The Travel Industry News - Editorial Archives

November / December, 2006

It’s That Special Time Again ...

Christmas approaches once more and I would like to take the opportunity to wish you all your happiest holiday season ever, I’ve even wrapped the whole world with a bow and hope that goodwill prevails in each and every land. DLB.

Don’t Forget to Take Your Imagination Along ...

( I ran across this ‘ancient’ article I wrote when turning the pages of an old album my ’mum’ had kept for many moons. Somehow this seems an appropriate time to repeat these words that I still believe in - and - also just to remember.)

What’s it all about?

You know what I mean - travel, what’s it all about?

Tourism is the largest industry in the world. It flies you, busses, ships, sleeps and feeds you - for a price of course. Nevertheless, in the face of this huge conglomeration of service and equipment, did you ever pause to think just what it all boils down to?

People!

Yes, people - black ones, yellow and white ones, short and tall, male and female - they are the final answer.

The airplane is very nice, of course, with its colored interior or those “cute little windows”, but who ever got off a 737 where the stewardess was rude to them .. and still liked that airline?

I believe my “People Rule” applies to all aspects of travel; and when I look back upon my journeys around the world, I always find someone intertwined with the Parthenon, the Pyramids, Iguassu Falls, Tahiti or Red Square.

From time to time we receive letters about our travel section which we constantly endeavor to improve for our readers .. and our advertisers. The one main theme that appears in these letters is our talk of and about - you guessed it - people. After reading a recent letter, I sat and reflected upon the individuals I had met in the last 18 months who are now buried in my memory treasure-trove.

To get you thinking ’travel & people’, I thought I’d run through a few of my own favorites hoping they may stir your memories and bring a smile to your lips.

My very first sojourn for the P- I was ’down under’ to Australia and then Fiji. As a traveling companion I was paired with a columnist from Vancouver B.C. with the unlikely name of Himie Koshevoy. Himie turned out to be a slightly rotund, balding man in his mid-50s who had one of the most delightful senses of humor I have come across. When we viewed one another for the first time at Sea-Tac, I’m sure we both thought, “ Oh, dear, we won’t have anything in comment”. We did though, for we both loved life, people, and above all, the ability to laugh. Needless to say we became firm friends.

I think I learned the lesson long before this, but it reaffirmed it: never judge a book by its cover, particularly when traveling. If you take everything upon first impression, you will miss a great deal in your travels - be it to Australia or Montana.

Alf, the old sheepshearer, appeared a miserable old ... until he realized we were genuinely interested in him and his country; from then on he was a mine of information. Spain provided Mariquella, a fiery flamenco dancer, and Federico Morcillo, a hard-working, fun-loving Spaniard who explained his love of the bullfights with patience and understanding.

Tahiti, which everyone should visit at least once in their lifetime, will always linger in my memory. There were beautiful lagoons with warm, crystal-clear turquoise water beneath whose service the sun rays revealed incredibly beautiful coral and multitudes of colorful fish darting to and fro. Somehow the frosting on the cake however, was a little Tahitian boy who decided he liked me - so we made an imaginary boat from a coconut shell to sail away in.

Then there was Mary Anne with her big brown eyes, broken English and infectious laugh. She told me of religion on her island .. of 73 people! “Ten Mormons & six Catholics.” How about the rest? I asked. “Heurax”, she answered. No that’s not a Polynesian religion .. it’s French for they’re..”Happy”

When next packing , take the two most important things.. your imagination and an open mind.

David (Boat Builder) Bond

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