Episode 20: Why We Travel

Mary Herendeen:

Travel, I travel to experience new places, unfamiliar climates, and diverse cultures. I travel for family, for work, for incredible food, for amazing adventure, or to just recharge and relax. Traveling brings me new perspectives and an opportunity to experience something memorable. We all seek travel for similar reasons: to reconnect or to disconnect, and more. After the COVID-related restrictions of the last 2 years, people are traveling again.

Welcome to Traveling with AAA. I'm your host, Mary Herendeen. Today, we'll talk about the importance and value of travel. We are joined again by AAA and ACE publications Travel Editor Jim Benning, an award-winning travel journalist who has explored ancient sites in Peru, checked out the Senegalese music scene, and took his 12-year-old daughter surfing in Costa Rica.

We are also joined by Elizabeth Harryman Lasley, a former co-host with her late husband, Paul Lasley, of OnTravel, a radio show that aired to a million listeners in 167 countries on the American Forces Network. She is also a former travel editor of Westways magazine, where she continues to contribute. Jim, Elizabeth, welcome back. Thank you for joining us.

Elizabeth Harryman Lasley:

So nice to be back with you, Mary.

Jim Benning:

Yeah, thanks for having us.

Mary:

It's my pleasure. It's great to connect with both of you. Well, now that the world has mostly opened back up, it seems like you're off on a distant adventure every time I turn around. Are you making up for lost time?

Jim:

Trying mightily.

Mary:

I know you definitely have that travel bug. What about you, Elizabeth? You making up for lost time?

Elizabeth:

I've been mostly traveling for work conferences and so forth, but I have to say it's awfully good to be back on the road again. The first trip I did after the pandemic, it was good just to be hanging out in an airport again. I never thought I'd say that, but it was just nice to be out among people again.

Mary:

Yeah, that's nice. I know travel is really important for your work, but more personally, why is travel so important for you, Jim?

Jim:

I would say for a couple reasons. One is just traveling with loved ones, I think it's a great way to connect. It's so easy to get caught up in the grind of day-to-day life. And for me, when I travel, I'm stepping out of my routine. It's a chance to take a deep breath, to slow down a bit, it gives me a chance to stop and smell the roses, you know?

Elizabeth:

Absolutely. Travel changes you. I don't think I ever come back from a trip the same person I was when I left. Whether it's just a short trip to a domestic destination or a trip around the world, you learn something, you come back a different person. I think that travel has broadened my horizons. You alluded to how it takes us out of our comfort zones, and I think that's important because it's a way that we can grow. It breaks down barriers. I think travel is one of mankind's last best hopes for peace in the world because the more you meet somebody in a different country that maybe politicians have told you you're supposed to hate, and you realize they're someone just like you, who cares about their kids and who cares about getting an education for their kids. I think it’d be much harder to blow that person up.

Mary:

Right? They say to become more socially aware, to become more emotionally intelligent, you really do have to step outside your comfort zone and understand, not just the people around you, but the people that are not normally in your circle. So, that's really interesting. Now Jim, Elizabeth describes it as this transformative experience. Is it that way for you?

Jim:

It is. Yeah, it certainly can be. I think of my first trips abroad was when I was in my early 20s. I spent most of my life growing up here in the U.S. really thinking that I was at the center of the planet and without a real appreciation for what life was like in other parts of the world. It really opened my eyes to how big the world is and to the fact that people can see things from different perspectives. From the diversity of religions, faith, and kinds of government, I found it pretty mind-blowing. I guess I knew intellectually that the world was a big place and that there were a lot of people with a lot of different points of views, but to actually go there and experience it myself was humbling. I realized that there are billions of people on this planet that have dreams and families. Of course, I knew that intellectually, but I wound up feeling humbled by it and a greater sense of appreciation for the kind of struggles that people face as well.

Elizabeth:

There's no substitute for being there. I remember my first international trip was when I was in college, and I was on a USO tour of the army bases in Germany, and I grew up in Indiana. I grew up eating Wonder Bread and Folgers Coffee, and no offense, but you go to Germany and you taste real freshly made bread with unsalted butter. I'll never forget the first time I tasted that bread and coffee, real coffee. It was a revelation. Oh my gosh, so yes, opening up those horizons.

One of the army bases that we visited was at Dachau, the former concentration camp. It's not a very happy memory, but we actually saw the ovens, so what I'm saying is I think it's something that every person should do at some time in their life. Visit one of those places to prevent those horrible things from happening again. That’s one of the values of travel, you experience those things and then you resolve to not let those things happen again. It’s just like when I went to Philadelphia, and you can stand in the very place where they signed the Declaration of Independence. You can actually stand where our country was born in Independence Hall.

Mary:

Incredible.

Elizabeth:

I get goosebumps every time I think about that. There's no substitute for being there.

Mary:

When I went to Italy and I went into these Catholic churches, or when I saw the artwork like David, the sculpture, and stood in front of it and I thought about the mastery, the artwork, the concentration, just the talent that it might have taken. It really does take you beyond, “Oh, this is really cool” to “That's incredible, and I couldn't imagine seeing something like this for the first time or being in that church where everybody believed in praying together.” You feel it when you go inside.

I felt those different perspectives and the challenges that people have when I went to India. You could see it and feel it. I have goosebumps now on my face just talking about it, but it really is transformative.

Now, when did you catch the travel bug? I know you're talking about when you were in college, and for you Jim, you mentioned, like most of us, we think the world revolves around us, but I know that you travel the world now. When did you catch the travel bug?

Elizabeth:

Again, I’m from Indianapolis and we used to go up to northern Michigan every summer, and I would always look forward to those trips. I think for me, though, a lot of it had to do with going to the movies. I would see all these wonderful places, New York, Paris, and all over the world. I wanted to go there and experience them in person.

I loved and wanted to travel so much, I took a course in tour management at the International Tour Management Institute. So, if we ever do a Traveling with AAA tour, I could be the tour leader. It was a 2-week course, and it was wonderful. I was living in the LA at the time, and we had a weekend trip to Lake Havasu. And Lake Havasu is a very nice destination, maybe not the most exotic destination, but I was so excited just to be getting out to Lake Havasu.

We stopped in Palm Springs on the way, and we each had an assignment. I had to give a talk about cactus. So, I learned all about cactus, the cacti that we were going go to see, and what's the difference between a cactus and a succulent. It's wonderful to get excited about going to Paris or Rome. They're amazing—actually, I've never been to Rome yet—but I get excited about just going away for the weekend. As Jim was saying, getting away from your normal surroundings gives you a fresh perspective.

Mary:

Wow. And Jim, for you?

Jim:

For me, I have to say it was road trips with my parents when I was a kid. Growing up in southern California, we had a Volkswagen camper van and my parents like to hike and camp, so we would take off every summer on these trips to the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, up through the Canadian Rockies. That was really my first sense of wanderlust, that feeling of wanting to just kind of get lost was probably on those trips, and I've never shaken that. Every 10 years or so, I think, “Well, surely I've kicked my travel addiction by now, I've sated my need for travel.” And it never happens.

Mary:

Never satisfied, and you shouldn't be. It sounds like it really has changed and shaped who you are, even with your career. And you mentioned bonding with your family or bonding with whoever it is that you're traveling with. What other benefits do you think travel brings us? Or brings couples or solo travelers?

Elizabeth:

Well, it's interesting. Even though I was married for 37 years, sometimes Paul and I would have to travel separately. It's wonderful to be traveling with your loved one because you can share those experiences and you see things through each other's eyes. But when you travel alone, especially as a single woman—and some women are hesitant to travel alone—it's nice because it's amazing how people will take you under their wing if they know you're a woman traveling alone.

I mean, you still have to be alert, make sure you have all your antenna up and you travel safely, travel defensively. In fact, I would recommend everybody take a self-defense course. I think it's a good tool to have in your pocket. But when you travel alone, you kind of experience things at a deeper level, and you find that you are more resourceful than maybe you thought you were.

Mary:

Yeah, it's true. When I'm forced to find the directions on my own or anything like that, it's like, “OK, I can handle this.” Also, it's some time to be introspective and think about the way that you're experiencing it. Sometimes when I'm traveling with others, I go into planning mode or sometimes I'm focused on, “Are they having a good time? Is this something they would want do?” And it's easy to not be connected with yourself and what you're experiencing. Any other benefits? What about you, Jim?

Jim:

I liked what Elizabeth was just saying about the kindness of strangers. It's so easy reading the news, looking at the news every day, to think that the world is this horrible place with horrible people everywhere doing horrible things. I can't tell you how many times I've been in a foreign country lost or in need of some sort of assistance, and some kind person has come to my aid. Every time it happens, I'm reminded that I fundamentally believe most people are good.

Mary:

I agree.

Jim:

Travel is a wonderful reminder of that because you're really vulnerable often when you're traveling in foreign countries. If you don't speak the language, you don't have the context to understand all sorts of situations. That, to me, has been incredibly valuable.

I'm also a big fan of the Marshall Marcel Proust quote, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” For me, I try to come back, and even when I am stuck in my day-to-day grind, I try to look at the world as though I'm seeing my surroundings for the first time. I'm not always successful at that. Even racing here this morning to get here in time to record the podcast, I felt like I could have benefited from my being my better travel self. That's the other thing, I often feel like I'm a better person when I'm traveling. I tend to be more patient, more generous because I've slowed down a bit, and so I try to bring that home with me, too.

Mary:

Yeah, that's a great thing to bring back. I always bring back a souvenir, a trinket, or something, and some memories for sure, but bringing back that perspective or to live the day as if you're traveling, treat the people in your life as if you have slowed down.

I definitely get more work done and am more productive when I'm acting as if I'm going on vacation. I'm like, “OK, I've got to wrap this up.” I'm so productive. So yeah, that could be a good takeaway as well.

Elizabeth:

Oh, I love that attitude. I'm going to remember that. That will help me get through my day! That's a great tip, Mary. I love what you said, Jim, I do think travel brings out the best in us. Paul and I used to write books about ship building, and we were visiting the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy at one point. One of the shipbuilders said, and he'd been an engineer on the ships, he said, “People are at their best when they're traveling.” I think he was talking specifically about cruising, but I think it broadens to travel. That may not always seem like it when there are people yelling at the airport because their bag got lost or something, but in general.

You might try something you never tried at home, especially on a cruise ship. You might try a dance that you would never try at home because there's nobody there to see you. I always think of myself as an ambassador for the United States, and I think it does bring out the best in us.

Mary:

Yeah, that's interesting. I know you traveled a lot with Paul, your late husband, was that when some of your most memorable travel experiences were?

Elizabeth:

Oh, absolutely. I have so much to be grateful for. I remember we went to Australia several times, and that's such an amazing country and continent. I went to a little town of Kalgoorlie, which is a gold rush town in the Outback. We had a guide that showed us how the indigenous people would find water in the outback, and how they would make a latticework so they would keep the water pure and keep bugs from falling into it. Amazing things. And there was this red dust all over everything. They played a game called Two-up, where they tossed 2 coins in the air, and either they come down heads or tails, or both heads or both tails.

Kalgoorlie was an old gold rush town from the turn of the 19th century, but they were starting to mine for gold again because new processes had made it productive again. It was still very much like going back in time, and so that was fascinating.

I remember one time we were outside of Melbourne, and we went out walking early in the morning in the countryside—there's a bird in Australia that they call a Bellbird, it sounds just like a bell, and that would wake us up in the morning—and in the little stream there, we saw it duck-billed platypus.

Mary:

Wow!

Elizabeth:

I know! And we were out walking, then all of a sudden we turned to our right, and among the eucalyptus trees, there must have been 20 or 30 kangaroos just standing motionless in the haze of dawn.

Mary:

Oh, that's amazing. It sounds memorable. And for you, Jim?

Jim:

When I think of my most meaningful travel memory, it had to be the trip I did with my father. He died several years ago, but he was a World War II vet. About 20 years ago, I asked him to travel with me to the areas in western Europe where he'd spent time during the war. He had fought in the Battle of the Bulge, among other things.

He was a member of The Greatest Generation, sort of famous for being rather reticent. He didn't talk about the war very much, but it clearly had a big impact on who he was. For me, traveling there with him was like opening a door into these memories that he had. And the fact that we left home and were on this kind of pilgrimage of sorts, I think prompted him to talk a little bit more about the experiences that he had. My goal was really just to get closer to him while there was still time. I have to say, it was an amazing trip. It's probably my favorite travel memory.

Mary:

Wow, it sounds like you were able to get close to him during that time. And I thank him for his service even though he is gone now. That sounds amazing.

Elizabeth:

I think traveling with loved ones does that. It gives you the time. We lead such busy lives that when families travel together, they bond. Some of my happiest memories of my family were family vacations. And when Paul and I would travel together, we'd be someplace like a little hotel where we would just sit in the morning and have coffee together. We'd have time, and time is so precious. Time to bond with each other.

Mary:

I'm 1 of 7, I think I've shared that with you before. I come from a large family, so having time away with me and my sister, or my brother, or my mother was very rare. For some of us, we never really have had that time, just the 2 of us. But a few years ago, I was traveling to Maine, and I took my mom with me, and we went to Boston. We had great food. It was really nice. We spent a few days together, just the 2 of us, bonding. She's my mother, and I feel like we have this great bond, but it was a really good experience and she'd never seen that part of the country before, so she just loved it. She ate it up. She thought it was beautiful. And I had been there plenty of times, so it was really nice showing that to her.

Then when I went to Italy, I was visiting my brother and his wife and kids. We did a lot together, which was amazing because I hadn't spent that time with him. He's in the Air Force, and we'd never spent that time together. But then just my brother and I went away for the day to Florence, and it was incredible. It was a lot of fun. When we were kids, we were 2 peas in a pod, we were as thick as thieves and I felt like that again. We were like, “Let's go here, let's go there.” I felt like it was 2 kids let loose in this city. It brought that back because we were so connected when we were little.

Jim:

I love the way that travel can change your dynamic with the person you're traveling with. As an adult, I'd call my parents' house and my dad would answer the phone and say, “Oh, you want to talk to your mom?” He was ready to get off the phone as soon as I called.

I specifically wanted to get him away from my mom to force him to be a more talkative person, and it worked. If I had gone with my mom and dad, I think it would've been a fantastic trip, too, but it would've been a very different trip. The way that you can try to hone in on a particular relationship, travel is this magic opportunity to do that.

Mary:

It really does. Like with my mom, when I had taken her with me to Boston, Maine, and all over, it was like I was showing it to her. I was really proud of it and encouraged me to get out. I can imagine your father showing you that part of his history, and taking you to the places that clearly impacted him so much and shaped who he was, he probably felt that proud moment, too. Like, “I'm sharing this with you, and am more compelled to speak up and talk about those experiences.” Thank you for sharing that.

Now, I embarrass myself frequently on trips, and I love to hear about other people embarrassing themselves, especially someone as well-traveled as you. Any embarrassing travel moments?

Elizabeth:

Oh, yes. Paul and I wrote a whole article about our most embarrassing travel moments, but I guess my most embarrassing was we had been up to Alaska and did this great tour and had gone kayaking and everything.

The gentleman who was the head of the Alaska tourism office was visiting Los Angeles, and we were meeting for dinner. I walked into the restaurant, and went up and kissed this gentleman, and he said, “Well, thank you for the kiss, but I'm not John.”

Mary:

Oh my gosh, I love it! I could still see you blushing when you tell that story. Oh, that's good. That's what is good about being embarrassed, and you still feel it later, don’t you?

Elizabeth:

Yes, but it was humbling.

Mary:

It is. Certainly. And Jim?

Elizabeth:

Jim probably doesn't have any. No, he's such a good traveler.

Mary:

I know.

Jim:

I don't know if it's the most embarrassing, but I always get myself into trouble when I learn a phrase or 2 in a foreign language. I roll it out, trying to sound like a local, then of course, the person who hears me sometimes thinks I know more than I do. Then I wind up in way over my head, trying to communicate that I don't understand a word you're saying. That's like my perpetual embarrassment.

Mary:

Yeah, you're always like, “OK, let's see if I can roll out this question more developed than the basic, hola.” I love it. I've got to see you do that. I think next time I know anybody who speaks a foreign language, I'm going to introduce them to Jim and say, “Oh yeah, he's fluent.”

Now, any travel lessons you learned the hard way?

Elizabeth:

Oh, yes. And this one, I guess it's another embarrassing moment. It's when Paul and I showed up for our international flight to Italy 3 hours early—and a day late.

Jim:

Oh no!

Elizabeth:

Yes, that taught me to double check the times and the dates, and it’s actually a good idea to have a good travel agent to help you with some of those things as well.

Mary:

That almost happened to me on my way back from Pittsburgh. I was checking in, and I was so early to the airport and I'm thinking, “Oh, I’ve got plenty of time.” And she says, “OK, so you'll start boarding at 10:25 a.m.” I'm like, “That doesn't sound accurate.” I was about an hour off, a little over an hour off. But luckily, I'd gone so early. I could imagine I would've been in tears, probably like, “No, no.” Because it's such a long trip with the layover.

What about for you, Jim?

Jim:

I think I've gotten a little bit too relaxed at times in my travels. There was a time I was traveling around Europe, and I was going to this beautiful little town of Dingle on the Atlantic. I didn't have a reservation for a place to stay. I think it was a Monday, and I figured it was fine. It turned out it was a bank holiday weekend or something.

Mary:

Oh no!

Jim:

Yeah, and so there was no place to stay. Actually, this sort of brings me back to the kindness of strangers. I wound up somehow knocking on a door, and a woman who maybe ran B&B offered to loan me her tent. I wound up sleeping next to a field of cows in a tent. It actually turned out to be a wonderful experience, but I realized that you've got to think through things and do just a basic, moderate amount of planning.

Mary:

I would say so. I couldn't imagine. I'd probably just knock on the door and just cry like, “Help! Help!”

Jim:

Fortunately, I was in Ireland where…

Elizabeth:

Yeah, where people are very friendly. That speaks to another thing that you learn, and that is simply to stay flexible because you never know. Even with the best of plans, things can go wrong. You can end up with no room. You have to be resourceful and flexible. Roll with the punches.

Mary:

Yeah, the pandemic really taught us that with so many people having to cancel travel plans. I know people who had held off their wedding receptions and all these things. Are there any other lessons we've all learned from the pandemic?

Elizabeth:

Oh, I think the main lesson is not to postpone things. There was this hotel in England that Paul and I always wanted to go to that a friend of ours was operating, and we never made it. Now, of course, my dear husband has passed on, so I can't go with him, but I am going to go. When I start traveling again more internationally, I'm going to go visit that B&B in southern England.

Mary:

That would be nice.

Jim:

I think about the passage of time, too, with my daughter. She's now 16 and isn't always as enthusiastic to travel with her parents as she used to be. So, I'm glad I did as many trips as I did with her before the pandemic hit. That definitely rings true.

The other thing is I think a lot of us rediscovered the joys of traveling close to home because we had to. In fact, we published a great essay by the wonderful travel writer, Pico Iyer, called The Wonders Close to Home in which he wrote about spending more time just strolling with his wife around Santa Barbara, rediscovering the beauty of this neighborhood, and wandering down streets he'd never wandered down before.

I certainly had that experience. I did more road trips in the Southwest and saw things I hadn't seen before. I love getting on the plane and flying across the world, but you don't have to do that to have an amazing travel experience. I think the pandemic did remind me of that.

Elizabeth:

Definitely.

Mary:

To your point, it's easy to think of all these exotic destinations or these places far away, but we have so much beauty close to home. I live in Huntington Beach here in California, and I joke that we live at vacation, we live at Hawai‘i because of the weather and the proximity to the beach, and just everything that's there. Sometimes I like to do a little staycation. I'll stay at a hotel right at the beach and just enjoy our local weather. It's nice to get away and unplug, even though I'm right down the street. It is really nice we have so much beauty here close to home. If it's not that, it might be the beach, or I take the kids to the tide pools or something. Take a very short drive from my home and explore what's here.

I've got a few friends that'll do hikes on the weekends in Los Angeles, and it's just beautiful. There's a lot here. And to your point, the pandemic really has taught us not to hold things off. I think a lot of people were holding off on travel because we didn't have enough information. We didn't know what was going on. But after some time, it's like, “OK, how much longer can I put this off?”

Now, some people sometimes say, “Be a traveler, not a tourist.” Can you be a traveler on an escorted tour? I know you recently took a few escorted tours when you were in Colombia.

Elizabeth:

I think you can because it has to do more with the attitude with which you travel. A friend of mine, Leon Lieberman, used to lead tours and he used to say, “There are too many tourists in the world, and not enough travelers.” The idea being that if you're a tourist, you're like the old image of a bus tour where if it's Tuesday, this must be Belgium. You’re so briefly in a place, you don't know where you are and you give a bad image of an American tourist.

But I think it has to do with your attitude. I think a traveler is one who seeks to see a place through the eyes of the people who live there, you open yourself up to the local experiences and try to immerse yourself in the local culture.

I remember in Paris seeing a couple from the United States saying, “Well, there's nothing American on this menu.” You're in Paris! You know? So, that would be “a tourist.” But even on an escorted tour, I think you can be a traveler if you travel with an open mind. Increasingly, tour operators are offering experiences that enable you to experience more of the local culture. For instance, it could go to a local food market and maybe even have a cooking class, or maybe it’s immersion in art, or learning about flamenco. I think tour operators are trying to address that more. Yeah, I think it has to do with the attitude that you travel with.

Mary:

I've interviewed some of our experts recently for the show, and what they're sharing is that there are more unique experiences. Not what you would think of maybe 20-30 years ago going on a tour. It's really more experiences versus just stopping, seeing, taking your picture, and moving on. What about for you, Jim? Do you often do tours? I know you travel solo a lot.

Jim:

I probably travel solo more than I do tours, but I have been on tours. I liked what Elizabeth was saying about traveling with an open mind. I think another way to say that is to travel with a sense of curiosity. For me, going someplace, looking at the world, and thinking, “Why do people do this this way? Why is that the way that is?” You can do that whether you're on a group tour or traveling by yourself. It's more, as Elizabeth was saying, the attitude that you bring to the experience.

Mary:

Yeah, absolutely. Now Elizabeth, I know you love cruising and especially U.S. river cruises. Can you talk a bit about cruising and the role cruise ships play in the travel industry?

Elizabeth:

Cruising is one of the fastest-growing segments of the travel industry, and with good reason because you pay 1 price up front that includes all your accommodations, your food, your transportation, and a lot of activities, and you can budget ahead and you unpack once. But for me, cruising is all about romance. Again, maybe it goes back to those old Hollywood movies that inspired me to travel in the first place. To me, once you get on a ship, there is something about being totally cut off from land that forces you to relax and gives you the opportunity to be your best self or try things you've never tried before. It captures some of the romance of the golden age of transatlantic crossing.

And you don't have to dress up for dinner, but you can, and you go to this atrium. Most cruise ships have a central plaza or atrium where you can watch everybody, and people dress up a little for dinner. There's just something magical about it, and that's what I love about cruising.

Mary:

It really is growing, I know it's a banner year for Alaska. People are cruising again, so that's really cool. Jim, I know you're more outdoorsy. We've talked before about national parks and touring them responsibly in a way that preserves the natural beauty for the environmentalist. Is it possible to travel sustainably and ethically?

Jim:

I hope so!

Mary:

Because you've been traveling quite a bit.

Jim:

Yeah, I have been. There are a number of things that you can do to limit the toll that your travel is taking on the planet. For example, we just published a column about this. If you want to visit Edinburgh, rather than connecting in London and getting on another flight to Edinburgh, maybe fly to London and take a train to Edinburgh. Limit the number of flights that you're taking.

I think as energy becomes more sustainable, travel overall will become more sustainable. You know, we will be getting around more in electric cars. People are much more conscious of the toll that their hotel stays are taking on the area that they're in, and thinking more about how many times does your towel or do your sheets need to be laundered during a visit, and trying to limit that. Those are just some of the quick and easy things that you can do to try to limit the toll that you're taking on the environment.

Mary:

Yeah, you see that in a lot of hotels now. They're asking, “Do you want us to come clean and change the sheets? Do you want us to switch out the towels?” Or even the option of, we'll come in and clean your room, but won’t replace the towels if they’re hung. If the towels on the floor, we know we need to replace them and launder them. Small, easy things that we can do. Just being respectful of the place that you're going.

Jim:

Yeah, I would also say that travel to certain places has other positive effects. For example, there are parts of the world where they may have been doing illegal trades and threatening wildlife. The rise of ecotourism and wildlife tourism has led to another way for locals to sustain themselves. Travel can have a positive effect on many places in that way, too.

Mary:

Well, it's huge. There are a lot of places that wouldn't survive without tourism. It's great for their local economy to have that, and also to show travelers their part of the world. I certainly love travel for a lot of different reasons.

I'm thinking in terms of this question, “Am I being responsible?” But I feel like if I'm following the rules, trying to take more trains…

Elizabeth:

I think you said it very well when you said be respectful. That goes to learning the customs, too. For instance, if I go to a Muslim country, I'm conscious to cover my shoulders and to maybe wear a headscarf to be respectful of the local culture.

Mary:

Certainly. Now, of all the places you've ever been, is there one single most favorite travel adventure you've had? Something adventurous you could tell us about?

Elizabeth:

I don't know that I would call it…I guess it was an adventure at the time. It was when Paul and I had our honeymoon. It was a cruise around the Hawaiian Islands, and I'd never been to Hawai‘i. I'd always wanted to go and Paul had been many times. He was a travel journalist before I was. So, we took a cruise starting in Honolulu and visited all the major Hawaiian Islands. As you said before, Mary, I love cruising, but this was not only my first trip to Hawai‘i, it was my first cruise. And it was a terrible cruise! The cruise line doesn't even exist anymore.

I had heard the food is supposed to be fabulous, and the food was terrible, and the service wasn't very good. Nonetheless, I had a fabulous time. It's like that old joke, what's the worst meal you ever had? And that guy says, “Fantastic!” It was the worst cruise I was on, but there was something about being at sea, the camaraderie, and of course, being with Paul on our honeymoon that just made it magical. It wouldn't have mattered what the food was like.

Seeing the Hawaiian Islands on a cruise, you see them the way sailors did, from the seas. That's how you approached them. Paul had been to all of them before, so he had set up special tours, decided whether to rent a car or whatever on each island. He made it very special for me.

I'll tell one more story. When we were landing, I said, “Oh, I'm so excited because I’ll get a lei around my neck when we land.” And he said, “Oh, Elizabeth, they don't do that anymore.”

Mary:

Aww!

Elizabeth:

Because that's what I'd seen in all the old movies. So, we're in this beautiful hotel on Waikiki, but it's at night, and in those days, it wasn't safe to be at Waikiki Beach at night. But I said, “Oh, let's go walking on the beach.” And he said, “Oh Elizabeth, you don't go walking on the beach at night.” But bless his heart, he did. He indulged me, and we walked along and there was a guy selling day-old plumeria leis for like $12, which was a fortune. He bought me that lei, put it around my neck and kissed me on the cheek. So, I got my lei. That's my happiest memory.

Mary:

Oh, I love it! That is an amazing memory. I love that. And to go on the beach as you'd seen in your dreams.

Elizabeth:

And that was Paul, that's the kind of man he was.

Mary:

I can see. You definitely shared so many beautiful memories together. Thank you for sharing that one with us. And Jim, for you?

Jim:

I don't think I can follow that! One of my favorite memories is I was doing a writing project about mariachi music in Mexico, and I spent a couple of months traveling around buses in Mexico and hanging out with mariachis. I would sometimes just walk up to a group on the street corner and tell them I was interested in their music and its history, and they would invite me to join them. Suddenly, I'd find myself in a van, riding around the city of Chihuahua, for example, until 2 in the morning with mariachis. Not only did I learn a lot about Mexico, music, and these amazing musicians, it reminded me that even though this was a travel writing project, anybody can travel like a travel writer. The secret is that sense of curiosity and taking an interest in something specific.

The fact that I walked up to them and said, “Hey, I'd like to hear more about the kind of music you're playing,” it changed everything about the experience that I had, and it gave me an entree into this world that I never would have been welcomed into otherwise. I try to take that experience and that lesson with me everywhere I go. Seeking out adventures with that sense of curiosity, that's the secret to happy traveling.

Mary:

It sounds like that's the key and that's our advice. For our listeners, I just want to thank you both. Jim Benning with AAA and ACE publications, thank you so much for being with us. Elizabeth Harryman Lasley, thank you for joining us again.

Elizabeth:

Thank you.

Mary:

And thank you our listeners for being with us. If you're planning a trip, be sure to connect with a AAA travel advisor, check out aaa.com/travel, or visit your local branch. And if you enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe. I'm Mary Herendeen. Thank you for traveling with AAA.