Life musings part 2

I love to travel.

Did you know that?

Why am I the way that I am? Where did this itch to explore stem from? My childhood vacations were spent in Seattle, returning home to our extended family or on Florida road trips camping and the like. My dad has never been out of the country; Granny barely made it out of Florida.

Maybe part of the desire to GO was instilled in my soul from a dear family friend who treated my sister and I as one of her many grandchildren. Each Christmas and birthday, she gave us gifts from whatever country she had visited that year, usually with a picture or accompanying explanation. I was always intrigued by the places she visited... Maybe this is where my interest was piqued to begin with? Then there were rare stories told by my mom of her youthful days spent traveling Europe, and a phenomenal Spanish teacher who infused our lessons with applicable knowledge of other cultures.

My first trip was right after graduation with our Spanish classes, to England, France and Spain. There were two types of people in this group... Those who were hesitant to try new things... Who found comfort in frequenting McDonald's and complained about "not another museum!" And then there were those who snuck away from the group as much as possible. Fortunately I found myself in the latter. I left the group to explore the louvre by myself, finding myself move at random works by artists I've never heard of. I snuck away to explore the grounds of a castle in France, chancing upon what I dubbed a "secret garden" of sorts that still sticks out in my memory. With a friend, we left to climb down to stand next to the waves crashing on the rocks on the coast of France... And again in Barcelona, figuring out the bus system to lay out at the beach (no one technically told us we couldn't leave Las Ramblas...)

I love people. I love to hear their life stories, how their cultures differ from my own. I am so thankful for the opportunities that have presented themselves in order for me to experience even a minuscule portion of this world. My hope is for God to use the "gifts" so to speak, that make me, well, me, both here at home and abroad.