A Place Called Roam
  • Home
  • Tao of Travel
  • The Best Of
  • Archives
  • About
  • Contact Me

COLUMBUS SHARES BENEFITS OF TRAVELING THE WORLD

10/8/2012

 
So Christopher, “Admiral of the Ocean Sea”, how does it feel to have your very own holiday?  We’re off on the actual date this year by a number of days, but that’s government work for you. You had your Ferdinand and Isabella, we have our Uncle Sam.  By the way, nice ship!
Picture
Not exactly the Nina, Pinta or Santa Maria, but close enough.
Yeah, we all have a cross to bear.    
 

I couldn’t agree more. There are still a lot of benefits to being a world traveler despite the fact discovering new continents is no longer one of them. 
No, gold and the title of Viceroy and Governor aren’t part of the deal anymore but I agree travel sure beats the monotony of the 9 to 5. Yeah, most of us have moved from the field and fiefdom to the office and boredom.   Sit in that cubicle long enough and everything goes flat, from creativity to resourcefulness to our view of the world at large, and anybody who's somebody knows the world isn’t flat.  

I personally think
 travel is all about learning to embrace change.  Would you believe the entire time Jimmy and I toured Iceland the sun never set?! 
Picture
Iceland?  It’s an island in Europe, up there by Newfoundland. You know, Leif Eriksson, the Norse Viking who actually beat you to North America by 5 centuries when he landed in Newfoundland. No, no let’s not argue. 

Apparently adapting to all that change makes you smarter, too.  I think it fires up more synapses in the brain.  Did you know Icelanders have a literacy rate of 99%?  I want to know who the slouch is.  Who knew twenty-two hours of daylight could deliver so much creativity!  It was weird; but cool weird!  The sun would dip close to the horizon about two in the morning and then bounce right back up like a ping pong ball. 

Ping pong? It’s a game of tennis played on a table rather than a court. Tennis? 

Just embrace the change, Chris, okay? Change is good.  
 
After all, you’re really the master of change.  Just when you thought you had the world figured out up pops North and South America where China was supposed to be.  That had to be a bit of a surprise.  Did you bury your head in the sand?  Heck no. In fact you went back three more times to the New World after your groundbreaking maiden voyage in 1492.  That's sexy!

Really, people who travel are perceived as sexier than those who don't travel, at least according to a ItsJustLunch.com survey involving people on a first date. 
Sharing those priceless travel memories is obviously worth more than the pittance Queen Isabella ended up paying you for your efforts.  

Yeah, she did do wrong by you but you still got all the credit for colonizing North America.  That's got to be worth some mileage when it comes to
 meeting new people and learning about other cultures.  We're up to almost 7 billion people now.  Yeah, I’d say that’s more than all the tea in the China you had trouble finding.

It had to be the thrill of a lifetime when you finally spotted land.  Yep, exploring new places definitely keeps you looking young; and happy.  I heard that
women who travel report greater satisfaction in their marriages.  No, no, no.  Women who travel with their spouses.   You know, like a honeymoon again and again with each new destination. It does seem to keep things 'fresh' for Jimmy and me.   
Picture
Don't we look 'refreshed'?
Did you know travel is actually good for your health too?  No, drowning's and ships crashing off rocky shores  are pretty much a thing of the past, barring that disaster with the Costa Concordia. Yeah, did you know people who take a vacation at least once a year have a 50% lower rate of heart attack? Found those stats on the internet from the U.S. Travel Association, but it's a PDF file. Just forget I even mentioned internet or PDF. More information than you need to know.  

No, we don’t see too many sailors today with wooden legs or eye patches or hooks for hands either. Yeah, we still have our issues with pirates, but Jimmy and I usually stay off the high seas when we travel. We like to drive or fly.

No, Icarus just got a little too close to the sun.  We tend to fly at about 30,000 feet which prevents melting although the day we hiked to the top of Diamond Head in Hawai'i last year I thought I might melt from the heat and humidity. Needless to say, we got a bit more exercise because of our trip to Hawai'i.
Picture
Looks like we had it made in the shade. Looks can be deceiving.
Hawai'i?  Well, that wasn’t really my point, but if you must know,  Hawai'i is just another chain of islands a lot like the ones you discovered in the Caribbean, only these are in the Pacific Ocean.  Yeah, I hate to break the news to you, but there was actually another body of water out there you missed entirely, but your instincts were good.  There's nothing like travel to really bring the world and your life into focus.  Had to be a bummer when you were forced to turn back at the Panama Canal.     

Really? Directions to the Panama Canal?  Okay, let me get you a map.  Yeah, Balboa and Magellan finally found that little shortcut a few years after you sailed off into the sunset. 

Oh, I know you’ll have nothing but smooth sailing this time around.  Until next year then Admiral.  Bon voyage.  And thanks for going the distance!


Comments are closed.

    About

    I'm searching for more meaning, magic and mystery in life through travel.  If you're searching for more info about me click on this link.   

    Categories

    All
    Attractions
    Botanic Gardens
    Cities
    Cruises
    Culture
    Europe
    Food
    Fun Foto Friday
    How You Venn?
    Islands
    Lake Geneva
    Life's Mysteries
    Middle East
    Museums/Memorials
    National Historic Landmark
    North America
    Nothing To Do With Travel
    Parks/zoos
    Photos
    Random Thoughts
    Restaurants
    This Thing Called Travel
    Top Ten
    Tuesday Travelista
    UNESCO World Heritage Site
    Who Knew?
    Zen Travel Moment

    View travelbug's photos on Trover

    Blog Roll

    This Is Indexed
    NatGeo Travel
    Science Dump
    Traveler Writers Exchange
    Matador 
    Brain Pickings
    House By the Sea
    Time Goes By
    The Happiness Project
    Dictionary of Obscure 
       Sorrows

    For Automatic Blog Updates
    in same time click the RSS Feed button below and sign up for email notices or click the Like button below for automatic updates to your Facebook page. 

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly