Tomorrow my oldest friend will visit NYC from Williamsburg, Virginia. We have “known” each other since before we were born–our mothers were friends during those “Mad Men” days of the early 1960s. My friend Sara and her husband Paul, travel quite a lot, often to exotic places for business. But I continue to admire the extent to which they make travel a priority as they rear their elementary school daughter. This is a gift beyond measure, in my estimation. As they make their way for their Easter Week trip, I share “A Blessing for a Traveler”
Every time you leave home,
Another road takes you
into a world you were never in.
New strangers on other paths await.
New places that have never seen you
Will startle a little at your entry
Old places that know you well
Will pretend nothing
changed since your last visit.
When you travel, you will find yourself
Alone in a different way,
More attentive now
To the self you bring along,
Your more subtle eye watching
You abroad; and how what meets you
Touches that part of your heart
That lies low at home