While writing about my Canadian vacation last month, I mentioned that one of the highlights was getting to know the people in our tour group. Just about everyone, I wrote, has an interesting story to tell.
Among those people were Pat Myers and her husband, Lou. In the course of our conversations, Pat mentioned that she had written and published a children's book. Well now, that was a WOW moment for me, so while on the train, I checked it out on Amazon, and it was waiting for me when I got home.
It tells the story of brother and sister Beckett and Sienna who are about to take a vacation to London with their grandparents. (By an amazing coincidence, Pat and Lou's real life grandchildren are named Beckett and Sienna.) In a jam packed week in London, they visit Buckingham Palace, see the Queen, go to Stonehenge, the London National Art Gallery, the London Zoo, discover fish-and-chips, and have high tea at a fancy hotel. Throughout, the kids learn that, while things may seem different in another country, you will discover that people are often pretty much the same everywhere.
Pat told me that she wrote the book as a gift of sorts for their grandkids, to introduce them to the world and the wonders of traveling. She did a fine job of it, too!
While it is a children's book, one part of it struck home to me. As the four travelers make their way back home, Lou - excuse me, Papa - tells the kids "Traveling is so much better than anything you can ever buy in a store. This trip won't get old. It won't ever get lost or taken away. You'll have this adventure in your minds and hearts forever."
This is why I always tell people....Don't wait for your Fortieth Anniversary to go to Hawaii, don't wait until you're retired to go to Paris or London. If at all possible, do these things NOW, when you can enjoy them and cherish them for years to come.
"Look Out, London" may be a children's book, but there are lessons in there for everyone.
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