It seems like a long time since I've traveled internationally. Lately, it seems I have been preoccupied with teaching online. When I have traveled it was to econference around the United States. This has also been very enjoyable as I recently discovered I only have 5 more states to get to in order to have visited all of the "fifty nifty United States". As much as I loved Beale Street in Memphis, indoor skydiving in Denver, playing ukulele in St. Pete's Beach, and sampling the local brews in Portland, there was still a deeper longing to to international.
For my 40th birthday I traveled with some friends to Jamaica and the following January took my first cruise which brought me to 5 new Caribbean coutries (Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Bon Aire, Grenada and Aruba). I'd also taken a couple of winter vacations to Mexico. However, staying at an all-inclusive and being on a cruise ship, just wasn't the same and in a way, I almost didn't feel like it "counted" as international travel.
My first international travel experience came when I was a freshman in college. It was an organized study-abroad spring break trip from Brainerd Community College (now Central Lakes College where coincidentally I am employed). My friend and I signed up for the trip under the art credits. (At that time there were several ways students could get credit for going on this trip and although you had certain requirements you needed to fulfill for your particular discipline, all the opportunities were available to all students. This is a system I still think is very beneficial.) Although it was billed as "the London trip" it really included a much broader opportunity to explore England and even Scottland (yes I looked for the Lochness Monster but just didn't see him!)
Then during the summer in between my sophomore and junior year of college, two friends and I backpacked through Europe. We had so much fun and made so many memories that we did it again two years later. We were fortunate to take advantage of exchange student connections we had made in school and ended up getting real local experiences through home stays with friends or family connections. This also helped our "poor college student budgets". On those nights when we weren't able to stay in homes, we would be at a hostel or in dire cases of trying to save money--on an overnight train. We loved the flexibility that our student Eurorail pass allowed and took full advantage of it. We hit many countries, saw many amazing world landmarks and made fabulous memories we still cherish today.
I had a bit of a dry travel spell in the late nineties and then finally got back on track in 2004 when I accompanied a colleauge on their service learning trip to Guatemala. This was my first experience to an underdeveloped nation and was really an eye-opener to me. It was also where I first discovered the power of digital storytelling--but that's another blog. Another fun international digital story happened
shortly after that trip, when I went to Norway as the maid of honor for a friend who was getting married there. After that was an amazing family adventure to Egypt. This was the last trip that I felt was more "real" and for which I am again longing.
All in all, I figure I have been to 35 countries, and 5 continents--not enough to quench my travel desires. So this when I realized that summer school wasn't in the cards for me, I decided it was time to take my next big adventure. Making the decision where to go was daunting but I knew I wanted to hit another continent. What actually decided it for me was a discounted tour with a company who's email list I'd been on for the last couple of years. And like that, I was committed to going. "The best of Brazil and Argentina" it is!
http://www.intrepidtravel.com/trips/GPKD#overview
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