News events can inspire travel. The recent papal conclave and the scene that unfolded after the election of Pope Leo got at least one of our friends to stop delaying their trip to Rome. She is very excited and has already taken our advice by booking a special tour. It’s always worth the money and the knowledge that a good tour guide share is invaluable. We recommend a tour every time and the feedback has always been positive.
If you’ve visited this website before you probably know that I love history. My wife has been kind enough to allow me to visit sites that were in the news when I was growing up and the things we have been able to see have been absolutely incredible. I never thought I would ever be in the Dallas School Book Depository looking out the same window that Lee Harvey Oswald did. Or going inside the LBJ ranch and looking at where President Kennedy’s successor lived. Or looking up at the balcony of the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King was killed. If you lived through these events or even read about them, visiting these places takes on a whole new meaning. News events can inspire travel and make it more real. Although you get a lot of knowledge from reading, there is something about seeing the actual place in person that is absolutely amazing.
Some of the places can be a bit sad. It was devastating, for example, to take a tour of the area near New Orleans where Hurricane Katrina wiped out whole blocks that are still in disrepair. The burned forests and houses in California wine country will always be etched in my mind as well as the conversations we had with the people who stayed and are determined to never to give up their home. It tells you a lot about the human spirit and experiences like these are part of the reason we love to travel so much. History and the news can inspire travel that will create learning experiences that cannot be duplicated. My wife is not a history lover, but she has appreciated every historic site that we’ve seen and has enjoyed every experience. Her only request is that she doesn’t have to take a test or write a paper and somewhere along the way there has to be a decent meal provided. I haven’t failed on either count yet.
But it doesn't all have to be serious and historic. We have visited quite a few places that have hosted the Olympics, and it is very interesting to see how each location has used the infrastructure that was built for the event. In Australia, for example, there is a beautiful area that housed the athletes and hosted the events, and it is now called Olympic Village. Although we have yet to go to an Olympics, it is still on our list. This great competition is something we would really like to experience and it’s another example of how news events can inspire travel.
My father was in the Navy and had a love for sailing although he never owned a boat. One event that he followed was the America’s Cup sailing competition back in the day when the United States couldn’t seem to lose. That was another example of how a news event can inspire travel. At least it did for me. We went to Newport a few times and went to the America’s Cup Museum and it’s interesting to speak to the bar and restaurant owners about that time. It brought in all kinds of money for Newport and made it a great tourist destination. We were fortunate enough to see the same kind of development in Aukland, New Zealand. They built a huge pier that is now the home to a museum and some wonderful pubs and restaurants.
Even a casual observer of history can see how news events inspire travel because there are places that saw huge amounts of growth because of something that happened there. The Gold Rush in California is a great example of this and, although I’m sure California would have become a wonderful tourist destination anyway, the promise of riches certainly accelerated the process.
Religious sites are also places that have become great attractions because of something that happened there. Friends of ours just visited Fatima and Lourdes and were extremely impressed by what they experienced. Perhaps the biggest attraction on earth is the Holy Land and, even though it is such a troubled area, people are still going. While you might think the news of violence would be a huge deterrent, we know a few people who are more determined than ever to go there.
One place that we visited because of what we saw in the news was Venice. It became clear that cruise ships were going to have trouble entering the city because of some of the restrictions that were being put in place. We booked a cruise that stopped in Venice as soon as we read that we were running out of time to do it. We’re very glad that we did because it’s a beautiful, one-of-a-kind city. So, don’t wait. Although news events can inspire travel, don’t wait to become inspired. Book your trip today. It’s time to Enjoy Retired Life!
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