Some of my favorite moments as a tour leader are watching the expressions of our travelers as they first encounter some of these wonders. There is a particular corner where I like to skip ahead just a little so I can savor the expressions as the group rounds the corner and sees the magnificent Eiffel Tower towering above them in all its glory.
Yes, I take great joy in taking people to some of my favorite places in Europe, and plan to continue doing so. As we speak, we're gearing up for our summer tour after a corona-hiatus. But as I look back at my somewhat lengthy life, I realize some of the experiences that have marked or formed me the most have not been in Western Europe, but in one developing country or another.
I recently saw this John Steinbeck quote at the JFK airport. It immediately resonated with me. Don'g get me wrong -- there are so many destinations that are worth the trip just to see them. But that is a one-dimentional view of travel. This world is made up not only of physical wonders and unending beauty; the very definition of culture is how people see the world and what they make of it.
