The World is a Wonder: Yes there should be 7 - Guess where Im going next...
I’m not entirely sure at what age it began but somewhere in my childhood I developed the dream of seeing the world. My Family always talked so fondly about their experiences living all over the world. From pictures of my Grandparents at the Taj Mahal and my Dad and his brothers traipsing around south East Asia, and talks of schooling in India and Pakistan and round the world tickets. To tales of my Mom and her sisters adventures in Boarding schools in England and experiences in the Canadian country side. All this and here I was never having even left California. I just knew there was so much more to see and hoped that one day my life would be an adventure too. Thus the dreams began!
When I was learning about History in school I would imagine myself at these fascinating historical sites. One day I learned of the Seven Wonders of the World and I knew I desperately wanted to see them all. For a long time this seemed an impossible dream. I never knew that one day I might actually accomplish it and so many more. This World truly is a Wonder!
As you can see my Seven Wonders Dream is nearly, but not quite complete. I have been to six of the seven Modern Wonders only Machu Picchu eludes me now, and I am on a mission to get there as soon as possible. I have been waiting in hopes of seeing this special place with my Brother who is half Peruvian and lived there when he was very young. Seeing this precious site together will be such a magical experience.
The Journey began 3 years ago when I was invited on a trip to India to celebrate Prince Manvendra Sing Gohil’s Birthday in Gurjurat. I had been a flight attendant for almost a year at this point and had traveled a bit, but this would be by far the biggest, furthest and most dramatic trip I’d been on. The Who experience was amazing, exhilarating, thrilling. Also scary and challenging but so all together fascinating for me. I thought of all the stories Id heard over the years and it just felt so special and surreal to actually be there. At some point I realized that being in India I couldn’t let the chance to see the Taj Mahal escape me, so Michelle and I got to planning and on the spur of the moment we booked some flights and drivers and we were headed for Agra. It’s hard to describe how it felt to actually sit in the same spot Id seen my grandparents sitting in that old black and white photo on the mantle for so Many years to actually be at that place I’d imagined for so long. It was so much more stunning than I ever even dreamed. From there I was hooked already mentally preparing to see the rest of the Wonders.
When I got home I immediately started researching China. I was just dying to see the Great Wall! I called up my friend Jana convinced her to come along, found a tour, and off we went less than a month after I got back from India. I really had a vision in my head for what the Great Wall would be like and couldn’t wait to get one of those beautiful photos with vast expanse of wall behind me stretching into the distance forever. Well to my surprise it didn’t turn out that way. The fog was so thick that day that I could barely even see my own hand in front of my face. I’ll be honest it was difficult for me to check my disappointment in that moment. Fortunately I had Jana there to remind me how amazing and special it was for us just to be standing where we stood. And she was right! The power of this place was all still there, we were told stories of the men who died building it that were buried in the stones and the history of it all sunk in. I remembered how in 6th grade I’d dreamed of standing right here. Another dream accomplished another goal met. The power of the moment was no longer lost on me. I was just so grateful to be there and in such great company. I do still plan to go back one day and get that photo though ;)
It was some time before I made it to my next wonder. I did take a trip to Peru shortly after and considered going to Machu Picchu but it was very rushed and I knew I wanted to do this one with my brother so I opted to wait. Many things kept coming up but in the back of my mind I was always considering when and how Id be getting to my next Wonder.
In the summer it was time! I found out my Aunt and Uncle were planning a trip to Europe with my cousins and Rome was on their Itinerary. Bingo, I quickly made plans to meet them there and join for a tour of the Coliseum. I loved having this experience with my family. And I was super lucky this all timed out because I already had plans to go to Brazil for the Olympics that summer, where of course I would also see, Christ the Redeemer. So from Rome to Rio I went and within a matter of days I was able to visit both of the wonderous sites half a World away from each other.
Quite a bit more time then passed before I made it to Chichen Itza my 5th wonder that December. This happened on a “relaxing” little girls trip to Cancun with my Bestie. Well I’m not the best at relaxing Vacay’s and was itching for an adventure and of course it was just too hard for me to let the opportunity to see another Wonder pass me by. Once I filled Vicki in on my mission and how much I loved seeing these special sites with Special people in my life she was in. So we jumped on a tour and the adventure began. As always it was a fantastic experience. I didn’t know much about this one and it was fascinating to learn about and explore.
Last but certainly not least was Petra. In fact this was probably my favorite wonder thus far. I was most in Awe at this one. Petra was so so much more than I realized I could have explored this lost city for days. Getting here really was an adventure I was in Israel with another one of my best friends Ariana. I told her how much I wanted to make it to Petra and with some hesitation she agreed to come along. We took a bus through the night from Tel Aviv thinking this was a genius plan because we could sleep on the bus and get there ready to go straight on the tour into Jordan. Big mistake is all I can say. The bus stopped every 20 mins to pick up and drop off along the 5 hour ride and at some point it turned out someone had tickets for our seats so we were kicked onto the floor. We show up exhausted and frustrated and can’t even find our tour. Ultimately we find a hotel regroup and re plan for the next day. Now were excited and everything seems great until we get to the boarder and find out that sense Ariana holds an Israeli passport that is not up to date she can not cross into Jordan even though she has her American Passport. This was devastating and there was absolutely nothing we could do. I ended up having to go into Petra alone. I was nervous and frustrated feeling like the whole experience was ruined for me. However once I got there I quickly realized that this would be far too fascinating an experience to ruin. I will definitely return to Petra one day and hope that Ari will be with me next time :)