by Lil Cromer
She knows that the worst trips make the best stories after the fact.
She is never bored.
She’s not afraid to leave the known for the unknown and leap out of her comfort zone.
She makes up the trip along the way.
Epilogue
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I want to leave you with one thought. Please don’t wait to travel until “someday” which may never comes. Travel while you can, while your knees are good and your arthritis is dormant. You’ll want to travel while you are mobile, active and interested in meeting new people and learning about new cultures.
Since I’m closer to seventy than sixty-five I can tell you that when the guidebooks say, “For maximum enjoyment of your trip be prepared for daily walking (up to two hours) involving stairs, cobblestones and uneven surfaces,” pay attention! Many places I’ve spent up to four hours up and down stairs and hobbling over cobblestones and other uneven surfaces. So, if you wait too long to travel, you might never make it or the very least not enjoy it.
I have only one life to live, let me live it as a traveler!
Acknowledgments
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So as not to leave anyone unthanked, thanks to everyone! Especially my crackerjack editor, Janet Fernandez.
Back Cover
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My aim in writing this book was to write about my experiences, the people I encountered and interacted with, not to write a travelogue. I hope to encourage others to step out of their comfort zones and really experience the places they are visiting and the people who live there.
Every time the last page of the calendar is torn off, I realize it’s one year closer to being unable to travel. This energizes me to plan a trip or two for the upcoming year.
I’ve been privileged to visit every state in the union, Mexico and all provinces in Canada, with the exception of Newfoundland, as well as many countries in Europe and Australia and New Zealand. Cruising provided visits to many Caribbean Islands and some cities in South America.
I entered this world crying and intend to leave it laughing. Traveling keeps the laughter coming.