The years I have spent traveling, means a great deal to my family and to me; our eyes are wide open, our acceptance is greater and our understanding is with deep emotion. We in America are privileged, whether we come from a lower income, middle class or let's say, 'lucky' with money family, we have the opportunity to reach high in the sky and grab a star. We can make or break ourselves. We either have the gumption to go after what we want, or, we sit back and let others do it for us. As I travel, I appreciate America for her independence and her free will. We use this to our own advantages. Travel is an educational class; we take life in hand and view what each country can give to each other. We can take the strength of family from the Greeks, we can take the strength of religion from the Muslims, we can take the educational will from the Jewish, we can take the strength of business from Japan, and we can take respectful love and honor from Tibet. Along with so many others that have yet to be explored and talked about.

I would say the only down side presented is a great deal of 'lack of respect' towards each other. People seem to be on fast forward, they seem to think they are going to miss something. Up early from the start and run all day long only to fall on top of the bed at night without remembering what transpired throughout the day. Stop! We have to literally smell the coffee, prick a finger on a thorn and wake up to the sounds around us. Reality of it all is that we will never be able to fix everything; we will always have 'something' that needs to be invented, 'something' that needs to be solved and 'something' that needs attention. We each have to do our part in our own home. Work on what is in front of us and present it to the rest of the world as a positive force. Kids today have lost direction because as a family, we are running, we are busy and we have forgotten to ask those in our own household 'how was your day'.

It takes a lot of effort to get family together to share moments, to create lasting memories and to feel wanted. Through travel, difficult times become easier, problems seem less when viewing someone else in a more difficult situation and our eyes are wide open to view it, feel it and do something with it.

Time is short. Travel is unlimited. Learning is forever. And, working with it all needs extra umpf.

Go to my Blog and share your thoughts, your wishes and your needs. Tell me about your cruise, your experiences. Or tell me anything that comes to mind and share it with others. You will be surprised how much we learn from each other's travels. ’