With the cameras in phone becoming so powerful, the number of pictures taken on a regular basis around the world has increased to an amazing number. In April the WordStream Blog reported that 95 million photos and videos were shared on Instagram per day. That just boggles the imagination. So what are these photos about? Anyone interested in traveling has likely taken numerous pictures, but what do our pictures say about us and our understanding about the world? In recent…
Insights
The First Christmas Journey
The tag line for this blog is Life’s a journey. Travel often. Learn much. In our day and age travel is fairly convenient. We may fuss about the crowded planes, uncomfortable hotel rooms, or expensive meals, but truly we have it so much better than those who came before us. Consider Mary and Joseph. They went on a journey, but not one they chose. They were commanded to go to their ancestral home for a census, and the timing couldn’t…
Nativities Around the World
It’s Christmas season once more. The signs are everywhere. A visit to a store or mall and all the decor will tell you that the Christmas season is here. Christmas themes of late seem to revolve mostly around snow and winter scenes. Snowmen and Christmas trees along with Santa have come to dominate the holiday decor. However, it is important not to ignore the reason there’s a Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ. One way to celebrate that is to…
Thanksgiving Through Fire
In 2019 we were invited to go to my wife’s sister’s home in Santa Barbara for Thanksgiving. Since I am retired, our schedule was more flexible. On Saturday we planned to fly to San Jose where my daughter lives, drive down to Santa Barbara on Monday, and return to San Jose on Saturday. My wife’s sister Sylvia and her husband Jonathan live in a home up in the hills of Santa Barbara. They built it a number of years ago…
Your Money Matters
If you live in the United States or Europe, you are probably rich. While you may not consider yourself rich, your income is likely far above that of many people around the world. We refer to ourselves as part of the first world while those in third world countries struggle. So what happens when a first world visitor visits a third world country? Does it matter how you spend your money? First let it be said that your money definitely…
Is Seeing Enough?
A number of years ago my wife’s niece got married in Paris. It was in May so I was unable to go, but she and my daughter went. They arrived a week ahead of the wedding to have the opportunity to tour Paris, and tour they did. I got reports each night about the churches, museums or other places they had visited and how tired they were after walking all day. They tried to see it all. A few years…
Why Travel? What Value Does Travel Have?
It seems that one of the common expectations of retirees is that they will travel. This expectation was evident when I was reading what my high school classmates from 50 years ago wrote in their current biographies. Traveling both past and future was a common theme. But why? What is the purpose or value of traveling? People travel for many reasons. A common reason is what many people call bucket list travel. These travelers are out to see or experience…