It is all about the journey
The trip lasted 19 days, but the planning, packing, and jet lag can add more than another week. Without careful preparation, you’ll be tired at both the start and end of your journey.
I focus on taking pictures, lots of pictures, working under the belief that it may require 100 attempts to take one great photo. Knowing from experience, telling your story is best done in less than 50 photos, no matter where you have been. This results in literally thousands of pictures to go through, crop, and photoshop.
When I return home, I reflect on the journey. The Pyramids and Parthenon are memorable, but I find that I mostly discuss what I learned during the trip.
Travel has become more convenient. Eight different flights were taken, including Delta, Egypt Air, and Cambodia Airways, without any delays or issues.
The entire trip was completed without checking luggage, which requires packing light. Most individuals we meet are unlikely to notice the repeated use of clothing items within a single week. As for our traveling companions, they were recycling as much as we were.
The laundry service was excellent everywhere. We used it three times: twice in hotels and once on a riverboat. It was particularly affordable in Egypt due to favorable currency rates for American travelers.
The world has become casual. You can wear tennis shoes in upscale restaurants. I wore a windbreaker and sneakers to a fine dining restaurant offering a $7,000 bottle of wine overlooking the Acropolis, and no one minded. We ordered a modest local Greek wine, by the way.
Trying local food is a key part of traveling. I tasted many dishes with unknown ingredients and names I could not pronounce. Each country has renowned cuisine, so it’s worth sampling the local flavors when visiting.
A skilled travel agent can elevate your trip. Our drivers were punctual, and our tour guides were knowledgeable, except for one new young guide on the island of Hydra, Greece. However, her enthusiasm and beautiful smile compensated for her historical inaccuracies. Go with the flow.
Our trip was full of contrasts. Cairo, a city of 25 million, lacks adequate garbage collection, experiences rain only every five years, and has seasonal sandstorms. This leads to a permanent grime on the windows of countless apartments stretching endlessly in every direction.
Yet, two of the best hotels I have ever visited were both in Egypt, one with a view of the Great Pyramid of Giza and the other overlooking the Nile River. An inexperienced traveler should stay close to these places in certain cities, as the environment can change just a block or two away.
Spain and Greece provided a contrast to Egypt. Madrid and Athens were elegant cities. We enjoyed an Italian meal at a small café in Madrid, despite the language barrier. I enjoyed an excellent Chinese meal in Cairo, perhaps better than any I ever experienced during two weeks in China. In Greece, we never grew tired of Greek food, especially the fish from the Mediterranean and Red Seas.
We traveled with our good friends from Auburn, David and Susie Pearson. During the Egypt part, the four of us shared a guide with Neal and Robin Collier from Melbourne, Australia, and Mike and Karen Melarkey from Reno, Nevada. It was a delightful group, and we made lasting friendships.
Carol Elsen Godfrey shared some words with me on Facebook this morning upon our return home to Auburn. She mentioned that traveling allows us to breathe in … newness, experiences, delicacies (and lots more). Arriving back home allows us to breathe out … the expected, the treasured, the centered, the loved (and so much more).
In years of traveling to over 45 countries, no words have better captured the essence of what traveling and then returning home means to us. Our interest in travel started early, influenced by grandparents and parents who experienced their own adventures around the world.
Our bucket list of the travel destinations we want to visit continues to grow even as we check off an increasing number of locations. We acknowledge that for us the essence of travel lies in the journey itself, and this particular journey was noteworthy, indeed.
o0o
Dan Ponder can be reached at [email protected]