So far I have traveled in 31 countries, on 6 continents (7, if you count Zealandia), and 38 US states. My first foreign travel was at age 19, when I spent 6 months living in France, as a college student abroad. (I am not counting the 24 hours I spent in the Bahamas at age 14 as the guest of my favorite aunt Dorothy) The France experience was transformative. I learned to drink wine, to speak another language, and I learned from a French taxi driver that my country was sunk in a morass of war in Vietnam, which changed my worldview forever.
I have only taken two planned group tours. The first was one I planned with a Dutch friend in 2015. We led a group of 8 senior adventurers on a 10 day journey by train, bike, boat, and foot through four different Dutch cities, in celebration of Vincent Van Gogh’s 125th anniversary and the annual Dutch Design week in Eindhoven. It only cost them $150 per day and no one was hurt (very much). We sang Starry, Starry Night after dark and walked the special track lit like the Starry Night sky from below. It ended up being an interior journey for me, half Dutch, and I wrote an essay about it that I read for friends on the occasion of my 70th birthday. The second one was a group tour to Iran in 2019. Because of the strained relationship between our two countries, an officially authorized itinerary and Iranian guide was required. The group were all friends of the American leader and the Iranian guide was refreshingly open and unbureaucratic. It was terrific, but missed those serendipitous meetings and moments that self-planned travel offers.
Other states, other lives, other souls 