Wondering the World
seeing the world with a sense of wonder
How many times can you be bitten by the travel bug? Not enough I say....
Do you ever get over that sense of wonder at every new experience or every old one revisited? I hope not....
My name is Shirley and I am a travel addict.
The addiction I have is probably the best in the world, TRAVEL.
And I can honestly say I don't get enough of it and it's an addiction I NEVER want to be cured of.
I knew early on that I was destined to travel, after all I was born in Africa, and at a young age traveled to England and then on to New Zealand where I grew up, so I had travel in my blood before I knew what travel was.
At the age of 19 I finally took the plunge and my first traveling adventures began. Since then my adventures have taken me to Asia and Europe, North Africa and the United States, the Middle East and Australia. I've explored many countries but I want to explore a whole lot more, I want to feel that sense of wonder every time I do.
I decided it was about time that the travel journals became travel blogs so here I go.....
WHO AM I ?
I am a firm believer that we are all put on this earth for a reason and we may never know what it is, but something we do or say could influence people in ways that we will never know.
We don't all get that pat on the back and told THANK YOU, but every time I travel I get the chance to say those very words.....
To that little old man (whose name I will never know) who sat next to me on a flight from Bangkok to Hong Kong who kept me amused with tales about how he celebrated his 70th birthday on the back on an elephant in India I say THANK YOU, because you've always been one of my heroes. I've always had it in the back of my head that maybe one day I will do the same, you inspired me to always be adventurous, and enjoy everything that life has to offer (my opinion of riding elephants has changed in the 20+ years that have passed as I have learnt more things about the brutality involved but not of the adenturous spirit of the wonderful gentleman who regaled me with stories about his wonderful trip around India.)
THANK YOU to my Great Aunt Belle who inspired me when with a dodgy hip and a walking cane she visited Disney for the first time and was as giddy as a six year old (instead of a well over sixty year old) she made me realise that as long as you are young at heart it doesn't matter how old your body is.
To my mother who always encouraged me that travel broadened the mind and there were no limits to what I could do or where I could go, I say a big THANK YOU.....lets hope we can share a few more adventures.
To the Dad and Daughter who I met in both Singapore and again in Hong Kong who were traveling together because it was something that they were doing to honor his wife who had died earlier that year. Dad had never been inspired to travel, but had made a promise to his wife that he would take his three daughters on their 18th birthday on a trip to Asia because it was something she had always wanted to do with them and she would now never get the chance. I said then and there when I have children I wanted to do the same, other parents give their children cars and big parties, I thought a one on one trip overseas was an experience that would be with us forever. So to that Dad and Daughter whose names I can't remember THANKS for inspiring me to explore the world through my children's eyes and giving me a chance to build a whole new relationship with them.