Dream Trips

I was talking with some well-traveled friends last night, and it reminded me of all that I loved when I traveled abroad. I would love to go back and explore further the places I've visited and lived, but I would love to explore new places too.

If I ever go back to Europe, my priority would be to visit the home countries and towns of my ancestors. Between my husband and I, we would probably need to visit the UK, Denmark, and Switzerland.

The places I've been in Europe have mostly been central/eastern and Germanic, which has been lovely. It would also be fun, though, to visit the countries of the Romance languages: Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, and maybe Romania.

I only have a little bit of Irish ancestry, but the pictures I've seen of the Irish countryside are beautiful.

One of my "dream places" a few years ago was Jerusalem and the Holy Land. It's such a different culture, and is a meeting place for many old cultures. The religious and secular history of the region is fascinating.

I don't know much about "the East", but India seems especially intriguing to me in the region. A college roommate introduced me to Bollywood films, and my husband, father, and father-in-law have all gone on business trips there. I know that it's a poor country that's been glamorized in film, but there seem to be some really beautiful things there too.

One question that I pondered for months after my study abroad was "What makes America unique, special, or different?" (An Austrian law student challenged me with that question two days into my stay). As I was talking with my friends, one introduced this poem, which I thought was pretty cool. As he read it aloud, he finished it with the reverence of a prayer. I guess I haven't been gone long enough to feel it deeply yet. "America for Me" by Henry Van Dyke, written in 1909. It ends:

I know that Europe's wonderful, yet something seems to lack: The Past is too much with her, and the people looking back. But the glory of the Present is to make the Future free,--We love our land for what she is and what she is to be. 

Oh, it's home again, and home again, America for me! I want a ship that's westward bound to plough the rolling sea To the blessed Land of Room Enough beyond the ocean bars, Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars.