Travels with Irene

The dream began in a 7^th grade classroom in 1957 – the desire to travel around the world.  What birthed that dream in a young girl living in a small town in the western Michigan countryside to explore the big world beyond her reach?   It was an orange-covered geography book on North and South America and a teacher who taught well. 

How I loved studying about the people and places that were miles and time zones away.  Maps were fascinating to me, and I read the names of rivers and mountain ranges and cities that seemed to draw me in to imagine the inhabitants of the region.  I begged my teacher to allow me to take the book home over the weekends, which was against school policy to prevent wear and tear.  When she did, especially over Christmas break, I read and re-read about people, cultures, crops, and land formations. I wanted to see what I was reading about, and the dream was born.

Throughout my high school years, the geography book was replaced by travelogues at our local high school gym.  Monthly, professional travelers would come for a community-wide educational event, and share their slides of a trip with live narration.  I was fascinated as I heard about climbing mountains, visiting cities, going through desserts, and exploring parts of the world that seemed so exotic.  Traveling vicariously had to satisfy my dream. 

Throughout the subsequent years that dream became somewhat dormant, but would get sparked again as I read the monthly yellow-bordered National Geographic magazines that came to our mailbox from 1970-2000.  I was always fascinated by the thought-provoking articles and the award-winning photographs that would again awaken that desire to see the world.  I wanted to see for myself how other people lived, where they lived, and what they did. 

Fast forward to 2019.  I was in a new chapter of my life.  My husband of 53 years had passed away and our five children were on their own.  I had to figure out how I was going to navigate this new section of my life’s journey.  I started my first project – preserving my husband’s letters written from Vietnam in 1968-69 to me, his bride of three years.  On a frigid, cold day that January, I read a letter written fifty-one years earlier while John, an infantryman with the 1^st Air Cavalry,  was at Landing Zone Carol, just south of the DMZ.  It was his instructions how he wanted me to live while being alone while he was gone. The words leaped off the page and into my heart:

“Live life as fully and as richly as you can.”

John then added a specific list how I was to do that: “…get records, books, pictures, poems, go to classes, teach, learn, in short – live.”  Reading this as a recent widow, now living alone again, I knew this was a direction not from John, but from God, reminding me that I was to move forward, to be thankful for having had a husband and marriage for 53 years and to look forward to all that God had for me in this new chapter.  That letter sparked my dream again.

I began by taking semi-annual solo road trips for two-three weeks, out East, out West, and down South.  I explored state and national parks, walked on beaches, stopped in small towns, toured caves, meandered on country roads and state highways, and enjoyed meeting people in coffee shops, restaurants, and at historic sites.   I traveled wisely, and loved every moment of challenge and exploration. 

Then came the summer of 2024 when I tried my first-ever cruise to Alaska.  John and I had planned to go in 2020 for our 55^th anniversary, but his cancer journey and death had cancelled that.  Another woman and I researched and planned, picking Holland America as our best choice to see that great state.  The 2-week trip on land and sea was absolutely astounding, seeing the stunning beauty of glaciers, mountains, forests, and sea while experiencing the camaraderie of fellow travelers.  I didn’t want the trip to end.  And on that Noordam ship, I picked up a brochure for The Grand Voyage 2026:

Jan 4 – May 17, 2026:  

133 Days, 5 Continents, 23 countries, 51 ports, 9 overnights

For the next few months, I pondered and prayed.  I consulted with my children, my medical team, and my financial consultants.  Could I, at age 80, actually handle that long of a cruise traveling alone?  On Nov 4, 2024, fourteen months ahead of embarkation, I signed up for an ocean view cabin on the first deck and paid the deposit.  My dream was coming true – I would travel the world and have adventures beyond my expectations. 

What a blessing that a few months later, I was able to invite my niece to join me on a Holland America 17-day cruise in April 2025 through the Caribbean area with a complete transit through the Panama Canal.  I became hooked on cruising, and was so delighted that she and I were such great travelers together.  It was an obvious choice to invite her for the Grand Voyage so we could explore more of the world together.

The “Adventure Wall” in my kitchen is the focal point of my dream now as I count down the days until the ship leaves the port in Ft Lauderdale.  Yes, Adventure Awaits to this one who is following her dream birthed so long ago.  Every day I see the map of the Grand Voyage and the framed words from John to live life fully and richly.  I see the Navis family crest with the riveting Latin words that translate, “The ship floats by the grace of God.” (Navis is the Latin name for ship.)   And I see two photos that remind me of special places where I have been. 

Truly, adventure awaits.  The dream is becoming a reality.