Its All About the Experiences

When it comes right down to it in life, its all about the experiences.  Its not about the biggest TV, the largest house, the newest fashion or even the iPhone (well, OK, maybe the iPhone!).  Its really about the memorable experiences in life.  Its not counting the number of countries you've been to or checking off the museums you've entered.  Or even about the number of frequent flyer miles you have accumulated (just ask George Clooney in "Up in the Air").  The greatest travel narratives are usually not chronological - today I saw this, then this, then this, ....  They are about chance encounters, troubles along the way (usually successfully resolved), sounds and smells and feels and tastes and sometimes even sights. 

I'm thinking back of travel taken and would have a hard time thinking of more than one painting in Madrid's Museo del Prado that I can remember (I do remember long long hallways - the experience of walking, I guess).  Its more than a work of art of the wall - its the experience of place - its setting, the other onlookers, locals and tourists.  My most memorable museum experience was in Paris - at the Orangerie, home of Monet's Water Lilies.  I spent two hours in one of the galleries, absorbing the Impressionistic gardens and the architecture of the place and the comings and goings of the other gallery visitors.  The rooms had wonderfully repeating ovals - in the flooring, the ceiling and the room shape itself - which worked well with a curve of each of the Money paintings.  And then the three tourists came by, all walking at an even pace, their cameras aimed.  They entered the room, walked around once, and left. 

Much more effective photo than just of the paintings.  I'm not sure that any of those three travelers remember that painting or that room or even that museum today (but who am I to know!).  But I sure do - I "experienced" the paintings and their setting.  I know there were other works of art in the building - I walked by all of them that day.  But have no real memory of them.  But having truly experienced the Monet's, I'll always remember and cherish. 

Thinking of other memorable travel experiences, they all involve something not stationary, but involving several senses and, often, motion.  Folk Music Festivals - in Butte, Mission BC, Vancouver BC, Seattle, San Francisco, Stornoway (Isle of Lewis, Scotland), Middlewich (England), Llangolan (Wales); the Gamelon concert at the hotel on Lombok Island (Indonesia); the Buddhist Festivals in Bhutan; the concertina concerts and workshops in County Clare (Ireland); photography workshops in Bhutan, Guatemala, Peru and Santa Fe; the late night music and art walk through Mt. Ste. Michel (Normandy, France); the Nocturnes at Notre Dame Cathedral (Paris); the daily Offices at Christ in the Desert Monastery in New Mexico' taking a rowboat trip off the coast of Kotzebue Alaska with local bakers; and operating narrowboats on the canals of Ireland, Wales, England and France.  These are but a few of my favorite experiences. 

As you plan you next journey or the next steps in your life, remember its all about the experiences - those will be your memories - not who won American Idol this week - unless it was YOU!.