One of the benefits of living in small towns and rural areas is that everyone knows everyone else and/ or there is only one degree of separation between most area residents. I have also noticed that most folks have a large circle of family, along with a few good friends, who meet their love and belonging needs. The combination of these two things means that meeting new people and making new friends isn’t an everyday occurrence for folks back home. Over the years, my work and travel life has involved meeting and dealing with lots of new people. Enough so, that I am a little averse to interacting with strangers. Not so for my husband, Paul.
Growing up and traveling the world as the son of a foreign diplomat and an international hotel/restaurant/tourism professional and academician he makes friends easily which has led to a life filled with friends from all over the world. He thinks nothing of calling an old acquaintance that he hasn’t seen in 40 years to arrange a get together while he is visiting their area. At first I thought this was odd and/or inappropriate but have come to realize most folks like connecting with old friends and colleagues or, at least, they love hearing from Paul. What I have learned from making all these new acquaintances over the past decade is that our travel experiences are greatly enriched due to our connections with locals. We learn and experience so much more about an area and its people through personal interactions and Paul is so happy to connect with folks from his past. I thoughts I would share some of these friendships that have made for a rich full travel life.
-Paul became fast friends with Drennen & Morig through a mountaineering club in Aberdeen, Scotland when he worked there in the 70’s. They came to our wedding near Edinburgh; we have visited their quaint farm in the Scottish countryside on numerous occasions and have accompanied them on several country weekend road trips. Talk about immersion!
-Paul has English cousins who we visit regularly. I will never forget a Christmas dinner we had with them at a country lodge idyllically situated in snow dusted rolling hills covered with sheep. It was surreal!
-We spent a Christmas in Paris and I can still visualize the snowy French countryside as our train raced toward the city as well as the snow laced slanted roofs outside his sister’s Paris apartment. She buzzed us through numerous Paris sites in a day that would have taken a regular tourist a full week to navigate.
-We met up with two of his Harvard MBA buddies; one in Bangkok, Thailand and one in Oslo, Norway. His Bangkok friend rented a van and provided a private tour of several historical sites and took us to the best Pad Thai restaurant in Bangkok. My nieces and nephew will always remember this tour!
-I befriended a Flagstaff personal trainer/massage therapist who moved to Thailand 10 years ago. He provided us with an in depth cultural experience in northern Thailand. We stayed at his condo in Chaing Mai for several months while he and his girlfriend took off traveling on his motorcycle. Such digs!
-While hiking in the Himalayas in Nepal, Paul befriended a German man and his son who we subsequently had dinner with several times while in Germany the following fall. We met up with another woman from his Himalayan hiking trip while in Norway. She is a marine biologist studying sea life in the frigid waters of the Arctic Ocean. Wow!
-Paul has numerous Dutch colleagues whose we visit while in the Netherlands. One is bringing his family to the US this summer and will stay at our Flagstaff house while in Arizona. It is nice to reciprocate!
-I have an old Arizona colleague who lived in Denmark for 10 years ago. We met up with her and her partner to visit a modern Danish museum. While driving to the museum, we happened upon the home/studio of Isak Dinesen (aka Karen Blixen) whose life was made into the movie Out of Africa.
-We had dinner with a couple in Amsterdam whose parents were friends of Paul’s parents in the 60’s. Paul met this woman, now in her 50’s and a lawyer in The Hague, when she was 8 years old.
-We also connected with some new friends from Ortonville who happened to be in Amsterdam at the same time we were. How cool was that!
Anyway, the list goes on but you get the drift. Our travels are about more than just being tourists which is the way we like it. This summer we have rented a 5 bedroom house for a month in a small village in the Piedmont area of northern Italy. We have family and friends rotating in and out during the entire month and I assume we will get quite familiar with the area and well acquainted with some of its residents; all of which will lead to future connections and adventures. Life is good as I wind down my winter travel series! 2018