I say yes, you say no, OR People are Strange

Medigal .. thanks for sharing your lovely story with us.  I know where my moutain is .. just have to figure out how to get there.

hugs,

Bren

Medigal, I'm so glad you found your mountain!  And goes to show that if we want to travel, we must do it when we are able and not wait for retirement or "later".  No guarantees of our ability to do so later.  It does take sacrifice to most of us to travel, we all have different priorities and travel for us was way at the top.  I truly don't think we'd have as fun memories or experiences if we'd had a bunch of money to blow on travel and fancy hotels and food.  Best times we've had were the "mistakes" or getting lost.  LOL

Lindasa, I totally agree that planning extends the vacation!  We spend months reading and researching where we're going and deciding what we want to do or see.  we have found that knowing a "bit" is so much more fun and offers more understanding of what we are doing and seeing. 

As far as language, I don't speak English that well, let alone other languages.  LOL.  We have found that having the local words for good manners: please, thank you, etc, have gotten us by Very well thru many, many countries.  Most we have been in contact with seemed to appreciate our efforts, even if we butchered their words.  LOL.  And a smile has gotten us into places and fun we would never have had.

My mom always wanted to visit Hawaii and tho she never went, she picked my brain about everything I saw there on my active duty trips thru there.  I took more pics there than anywhere, so I could "take " her there. 

Great story, Ang7!  Iodine, I liked your comment that "Best times we've had were the "mistakes" or getting lost."  I love travel serendipity!  One of my fondest travel memories is from a small town in Spain, right by a national park.  The bus from Jaen dropped me off, and I had no place to stay, just a few guidebook suggestions.  I started walking, studying the addresses I had, when a very bossy Spanish matron came up to me and told me she had a flat I could rent.  A bunch of college students had rented it for the week, it seems, and then skipped out (or she threw them out - she was not at all happy with los estudiantes).  The flat was huge - three bedrooms, I think - and she let me have it for a ridiculously small amount of money.  It opened onto the main town square, where the market was held a few days a week, and had a rear balcony that looked out over the municipal soccer field.  What I remember especially is sitting on that balcony in the evening, all tired out from hiking, eating dinner from the market and watching the soccer players.  I could have planned (and paid) much more, but it wouldn't have been nearly as good.

L

I can't help myself.  I broke my promise not to speak of 'her' during the month of February.  But .. I wish she would just shut up.  What .. she's now channeling Reagan.

Bren

Edited:  Deleted link cause I momentarily lost my sanity.

Medigal, I loved your post, you had me all teared up.  Everyone, all the travel stories have got me itching to go, now I'll have to work on that saving money thing.

THANKS BREN - Excellent article! Sarah is spot on, as usual. Thanks for sharing.

Do you object to the concept of the United States verifying who is really behind the push for change in Egypt, and what their long term objectives are before we publicly back them or another group, or do you object to the fact that the suggestion came from Palin?

Some of those protesters (like the ones who attacked the American journalists)  have made it clear that they hate America, and want to see the destruction of our close ally, and their neighbor Israel.  Unless we wish to be drawn into yet another war, we need to know who we are dealing with before we back them.  Not bad advice no matter who is giving it.   

Morning River .. maybe add something to the morning coffee!

Bren

I deleted mine as it made little sense with your link deleted.  However, I wonder if there is a 12 step program for this affliction?

Step One:  Admitted we were powerless over ...

Step Two:  Try to find some sanity!

Pat - I agree...we really need to know who we are dealing with. It's called...ummmm...NATIONAL SECURITY.

Posting for anyone who is interested/curious about the article that was deleted:

Palin: Obama's 3 a.m. call went to answering machine  

Sarah Palin, in her first comments on the uprising in Egypt, called the situation President Barack Obama's 3 a.m. phone call and said, "It seems the call went right to the answering machine."
In the interview, the potential Republican presidential candidate said,

"We need to know what it is America stands for so we know who it is that America will stand with. And we do not have all that information (from the administration) yet."

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/02/05/palin-obamas-3-a-m-call-went-to-answering-machine/

Thanks ladies for enjoying hearing about my travels to find "my" mountain. 

Anne:  Yes, it IS the Matterhorn!  I had no idea as a child what I was looking and when I grew up the photo had been lost by my family so I had no idea where to go to find it.  However a child's determination turned into an adult's desperation.  I even tried looking for it in Canada and I was fortunate to see magnificent mountains in many places we visited but somehow I knew it wasn't my mountain of "milk" as I called it.  I am sooooo grateful to that dream I had telling me my travel time was running out and I needed to go to Europe to find my mountain.  You see on our meager budget from what DP made at work and raising two kids, I could see no way to budget for Europe.  But the same dream that inspired me to go to Europe also gave me the answer how to do it and be able to afford it.  We even got to return to Switzerland a second time because once was just not enough when I saw my mountain.  I saw the little child within me crying with  joy because she knew her search was ended.

We have a magnificent photo of it which DP took with his camera and we will have memories forever of it hovering over the little village where our motel was.  Since we are all trying to survive bc and with some of us like our Blue having more to suffer, I just wanted to let you know that we should not put off anything we can do today until tomorrow.  We never know what tomorrow holds for us.  When I had my dream I really had no serious health problems and would never have thought the future was holding all the medical problems I encountered.  Even the lady at the travel agency where I went to find brochures told me I still had years left to travel because I seemed young and healthy.  I told her I only had ten left and I knew I had to find that mountain asap!  She had no idea what I was talking about because I didn't tell her what I was looking for.  

Ladies, if there is any way possible, please don't let bc keep you from finding whatever is your "mountain".  BTW, the photo of my mountain is the one my sister wrote my real birth date on but we moved and the photo and my birth date got lost forever.  I found my mountain but I will never be able to know my exact date of birth.  But my mountain meant more to me and at least I stayed alive long enough to find it!  

That little child's determination to find her mountain turned me into a type of adult who has been able to do any thing she put her mine to and be able to help so many others along the way in life.  I think we all have mountains to find but they are not always the same.  I love that song "Climb Every Mountain" from Sound of Music.  I sing it whenever I get depressed about anything I feel I am not qualified to do.  Then.....I am climbing that mountain and taking on burdens ten humans could not carry.  So "Climb YOUR mountains" ladies and make your little child within you be full of joy!

BinVA wrote:

Shirley .. it's wonderful you could choose (emphasis mine) to stay at home.  Most of us couldn't.  I worked full time to take care of my son.  I was still able to take him to Disney and on a cruise to Mexico.

You're certainly not insinuating that both can be done...one income and travels.  We had three kids.  Don't forget, we also put them through private schools for 13 years.  It was our priority and to this day, as adults, they still are very appreciative.  How many children did you have?  One? 

Yes, my priority was to stay home with my children.  We sacrificed a whole lot.  Our biggest investment was our children.  They didn't ask to come into this world, and we felt it was our responsibility to give them the best we could afford.  And let me tell you there were no luxuries i.e. cars.  They couldn't even go on their senior trips. We couldn't afford to buy them a class ring or buy each of them a year book..they shared the one year book. But we did scrape up to the money to buy their college class rings.    And you know what, they took these things like a champ.  I suppose you could say they never felt entitled....just fortunate.

CHOOSE....what a word!

BTW, I have noticed that some well-traveled women have been spelling the word wrong...it's traveled..not travelled...travelling...only one L. 

Speaking of travelling (Cdn spelling, BTW), Medigal, I really enjoyed your story about seeking the Matterhorn -- and "Climb Every Mountain" is indeed inspirational, in the best possible way!

Shirley .. I'm not insinuating that one can travel with children on one income .. I am saying I did it.  One income and one child.  He did attend private school in the early years, then switched to public school. My son and I traveled all the time in the US.  I budgeted and saved ... and went without many things.  We had a lot of fun together and I'm glad I was able to provide for him with no outside help. I did not receive child support.  I worked hard and worked my way up the ladder.

My son was in all the usual sports activities and did not go without.  I was also able to provide a car for him when he turned 16.  He's a good kid, and as an adult has turned into a fine man, husband and father.

Bren