My grandmother, Doris Smith Haley (pictured above with my mother, aunts, and sister on her 85th birthday) was a huge advocate for travel, education and experiencing as much as possible. This little lady from Booneville, MO had been to the most incredible places: Honduras, Nepal, China, Russia, Australia, Europe. When my sister and I were little, she set up accounts for us and told us we were only allowed to spend it on one thing: travel. So, in high school, my sister went on a school trip to Belize with our mom and I went to Spain with our dad. Before that, our parents' took us to Mexico and my dad made sure that we didn't leave there thinking that Mexico was like a resort; he took us into downtown Mazatlan and into the street markets. There were entire pig carcasses on butcher blocks, chickens strung up by their feet, flies and poverty everywhere. Even with all that, I still wanted to see more of the world; I was not swayed by seeing the "ugly" part of a city.
I have been fortunate enough to have also been to Italy twice. The first time, we went to meet my sister, Audrey, in Rome after her stint studying abroad, and spent Christmas all over Italy. This last time, in 2010, we got the hell out of Rome as soon as the plane landed (Seriously...see Rome, but you only need to see it once. After that, head straight to Florence) and traveled to Florence, Fiesole, Sienna, Venice and Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre is a small town on the coast of the Mediterranean with five villages connected to each other by a pathway. The fourth village, Vernazza, is where you want to stay. The hike between the 4th and 5th villages (Vernazza and Monte Rosso) is famous for the spectacular views. When you get to about the top, there is the quintessential shot that every photographer must capture (pictured below):
It has been nearly three years since that trip, and I have been DYING to go somewhere again. I am fortunate to be with someone that loves traveling as much as I do and we talk about our dream trips.
My grandmother left us this past January and left a hole in our hearts; she was someone that will never be replaced. Recently, I had found out that she had left me some money and I had to think to myself, "What would Memaw want me to do?" I don't even know why I had to think about it because the answer was so obvious: travel. Jason and I have decided to take a big trip next year: Iceland and Norway. Turns out, if you take Iceland Air, they let you do a stop over for up to 7 days for no additional airfair charges. So, essentially, you can have a 7 day layover. So, we're going to fly into Reykjavik and continue onto Oslo and bum around Norway for a few days and then head home.
I have to thank my Memaw for giving me the genes that long for travel and adventure. She'll be with me every time I go somewhere new.
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