The Traveler

“Wisdom begins in wonder.”  Socrates

The human spirit thrives on adventure! Even when we have trepidation about leaving homebase, our known place of comfort and safety, the urge to explore wins out. People everywhere love to travel! I recently experienced the trip of a lifetime. I traveled with my women friends on an excursion of the Dalmatian Islands along the coast of Croatia for a week and then on to a dream come true, visiting the Parthenon in Athens, Greece. I then split off and traveled solo to rendezvous with my boyfriend, Kirkland, in Praiano, a small town on the Amalfi Coast of Italy. After eighteen days of adventure on the Amalfi Coast, Kirkland and I flew from Naples to Granada, Spain. There we toured The Alhambra, an 8th century palace of the Islamic Golden Age and experienced the passion of traditional Flamenco performances, a dance, song, and guitar folkloric art form that originated in the Andalusian region of southern Spain dating back to the 15th century.

Along the way I embraced the unknown and as I leaned more and more into my instincts, I quickly transformed into the playful explorer trusting my resilience and open attitude to transport me into parts yet to be discovered. Traveling even with its unpredictability (really that is what makes it so exciting) is FUN!  For forty days on the road with the help of friends and the hospitality of strangers, I navigated and toured unfamiliar but welcoming places by bike, bus, boat, vespa, on-foot and plane. I got lost…and found. I observed and followed. I listened and adapted. I climbed up and down 265 stone steps every day in Italy to buy pasta, wine, and strawberries at the local market. I swam in the dark, navy-blue waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea. I hiked 2, 065 feet above sea level on the Path of the Gods (Sentiero degli Dei) where the messages of the mountains helped me know my strength and the peaceful embrace of solitude above it all almost touching the sky.   

Travel gives us our greatest stories, our most cherished memories, and countless irreplaceable learnings. It teaches us about ourselves and each other, it broadens our horizons and just like a reset button, it forces us to refocus on the gifts of living experiences that unite peoples and lands that we share on our beautiful planet Earth. As my friend Karen expressed to me while traveling together in Croatia, “ Travel makes you a better world citizen. If more people traveled, I believe we would all get along better.”

Kirkland, as well, shared with me his insights about his travels. He told me that travel gives him a different perspective. He said, “ I’m the foreigner. I see myself as an ambassador for my country being courteous and humbled as a guest in the countries I visit.”  As one who studies foreign languages in order to have more meaningful exchanges with people during his travels, he feels that being familiar with languages invites the growth of sensory nerves in your mind and heart opening possibilities for creating lasting memories and kinships.

Living on the Amalfi Coast for those eighteen days gave us the gift of time to reflect, to get in touch with an inner intimate expression of inspiration from our travels. I sat on the seaside balcony of our apartment painting water colors of the rugged, majestic coastline and he penned this poem. 

Praiano Musings (excerpt)

I live my life in this body, this fleshy vessel encasing this aging skeleton. This hardscape of bones is the dwelling place of my heart and soul. The ineffable partnership, the Amalfi Coast, has been its playground, its home, its church for days.

The rough-hewn land, the surrounding sea calls forth a muscular, sensuous response.

Blood flows, sweat finds its way to my skin, glistening. The simple act of climbing stairs becomes a devotional act, a prayer. The quickening pulse, a silent (to all outside) meditation bowl being struck thousand-fold.

Walking the Path of the Gods we are bathed in a virtual symphonic work:  the wind’s susurrational breath, the bray of the donkey, the smell of pine, the call of the distant sea.  A chorus!  The path rises and falls as we wend our way through the strong, petrified landscape. The wildflowers greet us as visual kisses.

We stride through the ancient man-made corridors and canyons of these villages. The culture and its time-worn aspirations whisper their tales of lore and hard-won successes in this sere land.