Napier | Travel Well, Fly Safe

“You have to travel to see new light, find new hope, renew the mind and revitalize the soul.” Lailah Gifty Akita

It was summer in January on a beach in Napier, New Zealand. The weather was hot and the sun was setting at 930 PM. The moon was out at the same time. My new friend pinched the fingers of both her hands together and said, “This is a pinch me moment”. I had heard of pinch me moments when someone wins an Academy Award or accomplishes a dream but I had never heard of it standing on a beach watching a sunset. She explained that, “You pinch your fingers to save the moment. When I am sitting in my kitchen in England and I look out the window at the dreary weather, I will remember this moment.”

As I watched the moon that night, it made sense that it is also the small moments that resonate in our minds. They are part of the story making events of our lives. Here are some of my travel pinch me moments. (photo by Cordula Reins)

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Looking out at the balloons in the air over Cappadocia, Turkey.

Watching the sun set over the Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia

Rainbow over Iguazu Falls, Missiones, Argentina

Angor Wat, Cambodia

Walking on the beach in Varadero, Cuba

Cuba 3

Sailing on the Mekong Delta, Viet Nam

Machu Picchu .

Seeing the elephants up close in Kruger National Park, South Africa

The Tori Gates on Myajima, Japan

The view of the volcano in Santorini, Greece

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Fly safe,

JAZ

For the Traveler (photos of New Zealand by Cordula Reins)

Every time you leave home,
Another road takes you
Into a world you were never in.

0180_gannets_takapu_muriwai_beach

New strangers on other paths await.
New places that have never seen you
Will startle a little at your entry.

0922_the_wanaka_tree_border
Old places that know you well
Will pretend nothing
Changed since your last visit.

0447_tongariro When you travel, you find yourself
Alone in a different way,
More attentive now
To the self you bring along, 1011_okarito_mountain_view
Your more subtle eye watching
You abroad; and how what meets you
Touches that part of the heart
That lies low at home: 0435_tongariro_taranaki_falls How you unexpectedly attune
To the timbre in some voice,
Opening a conversation
You want to take in 0705_lake_tekapo_bridgeview
To where your longing
Has pressed hard enough
Inward, on some unsaid dark,
To create a crystal of insight
You could not have known
You needed
To illuminate
Your way. 1021_franz_josef_glacier When you travel,
A new silence
Goes with you, 0828_tsse_cruise_lake_wakatipu
And if you listen,
You will hear
What your heart would
Love to say. 0370_wai_o_tapu_champagne_pool A journey can become a sacred thing:
Make sure, before you go,
To take the time
To bless your going forth, 0152_paihia_morning
To free your heart of ballast
So that the compass of your soul
Might direct you toward
The territories of spirit
Where you will discover
More of your hidden life,
And the urgencies
That deserve to claim you. 0778_milford_sound May you travel in an awakened way,
Gathered wisely into your inner ground; 0954_walk_to_fox_glacier That you may not waste the invitations
Which wait along the way to transform you. 0579_abel_tas_np_onetahuti May you travel safely, arrive refreshed,
And live your time away to its fullest;
Return home more enriched, and free
To balance the gift of days which call you. 0498_winetasting_lookout_hill_cheers