Today I made my travel arrangements for Oberammergau in August. The die is cast!
There is a magical threshold that is crossed when you finally press “buy” on a travel site and lock in your reservations. I always get a wonderful rush.
I love travel. I like airports, especially walking down the jetway. I still get butterflies. I could spend days wandering around a train station (in fact I used to do just that when I first moved to New York—Grand Central was a great place to hang out, drink coffee and read the newspaper).
The longest airline flight I’ve taken is to Seoul, South Korea, from New York, about 14 hours. The shortest flight was from New York JFK to New Haven, Connecticut, (about 15 minutes) before I realized people usually take the train.
My longest train ride took me from Düsseldorf, Germany, to Copenhagen, Denmark, and included an interlude on a ferry. I once hitchhiked from Akron, Ohio, to Berkeley, California, and again from Taos, New Mexico, to Detroit, Michigan.
My longest boat trip was from Duluth, Minnesota, to Buffalo, New York (but I was working as a deckhand so maybe this one doesn’t count).
I went from Milan, Italy, to Geneva, Switzerland, with Julee on the B-52s tour bus (that’s another story). And once I rode about eight hours on a horse through the Andes, which engendered in me an incredible appreciation for the rigors of cowboy travel.
So why Oberammergau? Well, it’s that time again. Every 10 years, dating back to the 17th century, this Bavarian village of 5,000 has put on their spectacular passion play, born of a desperate prayer in 1633, when the town was threatened by plague. The people beseeched God for mercy and the disease passed over. In gratitude they pledged to perform a passion play every 10 years.
This is one of those years. From spring to fall the entire village participates in the brilliant spectacle and millions of people from around the world attend. I’ll be leading the Guideposts Oberammergau Passion Play Tour in conjunction with our friends at Travel With Spirit, from August 21-30.
This exciting trip includes stops in the Imperial Cities: Budapest, Vienna and Prague. I would love if you could join me (click here for more information).
A little bit closer to home, Angels on Earth editor-in-chief Colleen Hughes will be leading an angelic cruise to the Bahamas in July. Other Guideposts trips are scheduled for the fall. One is bound to be perfect for you.
Before you ask…no, Millie will not be joining me. Not this time, at least. But that reminds me, I have to run. We’re headed up to the country for the weekend and I want to beat the traffic.
