For all of my life I have loved traveling. When we would take our annual family trips to Pensacola or Panama City, I would spend weeks counting down and preparing my "vacation kit" of candy, games, and other things to take on the road. The last week of waiting was absolutely brutal, and even the impending threat of spending hours in the backseat, enduring the torture of my older brother did not get in the way of my excitement.
During trips, I would often experience moments of pure exhileration that I like to call Travel Nirvana. These are those moments when you are truly present and able to fully experience the place or experience. During those long ago Florida trips, it might be something as simple as sipping a Barq's Root Beer on the beach after a frenzied romp through the Gulf.
As an adult, I still love those moments and even when giving a tour of D.C. to student groups, I still experience it when I see my student guests have that moment where they are having their own nirvana moment.
Sometimes I've been posed the question about what I thought was the happiest moment of my life. For any of us, I think that would be a difficult question to answer. Throughout our lives, we experience all kinds of joyful occasions; hanging with best friends, falling in love for the first time, having our first child, but for me my happiest moment is a Travel Nirvana I had in Italy.
It was at the end of our long trip and we had traveled from Rome to Naples. I enjoyed every moment of the trip, but on the last day we climbed up to Mt. Vesuvius. Most of the our group was exhausted and there was a bit of grumbling about the steep climb ahead. Regardless, everyone grabbed a walking stick and began the trek.
While trudging up the side, I made the decision to stay back just a bit and allow everyone to go ahead of me. I'm not really sure why, but I just felt I needed a little chunk of time alone. At one point, I found myself completely alone and I stopped to rest for a bit. When I looked around, I was seized by the most unbelievable feeling of happiness. I took in all the scenery, breathed in the air, and fully realized where I was. Here I was on the side of a volcano that I had learned about in school, not ever thinking I would ever actually be there. At that moment, I was fully appreciative of everything. It was a complete and total moment of peace, devoid of any distractions.
As I begin preparing for my group coming in from the United Kingdom, I hope that they will get a good dose of Travel Nirvana too. Have you ever had your own?
