For the first 50 years of my life, I was what you might call an armchair traveler. I read books set in foreign places, read articles and pored over pictures in National Geographic and Aramco World, and dreamed about foreign lands and strange cultures.
Even after I married Frank Silvey, the well-traveled son of an Army officer, I had hardly crossed the Mexican border.
When we moved to Los Angeles, I fell in love with the old Banana Republic, with its jeep sticking through the display window and its catalogue of safari-styled clothing--a masterpiece of travel writing.
There was Trader Joe’s, back when they had the trading post theme in their stores and imaginatively written articles on the rigors of coming up with just the right exotic ingredient for the foods they sold.
There was the Jungle Ride at Disneyland, with its hippos perpetually signaling their intentions to ram us by wiggling their ears, the spectacular view of the “back side of water,” and the “head salesman of the region” with his assortment of shrunken heads.
Now, there’s the Travel Channel, and Rick Steves on PBS with his travel tips and friends all over Europe, not to mention those daring young people who make travel an extreme sport on Globe Trekker.
This March issue of my website includes two trips my husband Frank and I took together, including virtual tours of the places we went; the story of Abraham and his faith journey; and an interview with Frank, one of the best traveled people I know. |
