Travel Long, Travel Well...

Vignette No 5

Travel Long, Travel Well

She is from India. She looks proud, dignified, and happy to be across the world traveling alone in a foreign land. She wears a jogging suit, tennis shoes, and carries a rucksack. Everybody else on the bus is heavily attired in brand new intrepid-looking camping gear. Everybody looks dazed, sleepy, and tired of the mosquitoes and damp rainy weather, but not her. The bus driver asks if everybody is heading out of the backcountry and back to the comforts of civilization. An unsynchronized chorus of mumbles and nodding heads say “Yes.” But not her.

She raises her hand holding a map, and asks the driver where is the best spot to get off the bus and hike to the glacier on the east side of the mountain. The driver ponders for a moment and answers, adding that the hike form the road is seventeen miles.

I see a glimpse of concern in the driver's face, but the traveler in her jogging suit looks calm, confident, and happy. I think that she will be just fine. Later, as she gets off the bus, I wave to her and think,

Travel long, travel well.