I was never much of a tourist. Left to my own devices, I would probably never leave the house. Sarah, on the other hand, was a world traveler. We complemented each other nicely. I reined her in from her more extravagant travel plans (“Let’s bring our infant son to Churchill, Alaska, to see the polar bears!”) and she helped keep me from growing moldy (“Let’s stay here and watch the Law & Order channel for two weeks straight!”).
When I first met Sarah, she was planning a trip to Egypt. We had been dating for only a few months when Sarah announced that she was thinking of cancelling her trip to Egypt, because she couldn’t bear to be parted from me. I knew immediately that this was a test. Is Dave husband material? I am proud to say that I passed with flying colors. “Don’t be silly,” I said. “You’ve been looking forward to this trip for years. I’ll go with you.” I was a little bit scared, but it was wonderful. I’m glad we went when we did; I wouldn’t dare to travel in the Middle East now.
Sarah took me all over the world. After Egypt, we went to Canada, England, Italy, the Bahamas, and Australia. Once we had Nate, we toned it down a bit. We took him to New Orleans when he was just twelve weeks old, and then to Hawai‘i when he was about a year old. We took a cruise to Bermuda when he was almost two.
Many of our trips were to places Sarah had already been. She wanted to show me all of her favorite places, to help me know her better. I loved London right along with her, and Venice was simply magical. But we were always glad to come home. Well, almost always.
When we staggered off the airplane in Sydney, Australia, we were completely fried. The flight was something like twenty hours long, and it would be another six hours before we could check in to our hotel. We were wandering around Hyde Park and the Royal Botanic Gardens, looking for a place to nap that contained as few venomous spiders as possible. Even through our jet-lag stupor, we were taken by how beautiful, clean, and open the city was. Our running joke was for me to pretend to be grumpy at being dragged halfway around the world, so Sarah was surprised when I said earnestly, “I absolutely love it here. When are we coming back?” If it weren’t for our family ties, I really think I could have persuaded her to move there.
Sarah’s philosophy was that one should take the trip of a lifetime every year, because one never knows how long a lifetime will be.
She was very wise.
I’ve always wanted to start a “vacation fund” so I could save for the day when I can take my dream trip…but, the fund is slow in growing, and I have no real idea what my “dream trip” is anyway! Though I would like to go back to Singapore. Right now my yearly trip of a lifetime has to be Florida, because it’s really all about making memories with my son. And that’s just fine with me!
Oh wow, you’ve been some awesome places. Italy and Sydney are both near the top of our list. Travel is a priority for us, too, and I think I’ll take Sarah’s philosophy to heart.
Wow, thanks for sharing this. It is a good reminder for me. I’m more of the Law & Order for two weeks kind of gal myself, and I have to really be pushed to travel. I’m right now considering a trip, just a small one, and really having a tough time working up the nerve to go. I always admired and envied Sarah’s amazing ability to go to all these great places with such energy and love of life. I needed to remember what a gift it is.
Hi Dave, I like Sarah’s philosophy. Now that we have the means, we are starting to travel more. We just returned from a trip to Russia, where we visited with my son (who has been living and teaching there for almost 3 years) and his girlfriend. I don’t know if I ever would have gone there without a good reason, but I’m glad we did. Growing up when Russia was behind the “iron curtain”, it was unbelievable to find myself in Red Square and the Kremlin. We saw Moscow and St. Petersburg. If you go, try the different ethnic restaurants. Next stops: Italy and France.