Back in my “Europe Through the Gutter” backpacking days, I’d end each trip by spending a good part of the flight home creating a “frieze” that captured the most memorable events of my trip. (It’s a great way to pass the time in flight, and if you have a travel partner, you can make it a creative collaboration: Make two at the same time, taking turns sketching alternate frames on each of your souvenir art pieces.)
This was a solo trip: It was 1974, I was 19 years old, the world was very big, and I was very small. On this journey, I ventured from Edinburgh to Ireland to Paris and London. Along the way, I got some mean blisters, saw some great plays, took in a Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young concert, did my share of drinking, and fell in love with a hippie Israeli draft dodger nicknamed Coconut.
Enjoy making sense out of this and think back on your earliest trip overseas. Investing in travel rewards you greatly. While the blisters fade, and the lovers flutter by, you enjoy the memories for the rest of your life.