Travel is one of my true loves. I caught the travel bug when travel became a part of my career. My first overseas assignment was a week in Thailand. This trip can only be described by the word “whirlwind”. 13 hour days at the office, followed up by dinner engagements every night. I didn’t get to see Bangkok at all so I decided to take the following Monday off work and stay for the long weekend. Those three days changed my life. Suddenly I was hooked on seeing new places.

I ended up seeing the world during that job, I was very lucky. I had long projects in Africa, Europe and Asia. And the mileage points I accrued during these travels funded my personal travel experiences for years later. Truly I’ve been blessed.

In my youth, quite often I lacked foresight. I failed to do the things I should have to make life better as I went along. Not so with my travel experiences. I always remembered to pack my cameras, a travel diary and a pen. Travel became the inspiration for my art. Now I have a wondrous array of photos adorning my walls and literature packing my bookshelves. All remind me of the wonderful experiences I’ve had and the tremendous personal growth that resulted.

When reflecting on these journeys, I can see how much my mind has been opened by the experiences I have had. In witnessing the diversity the world has to offer, I have become a wiser person, a better person.

It is in the accepting and embracing of these different ways of life and the people who live them, that my heart has been opened. I have a greater capacity for love now. I can accept people for what they are, for what they offer me without prejudice and without animosity. And if they live in ways I cannot fathom, I can appreciate them even while I can never join them.

I know I have grown as a person as I traveled. I know I will keep doing so, so long as I continue to travel. However I also know that there are many, many people who do not have the opportunity or luxury to see the world as I have. That is why I publish the things I have written, my insights, my lessons and experiences. Hopefully others, not as fortunate as I, can at least share some of the joys of travel through reading.

It is in this way that the travels which have been so good for my soul, may also be good for the world.