Voyagers

"Because we were strangers who would know one another on this planet for a short time, we could trade those essential secrets of our lives ... Voyagers can remove the masks and those sinuous, intricate disguises we wear at home ..." - from "My Reading Life", Pat Conroy (2010) 

For me, spending time with strangers while on vacation is nearly as enjoyable as experiencing new places. And I suspect some of that enjoyment is connected to the "... removing of masks and ... disguises..." How much do Pat Conroy's words resonate with you?

We shared our just finished Road Scholars adventure to Alaska with thirty-seven other voyagers. As you might expect, the number of  " ... essential secrets ..." traded varied widely. Nevertheless, I was impressed with the level of education in the group, charmed by the interactions of some of the long-married couples, energized by many of the conversations. I walked away with a few solid book recommendations, several new vocabulary words, and an invitation to Grand Lakes, Colorado. I observed one voyager working with a Sanskrit-to-English dictionary, laughed as a wife described how she distracts her bird-watching husband by pretending to spot a rare specimen, did my best with five strings playing a blues as part of "Three Blind Moose".

"Each of us had met by accident, our lives touched briefly ... then we continued on our own private journeys ... these intense encounters left a fragrant pollen on the sills and eaves of memory."