How Travel Does Last A Lifetime

“Why do you go away? So that you can come back… Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”

Terry Pratchett

We often get together and discuss our lives and travels; just us ladies, some lunch, and great spirits. It’s a great way to get to know one of another, talk about upcoming trips and ask for advice and recommendations. Betty is a particularly spunky member of our group and she forever changed my perception of how travel truly enriches.

Betty was on a recent trip with our group to Switzerland and Bavaria. She was a bit reserved at first but after some time she began to open up about her life and her travels. We changed seats each day on the bus and we finally had the opportunity to sit together for a few hours as we traversed the Alps. She is an adventurer and has this uncanny ability to paint the most vivid pictures of her travels; one could almost smell the the Indian ocean or even taste the tropical fruit undertones of a chilled Sauvignon Blanc at a New Zealand winery.

At our next meeting we we could not help but open up the floor to Betty as we wanted to hear and learn more. She could have gone on for hours with the extent of her travels over the years. What we learned from Betty that day was that her years of travel provided a foundation for her personal growth throughout her lifetime. Betty’s experiences abroad molded the person she is today. Her sense of adventure and her love for culture, still to this day, drive her to continuously learn, love and grow. Some of us collect furniture, cars, purses, money, accolades etc. and that is fine. For Betty what was important was creating experiences and collecting memories.

When she came to our meeting Betty was 89 years old, and in listening to her one would think that based on the vivid details that her trips must have been in the last 10 or 20 years at most. To my surprise some of her travels date back 50 plus years, yet they are forever etched in her memory as lucid as if she experienced them last week. Betty’s face lit up like a child on Christmas morning when she talked about traveling and by no surprise so did ours.

So what will you collect? Having traveled for 30 years both personally and professionally, I would be lying if I said I remember every trip or excursion, every cruise or wine tasting and sadly every memory from my travels. Unfortunately I don’t, but what I don’t forget however, is the feeling that my travels evoke. That feeling is what I collect.

If you want to travel don’t put it off. You are just robbing yourself of precious memories and time. If you find yourself with health and freedom then go; experience all those places you dream about.

Start today by writing down on a piece of paper three things:

Now that you have done that, stick it on your refrigerator or bathroom mirror and read it everyday. That date is not going to change but if you do go... I guarantee you will.

Please share your three answers in the comments below and feel free to ask any questions regarding destinations.

Here’s to you!