Thursday, May 21, 2009

Thankful Thursday

Since I had such a nice response to last week's Thankful Thursday post, I thought I would do another one this week. I just got back to the hotel room from the office, and have a bit of time before heading out to supper with my co-worker. It's been a really busy trip, filled with learning, but it's been an excellent experience for me. I'm far more "on board" with the project than I was before I came, and that's a good thing.

This week I'm very thankful for the traveling I've been able to do. During elementary school, my dad won a pair of flights to a list of various places, and he and my mom settled on Portugal. Initially my brother and I weren't included in the travel plans, but that changed. We spent a month just outside of Lisbon, in a small place called Sintra, and it was great.

Following high school I spent a year as a Rotary International exchange student. I lived in Denmark for a year, learned the language, fell in love with the culture, and enjoyed life. During that year I traveled to Prague twice, as well as seeing several other major European cities. It was the experience of a lifetime, and it changed me a lot. I developed a lot more self-confidence, my public speaking skills grew exponentially, and I learned to communicate with just about anybody, regardless of language barriers.

As part of the MBA program I took, I was offered the chance to travel to China (Beijing, Shanghai and Huangzhou), and although I hadn't really considered the Far East as one of my top ten vacation destinations, how on earth could I say no? I didn't! I climbed a part of the Great Wall, walked around the Forbidden City, and had experiences that were uniquely Chinese.

With my job I've traveled a few times, and that seems like it'll be the norm for the near future. I'm also lucky enough to have the means to get to Vegas a few times, as well as traveling to the major Cocker Spaniel show in the US twice already (Indy and Philly), and once more in less than 50 days (Pomona, CA).

I think that traveling really broadens your horizons and shapes your view of the world. I highly encourage you to get out and see the world, because you'll never come away knowing less than you did before you left. Bon Voyage!

3 comments:

Visichy said...

Great post. Have fun in Pamona.

Visichy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Brenda said...

you are so lucky to get the chances to travel like that! Such a broad range of cultures!