75D
"Lineage"
I lost three of my four grandparents before I graduated high school, so my remaining paternal grandfather became very special to me. When he retired, even before I was born, he and my grandmother traveled across the continental US catching the travel bug and shortly began traveling abroad. England quickly became their favorite to travel as they tracked our heritage all over the UK and into Ireland. So when I learned in January of 2014 that I had the opportunity to travel to the Netherlands for a Spring Break trip and then a possible year abroad in England he was the first person I called. Always the man with wise and fair advice we spoke in great length about all the places he had been in each country and all the things he recommended, but my favorite advice was “Be careful, be aware, but don’t distrust everyone.” That advice stuck with me and what I enjoy the most about traveling has become the people I meet along the way. Sadly my grandfather passed away while I was in the Netherlands. It was heartbreaking but I felt him that day when our group went to Kinderdijk and I walked down paths that he and my grandmother had taken many years ago. I also felt the connection in England as I struggled in a half foot of snow and mud while hiking along Hadrian’s Wall. When I finally made it to the top the sun was falling and the clouds were dispersing as the great view overtook my senses. Here I felt my grandfather wrapping me in the glow of his love and I stepped again in line with footsteps he had left twenty years prior.
75D
"Lineage"
I lost three of my four grandparents before I graduated high school, so my remaining paternal grandfather became very special to me. When he retired, even before I was born, he and my grandmother traveled across the continental US catching the travel bug and shortly began traveling abroad. England quickly became their favorite to travel as they tracked our heritage all over the UK and into Ireland. So when I learned in January of 2014 that I had the opportunity to travel to the Netherlands for a Spring Break trip and then a possible year abroad in England he was the first person I called. Always the man with wise and fair advice we spoke in great length about all the places he had been in each country and all the things he recommended, but my favorite advice was “Be careful, be aware, but don’t distrust everyone.” That advice stuck with me and what I enjoy the most about traveling has become the people I meet along the way. Sadly my grandfather passed away while I was in the Netherlands. It was heartbreaking but I felt him that day when our group went to Kinderdijk and I walked down paths that he and my grandmother had taken many years ago. I also felt the connection in England as I struggled in a half foot of snow and mud while hiking along Hadrian’s Wall. When I finally made it to the top the sun was falling and the clouds were dispersing as the great view overtook my senses. Here I felt my grandfather wrapping me in the glow of his love and I stepped again in line with footsteps he had left twenty years prior.