Why this blog?

I’ve been sending emails back to family and friends during travels around the USA and to other countries since 2006. Many shared with others who asked to be included, and the email list has gotten a bit unwieldy. So this is intended to be a “better” way to share experiences and scenes for those who want to follow along. We’ll see how that works out!

A 14th century traveler named Ibn Battuta once said, “Travel – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller”. My friends tell me I am a storyteller by nature and perhaps love for travel is the cause. My style is informal, anecdotal, simply sharing thoughts and experiences – including what goes wrong – and something always goes wrong! But learning to roll with it and find another way just adds to the story!

I find great excitement in travel and experience feelings of profound joy in encountering different cultures, scenery, foods, works of art, buildings, historical and ancient sites – there is something about seeing the places about which we have read and imagined that is exciting and fulfilling. Travel is also a constant reminder of Psalm 139 where God assures us that there is nowhere we can go that will remove us from His presence and care. I love it when others enjoy it as well and want to be able to read and relive the adventures later. Hence, the blog.

I also find that I become introspective and contemplative when I travel. Being away from the day to day demands of life provides space to slow down and look around and inside, to breathe deeply and spend time with the Creator while experiencing His creation and gifts. When in Russia in 1994, I participated with schoolteachers and administrators as they were trained in the use of educational materials based on the Bible. Watching people who were hearing stories such as that of the prodigal son for the first time caused me to approach Scripture – and when I remember to – people, relationships, and life in general as if hearing or viewing it for the first time, or in a different way. How that can change our perspective. I must remember to be intentional about doing it more often.

Whether you love to travel and are planning your next trip, would like to travel but for some reason can’t, or you don’t really care to but you enjoy hearing about the adventures of others – perhaps reading along will enable you too to pause, look within, take a fresh look at the world and its people, and know the loving presence of God who sees us all.

So come on – let’s ramble!