Message from our Board Chair

“Rain, rain, go away, come again some other day!” Sing it louder for the cheap seats in the back!! In my neck of the woods, it feels as though we’ve been living under permanent rain clouds. Just days and weeks of clouds and cold and rain, gray and brown bleakness. We might go straight from Winter to Summer here, there’s not much time left for Spring! We are in desperate need of sun, warmth and GREEN! It’ll get here when it gets here, I guess, and what else would we talk about if we didn’t have the weather? 😊

We are also in the full swing of travel planning here, and it feels like we can’t do enough! There’s just not enough time to do and learn all of the things and go and experience all of the places. It has gotten me thinking about why we travel. How travel changes us, makes us better people. I studied (for a short time) Anthropology in college. I was fascinated with different cultures and learning about their belief systems. The first project I had was to observe and report on a sub-culture. The primary rule was to observe without judgement. That is REALLY hard to overcome. As uncomfortable as I was, I learned how to ask better questions, and learned to frame my own personal cultural view. I couldn’t pass quick judgement, I had to dig deeper. I had to identify and remove my opinion from the where, what, when, how and why. Am I saying that I never make snap judgements? Absolutely not. But because of that experience I am more self-aware and can adjust my thinking when I feel myself falling into that trap.

Have you changed or let go of a long-standing, closely-held belief because of an experience you had while traveling? Our American and World History is complex and truly fascinating, worth learning and learning from, or we’re doomed to repeat it. I challenge you to examine your belief systems, and try fully immersing yourself into something new, something scary, with no judgment. Be uncomfortable. See what happens.

“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” – Maya Angelou

Allison