The Places Where You Never Thought You Would Go

When we were children, many of us dreamed of what it would like to be an explorer and to visit strange and unknown lands. Then we grew up and as we like to say, life got in the way. So we spent our time building careers and raising children and traveled to as many places as we could, but all without leaving our own country. Then, when our children moved out on their own, we started to venture out and start exploring the world. As like most people, we started out by going to places that were more familiar to us like England, France, Spain, and Mexico. Lately, though, we have gone to places that we had never really considered. This week’s Daily Post Photo Challenge is Unlikely and at this point we have been to many places that had you asked us ten years ago we would have never imaged ourselves visiting.

Tangiers, Morocco
Chennai, India
Amazon Rainforest
Iceland

 

Making an Effort to Get the View

We all love those panoramic photos with breathtaking views, but it is often a struggle to get to the location to take those pictures. Whether hiking to the top of a large mountain, making your way up a steep set of stairs, or even climbing up a ladder it can be exhausting and even sometimes risky to get that perfect shot. There have been a few times when we have looked at a rickety ladder or seen a trail on the ledge of a cliff when we’ve decided that the shot “to die for” wasn’t literally worth the price. We definitely don’t want to be one of those people who inadvertently fell off of a cliff while taking a selfie of themselves. This week’s Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge is about Outdoor Ways to Move Up and Down.  What lengths would you go to in order to get that memorable photograph.

Someone (Not Us) Rock Climbing in Garden of the Gods
Looking Down at Death Road in Bolivia
We Walked this Twice in Heidelberg, Germany
Stairs Leading Down to Gullfoss Falls in Iceland
Trail Climbing Down to the Laguna in Quilotoa, Ecuador
Climbing Stairs in the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain
Tower We Climbed to the Observation Deck above the Rainforest Canopy in the Amazon

Traveling Can Make You Appreciate Your Life

There are times, when you travel to certain locations, when you realize how lucky you really are. Sure, on some trips you go to places with palaces and temples of gold that can make you dream of a pampered life. Like most people, we feel that we work hard and can often feel stressed and overwhelmed. Then, we go to a part of the world that doesn’t have all of the modern conveniences and see people truly toiling to make a living for themselves and their families. Seeing those people who work so hard and make so little for their efforts remind us that we are truly lucky. We do work long hours, often getting up before the sun comes up and working late in the day, but we aren’t going to fool ourselves into believing that work is as hard as some of the people we have seen in struggling countries. To do the kind of physical labor that they do with antiquated equipment in weather conditions that would drive most of us indoors is truly impressive. So, the next time that we complain about how tired we are or what a difficult day we’ve had, we will remind ourselves that if it weren’t for the luck of where we were born, we might be enduring difficult conditions just to eek out an existence for ourselves.

Herding Sheep in Ecuador
Working the Field
Train Station Attendant in the Cold of Romania
Hand Weaving Silk in India
Manually Clearing a Field in Bolivia
Drying Coca Leaves in Bolivia
Loading Truck in Chennai
Fixing the Roof of Their Home
Hard Work in the Heat