"Nothing so liberalizes a man and expands the kindly instincts that nature put in him as travel and contact with many kinds of people." Mark Twain-Letter to San Francisco Alta California, dated May 18th, 1867; published June 23, 1867 Photo Shot of me and a Tunis,Tunisia North Africa resident-On February, 2013-I sailed on the MSC Splendida Italian cruise ship with a stop here in Tunis (Carthage), the home of General Hannibal Barca, military leader from ancient Carthage, Tunisia NA against the Roman Empire during the second Punic War (300 BC) with his herd of elephants! click this picture to see larger photo. People often asked me "Why Do You Travel?, I usually answer them with the following: " I learned to appreciate traveling as a child because my family were migrant workers in south Florida. During the crop harvest seasons, we traveled with a bus load of people to upstate New York, a small town in the mountains called Cassville to pick beans from the vines & white potatoes from the various farming fields . Children of other workers and myself were bused everyday to a nearby catholic church for school. On weekends my mother would take a bus into Syracuse to shop. I used to love looking at the mountains around the camp we lived in. My family moved to Detroit, Michigan when I was in the 7th grade and during the summer we traveled by car enroute to visit relatives and my childhood friends in Georgia, & Florida. Perhaps this experience helped to shape my desire to travel and see more of the world. My first trip out of the US was through the Windsor/Detroit tunnel into Windsor, Canada. I remember being so excited, I wrote my friends back in Florida to brag on how I had travelled out of the US!...of course Michigan readers know that it is an everyday event for us Detroiters who can cross the US/Canadian borders anytime so it is no big deal... but at that time in my life it was a big deal which later in life helped to influenced in traveling. Recognizing The Innate Spiritual Calling Over the years, I've often wondered, even believing that my strong desire to travel, see more of the world, meet people of different races and cultures was innate/inborn, an opportunity to fulfill one's soul mission. I believe "Thoughts are things, they travel with wings" and they go out to the universe and bring back to you your desires for fulfillment in this lifetime. The spiritual part of me kept the dream of seeing the world in my head. I believed that when a quest or dream is placed in your head, heart & even your soul, one should pay attention and act on it , otherwise why did the thought appear? Often this is something to pay attention to. Having the above experience as a child helped to shape and mold my thoughts and desire to further explore this world through traveling. To be philosophical momentarily, Carl Jung, the Swiss Psychotherapist coined the phrase "Synchronicity" which he defined as: "the dream of something and it appears in reality, or...acausal connection of two or more events (psycho-psychic connections) which are unlikely to occur by chance yet experience the same or occurring together in a meaningful manner." Simply put: think of when you thought of someone very strong, and they phone you or you bumped into them, or...someone mention their appearance, etc. Coincidence?...Um...maybe not! TRAVEL QUOTE:"Twenty Years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do that the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade of the winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover....Mark Twain "Don't live vicariously through others, it's your destiny that you have to fulfilled. Be not afraid for experiencing something new! Traveling over five (5) continents (thus far) has enriched me in some of the following ways: 1. Broaden my horizon to people of the world, and how they live 2. Know that the world is much bigger than my neighborhood/Community 3. Meet wonderful and not so wonderful people who have taught great lessons in life (in some places, people have never set eyes on an African-American person, Africans yes because they cover the globe like a wet blanket to work...but not AA's! 4. Educational Lessons: History, Language, Art, Music, Cultural, Anthropology, Friendships, outside the walls of brick and mortar 5. Better understand the world , its people and how it affects me globally 6. To know that we are all interconnected no matter what part of the continent one call home 7. As an educator for both high school and college, I want to serve as a role-model to my students and hopefully inspire them to travel beyond their neighborhoods, meet people who don't look like them, speak a different language and taste foods of different cultures. 8. Traveling helps to shape you into an international (unofficial ambassador) for the U.S.A. to represent yourself and your nation across the globe. I discovered many years ago that I can talk to most people about many subjects just by traveling. 9. As an African-American woman & (experienced traveler), I like the fact that loads of people are receptive and very friendly to us, very few are mean-spirited, acting on ignorance, hate Americans, living in a cocoon...very few. Most people across the globe love to see AA's and show excitement when they see us in their country. They like to touch our skin, hair, share a hug, and hear us talk. Most of the times, they think we are from Africa (usually South Africa), Brazil and even the Philippines (just recently asked this while I was visiting the bookstore in Krakow/Auschwitz, Poland Concentration/Extermination camps from World War II). 10. Make many new friends.. connect via email, Skype, and other social media outlets, even being invited back to their homes. And now I leave you with this question: where does your soul lead you?...We are on our life paths to live life to the fullest! *Look for my next articles coming soon "I Have Seen" which will focus on some of the spiritual places around the globe and what they mean to me! and...Shock & Awe: My visit with photos from Auschwitz/Birkenau... (Nazi's Jewish concentration/extermination camps located one hour from Krakow, Poland). "To Russia With No Love". You will want to read this one! LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS: CLICK THE LINK BELOW "ADD COMMENTS" Interesting Web Blogs and Site Links to learn more about African-Americans Travel and just plain traveling information with more to come!
www.yougogurl.com www.jaytravels.com www.granniesonsafari.com www.fly-brother.com www.blueworld travel.com www.discoverparts.net www.kattrax.com
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AuthorElizabethS: Academic Nurse Educator and global traveler for over 15 years, covering five continents, major oceans, and wonders of the world through land and cruises. ArchivesCategories |