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.
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?!
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.
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.
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!