise and deep experience was not knowing, surrendering to now and letting go of control.

My post-cruise sabbatical would spark the idea for my first book, Cheaper Than Therapy: How to Keep Life__ Small Problems from Becoming Big Ones _ The Lesson of the Paper Clips. How? In my data entry job all I did for 20 hours a week was paper clip printouts of computer screens. For three years. I loved it.

My professional life had started and here I was at a professional dinner full of uninhibited drinking.

What I__e learned in my travels is that people are more alike than they are different. Yes, I may have a different home or lifestyle than a mom living in Shanghai, but deep down we are still mothers who hope for the best in our children. I always find so much in common with those I meet on my travels _ and that provides a genuine connection that cultural differences can__ erase.

History is rich knowledge, In your travel, learn the brief history of the place visited. .

In your travel, learn the brief history of the place visited. History is rich knowledge.

When you focus on the journey, you will be blessed with guardian angels to direct your path.

What would happen if, once back home, I stayed open to possibilities rather than attach to specific outcomes? What if I dreaded no potential storms? Ruminated over no past transgression? I knew how. For decades the reflex kicked in with each plane ride. The more I pondered these questions _ How could I cultivate the habit of taking life as it comes? How can I immerse myself in living, like I__ on vacation on all the time, without boarding a plane or crossing a border? _ the more I recognized the arbitrariness of the dichotomy between life and travel.

Travel has a way of making the world a much smaller place.