I didnt know where to place this post so I thought I'd stick it here, for the enjoyment of folks who have been there and done that...

today i had a truly remarkable experience. i was asked to speak toa class at a community college about my experience of the pilgrimage route santiago de compostela. i managed to promote the idea of int'l travel a lot and tried dispelling the myth that only the rich get to travel. i told them about my four (yes, four) extra jobs i do to rake in money, about various sacrifices i have made in order ot fund my travels, etc.

i had each of them write down 5 places in the world they wanted ot see. "new zealand" ranked high among them, as did many places in europe, but also obscure south pacific islands. i quickly read through them and told them they could get to anyplace they had named for less than $1000 (or 1 bought lunch a day for a year) and did a simple formula to show them that travel is cheaper than staying home.

i wrote bna's website on the board and in a few short minutes told them the wonders of backpacks, hostels and resources like bna that make it possible to JUST GO.

i know that many of htem have financial challenges and that in many cases, esp when you have youngsters at home, travel is a frivolity, but i caught a glint in the eye of a few of the students and i hope and pray that they can somehow, one day, scrounge up the money, say "fok it" and get on the road.

anybody else recall similar talks with the uninitiated? god, it gave me such a foking rush to try to convince them that their dreams of travel are totally attainable. i hope they believed me.

Zopa, I to you!!!!

Excellent topic. I love talking to people about travel (I suspect we all do, which is why we're here), especially people who think it's "too hard," "too costly" or "too scary." We all know what an eye-opening experience it can be to see other cultures and meet other people - heck, to just experience "other" - so to be able to pass that along to someone else is just fabulous.

Your exercises were great - real, concrete examples of how much a trip will cost in relation to the latte people buy every morning... (Or whatever.) And thank you a thousand times over for your BnA plug.

Yay Zopa!!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by JessieS:
Zopa, I to you!!!!



Yay Zopa!!!!!

hey, that could be a whole 'nother thread, but we might crash the server.

just kiddin'

I did not know you did the Camino...cool

I think we need to start a BNA Kids Geography club to promote travel...corrupt the youth a little