Lesson 9: Place I have traveled

Where is a place you're thankful to have traveled?

I'm thankful that I got the chance to travel to Ireland with my good friend / college roommate Judy. Both of us have some Irish heritage, and Judy has actually reconnected with some of her Irish family, so we were both eager to see it for ancestry reasons.  Judy and I lived in different cities at the time of the trip, so we decided to meet in Dublin.  This was pre smart phone days, and I was a little nervous about doing the journey on my own, but it turned out to be empowering to figure out things like getting through customs, navigating Irish public transportation, and managing to successfully meet up at the hostel.  We split our time between Dublin and the Irish countryside.  

In Dublin, it was fun to visit libraries that are older than the United States by centuries, to see buildings that looked like castles, to visit the Guinness Brewery, and to hang out in the pubs during some big rugby matches (both similar to and different than American football culture).  The real highlight, though, was seeing the beautiful Irish countryside.  It was pretty rainy and cold on many of our days, but we enjoyed a hot toddy in Galway, watching the sheep on the bright green hills from the train, and visiting Judy's family in County Cork.  

I'm so grateful for this to see a different part of the world, a different way of doing life, and a slice of my past.  And I'm grateful that I got to do this trip with Judy, who is an expert trip planner and a fun and easy person to spend days with.