A Year of Contemplation

I recently traveled for six weeks to India, Egypt, Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania on Three Zoom Vacations tours. While I have always known that travel encourages thought, insight, and awareness, I was really amazed at how much my mind was engaged, during this trip, making connections, finding strange similarities, noticing things for the first time, etc.  

On my flight home after six weeks away, I compiled my thoughts and realized that I had 12 specific ideas which I plan to share for 12 months. I am hoping that they will provoke further respectful thought and discussion both on my blog and elsewhere.

Day 1: The first revolves around WATER. On safari, you see instantly the relevance and importance of water on all life, such as the crowded water hole right in front of our lodge in Tanzania, where the animals daily jockey for space.

safari

In Egypt, we learned how the Nile river was truly the life blood of Egypt. It was essentially what gave Egypt its strength and power.

Egypt

In India, we visited the ancient city of Varanasi, which draws Hindu pilgrims who bathe in the Ganges River’s sacred waters and perform funeral rites. Again, it is all about the Ganges.

Varanasi

Yet, the water is undrinkable for most visitors coming to these countries. In the USA and Canada, are we taking our most prized resource for granted, and are we destroying it? It takes minutes to pollute a lake or river and possibly lifetimes to heal…

Side-note: Isn’t it interesting that in Dubai, water is more expensive than oil?