Travel Gifts

     Late last night, my wife and I arrived back from a week in Barbados. We came back to a temperature probably seventy degrees different from what we left in that beautiful Carribean island nation. It was hard to leave, but it's also good to be home. We're unpacking, doing laundry, enjoying a fire in the fireplace and getting geared up for a return to work with the good energy of vacation.

     Winter vacations in a warm place seem to me to be a particular luxury. I can handle the next several weeks of deep winter because every day last week I walked into water where I didn't shiver at all. I snorkled five days in a row right off our apartment's beach in Carlisle Bay. Ten minutes out in that bay is an eighty foot French freighter that sank in twenty-five feet of water in 1918. The Berwyn is now an artificial reef, home to hundreds of fish so tame that they barely move as you glide among them. My first day a big green turtle startled me swimming deliberately only a few feet below. Snorkeling like that is a real in-the-moment meditation, helping me concentrate on breathing deeply and evenly, and noticing the smallest change with interest and gratitude.

     We saw several parts of the island from wild seacoasts to deep, jungle-like forests. But undoubtedly the real beauty of the island were its people. The beach we stayed on is a mile long, and local people moving on it from early morning to dark outnumbered the visitors by about 20 to 1. They walked, ran, vigorously exercised and just visited with each other bobbing in the warm, clear water. Fishermen, sailors, restaurant workers, boat repairmen, etc. were like a tapestry of life and humanity. Some were very friendly, others probably like ourselves just tolerating the influx of vacationers in our part of the world in summer. Most fun, of course, were the children who had that great kid spirit whether coming home from school or goofing around with each other on the beach. We felt privileged to share that beautiful part of the world with them.

     One young man we met stands out in my recalling several memorable people whose paths crossed with ours. We stopped for a bite to eat in a little strip mall in a tourist section. Helping out at this one Greek restaurant was a young man of about 20 or so. He described himself as a designer and entrepeneur. His vision was to form a collective of young artists and musicians, interacting with both local citizens and visitors from abroad interested in the sort of cutting edge art scene found in places like London and New York. I have no doubt he'll realize his vision.

     Travel in our own lands or abroad allows me to appreciate and learn from people who broaden and deepen my picture of the world and its inhabitants. "All my relations!" say many Native American peoples as they begin or end prayers or ceremonies. When I travel, I see how true that affirmation is. And I'm grateful.