An article about travel in Alaska caught my eye yesterday, so of course I had to read it. I wanted to see how accurate it was, and to be transported to one of my favorite places in the world.
In reading some of the comments at the end, I came across one that said he had seen Alaska in a documentary on TV so he didn’t need to spend the money to go there. It brought to mind the old truism: “You get what you pay for.”
Anyone who has been to Alaska can verify that it’s impossible to get the feeling of vastness, majesty, beauty, and the wilderness unless you experience it firsthand. When you see Denali on a clear day there is a feeling of awe. When you watch a grizzly gorging on berries and ignoring the bus full of people just a few yards away, it’s exciting. If you have to stop in the middle of a city freeway to allow a moose to wander across, there’s delight.
So many events I’ve experienced in my travels can only happen when you are really there.
In Chile I went to a penguin nesting island and was told to stay on the path and not attempt to touch the penguins. Of course, no one told the penguins the rules, and one of them came up and started chewing on my shoelaces.
During a whale watching expedition in Maui a Humpback came to our raft and surfaced just inches from the side, so close I could have touched it (I didn’t.)
In Abu Dhabi, I watched the sun go down, reflecting off the buildings and the water, and heard the call to prayer reflecting across the quieting city.
In Rome, I walked a street used by merchants and shoppers two thousand years before the birth of Christ.
In Montreux, Switzerland, I explored a castle that has stood for a thousand years.
Then we walked into town and came across a statue that looked just like Freddie Mercury (it was him-it turns out he lived there.)
In Dubai, a trip to the spice souk (market) was a joy of sensory overload. The colors of the spices, the lovely smells, the noise of the merchants and buyers, all combined to create an indelible memory.
The most memorable part of my travels, however, is the people I’ve met. People all over the world are, for the most part, kind and welcoming and interesting and funny. Of course the tour guides are like that, but I also like to connect with the people I come across in my travels.
The nice gent at a local craft fair in the Outer Hebrides islands of Scotland, who was selling Harris tweed. He explained that he and his daughter did the weaving themselves, and gave me a lesson in the history of the cloth.
The young man at a market in Peru who was selling watercolors, and shyly told me that he was going to school to be an artist, and that the watercolors were his work.
The waiter in a restaurant in Rome who told us he had lived in Queens in New York, which was why his English was so good. He said his job at the restaurant was to get us drunk. He was good at his job.
The priest I met on a water taxi in Venice who was assigned to work on a refugee plan in Syria. He told me about the country and the people, and how highly he regarded them.
Getting out of your own locale, being open to new places and experiences, connecting with other humans; those are the events that bring us closer and help make the world a better place. Not everyone we meet can speak our language, but they have families, people they love, dreams for the future, and the ability to laugh. And I have always been able to communicate with a person in some way, regardless of their language.
Go. It’s worth it.
Travels with Billie 
Billie…just a great argument here, bolstered by your experience, for the benefits of travel to experience what others do, see, feel. Fine work. Lee
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