Vacations of the Heart

            I love the library and I recently spent time there snuggled into the travel section. It was bursting with travel books on nearly every place in the world! The choices were endless!

            Perusing all of those books set me to wondering: if I could have the ultimate travel wish and venture anywhere in the world, where would I go? Where would you go? Summer vacation is fast approaching and I know many of you have made plans to travel with your children. Unfortunately, I never got to travel as a child and as a result, my summers were spent in my imagination.

            I vividly recall one summer in particular when I sailed the world a thousand times over. My ship? And old metal washtub tucked away between two granaries on our farm. I fought pirates in that ‘ship’. I dove for sunken treasure. I swam with dolphins and hunted great white sharks.

            Now that I am an adult, I still crave that kind of adventure. Oh, the places I would love to explore! But while dreaming of travel to those far away places, I realize that I mustn’t forget the wonders near home.

            Take the tropical island of Bora Bora, for example. I can easily imagine having a motu picnic in the water, but what about the joy of a backyard wiener roast on a warm summer evening?

            I long to ride a camel through the sand to reach the Great Pyramids of Giza but have a walked through the Great Sand Hills of Saskatchewan?

            Or the Amazon River. It is called the ‘River Sea’ because of its dimensions are so great, it being the largest river in the world. I long to drift on its waters but have I canoed the Frenchman River?

            An African safari: think of the zebras, elephants, wildebeest, lions, and my absolute favourite, giraffes. How breathtaking it would be to see a rare baby black rhino or a white lion club! But have I been to the Grasslands National Park and seen a Greater Short-horned lizard? (It shoots blood from its eyes!) Or how about hiking the Frenchman River Valley and seeing the rare Northern Leopard Frog? What about the mule deer, prairie dogs, and ferruginous hawks?

            I would also love to spend time with indigenous African tribes, like the Masai Mara. But have I spent time with my own family? I mean really engaging with them. And what about me? Do I have the courage to pilgrimage to my deepest inner self? Would I be willing to spend time with me, learning about who I really am just as I am willing to learn about African tribes-people?

            Archaeological excavations also fascinate me. Imagine excavating an Egyptian ruin or digging in an early Mayan site in Guatemala. The idea of unearthing treasures intoxicates me! But then again, I think of home and find it only fitting that perhaps, before I travel to the other side of the world, I join a day dig in Eastend, where Saskatchewan’s first Tyrannosaurus Rex was discovered.

            Whether or not you plan a vacation this summer, be it clear across the world or a tent pitched in your backyard, don’t forget to explore the most vast and awe-inspiring of landscapes: your inner self. Excavate. Dig deep for forgotten hopes and dreams. Follow the map that your heart has written and you’ll unearth your greatest treasures.

Canoing the Frenchman River in May, 2002

Myself, my son, Jayson (age 7)
and my daughter, Renee (age 12)

Originally published in the June 21st, 2010 issue