Big Number 11--Travel!



Me with my grandma in Colorado,
probably around '86 or so...

Travel!  How could I forget it in my Finley Kid Education List?  I have the travel bug and always have, and I come by it honest from my grandma Evelyn's heritage.  They're adventurers and explorers and geographers by nature, and while I don't share my grandma's obsession with looking at maps just for the fun of it, I share almost all the rest (including a genuine love for [almost] every tree I meet, though I do not hug them, ha ha). 

I always wanted to do the summer of hostels in Europe when I was younger and never did, but I did have incredible opportunities that my parents were so stellar to fund and encourage, and they've contributed much to who I am today.  Very early on, my Aunt Josie or my grandparents would take me on road trips to Colorado, which first opened my eyes up to landscapes (deserts, mesas, mountains), cultures (Native Americans), and climates (cold) different than I'd experienced at home in North Texas.

Hawai'ian lu'au on the big island



Then, when I was around 9 or so, my mom started working for American Airlines, and Mom and Dad were so cool as to start adventuring around on weekend trips, and some longer, to various places of interest.  We did the Pacific Northwest down into northern California, the Northeast from Maine down to Rhode Island, D. C.,  Hawai'i, Cancun, and lots of places in between. 

Later on, they gave me the experiences of going overseas to visit Israel at one point and Italy at another.


Atop the Mt. of Olives, Jerusalem &
the Dome of the Rock behind me

What's cool about it, besides the great fun, is how eye-opening it is.  Even just experiencing the physical input of terrain and climate tells you quite a bit about the people who live in a place.  Then you start to experience architecture, history, and interaction, and many of your narrow beliefs from your little bubble of "home" start to become enriched, challenged, or obliterated.  But they do not remain unchanged.  I've never returned from a trip without having a broader understanding and appreciation for people and for God and His creation.  He'll definitely use the experience to talk to us if we're listening.

Mark Twain said, "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." I don't put tons of weight on everything Mark Twain thought, nor do I think travel is the only way to challenge one's thinking, but I like that quote nonetheless.  I'm a lover of Truth. I think prejudice (according to the official dictionary definition) and narrow-mindedness are usually the result of ignorance rather than understanding.  Travel helps with that.  It doesn't make us less convicted about what's good and true.  I think it provides opportunity to solidify our convictions about what's good and true.  I've seen plenty of people who are suspicious of anything different that might challenge their convictions, but I don't think having convictions challenged makes a person less convicted.  And when it comes to spiritual things, if we really, truly trust Yahweh, He'll be the first one to challenge our convictions, believe me!


The 1997 signing of the Balanced
Budget Agreement in D.C. That white hair
behind us is Newt Gingrich being
interviewed. When he was done,
they interviewed me! I zealously
 solved all the world's problems.

So travel has definitely jarred me, given me a new appreciation for people's differences and an awareness that so many differences are not as scary as some would perceive them; they're just different approaches to the basic human issues we all face.  I do not agree with everyone else, but I've had lots of unfair and debilitating preconceptions eradicated, and I'm glad.  Those untruths were not helpful.

(Plus, beyond all the serious mumbo jumbo, did I mention that travel is sooooo fun?!)



Inside St. Peter's in Rome

When I moved to the Northeast, it was a much bigger adjustment and adventure than I would've expected since it's just another region in my native USA.  The things I was used to buying from the grocery store shelves in Texas were not appearing on Boston's shelves.  The accent was a bit unusual.  The political and cultural vibe was different.  I couldn't find a church quite like what I was after.  But what I did find was that Yankees are, well, people.  Of all things.  And I had to face a ridiculous prejudice in myself that I didn't even know was there about the whole tired North/South thing that pervades part of the culture lingering in Texas.  And if a Northerner went to Texas, they'd have they're minds broadened about the richness of Southern culture and that most Southerners are not stuck in some hillbilly rut. 



Sort of like Frankfurt's airport;
Israel's "police" is their military.
Automatic weapons inspire fear,
for sure!

One cannot walk through Frankfurt, Germany's airport, with uniformed guards carrying semi-automatic weapons standing at their various posts, without getting a bit of understanding about the people there and what must influence them, giving some compassion for what might've been misunderstood just moments prior. 

And I'd always thought that the Bible story about Sodom and Gomorrah where Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt was so weird.  I was always like, "A pillar of...salt?"  Then I went to where that had happened, right off the Dead Sea.  And wouldn't you know it, because of all the mineral deposits there, there are actually pillars of salt everywhere.  So Lot's wife just turned into the landscape.  It made total sense then.  It was the coolest connection that made me think differently about a lot of strange things in the Bible.  I realized then that there are probably a lot more totally logical explanations out there for other stuff, too.

So, having run all over the place in my thoughts, it is a big priority to me for my kids to experience the shock and the big fun and the challenge that usually comes from the wonderful gift of travel. 

Add it to the list!