My senior year in college, I took the January interim in Europe. It was probably one of the most eye-opening experiences I have had. I had traveled extensively through the eastern United States with my family. I was a good traveler and had seen many historic sites as my mom was a history buff. What I didn’t realize was the things I would learn outside the classroom on this trip.
There were the more mundane things like learning how to traverse the London Underground at street level after the Underground had closed at midnight on New Year’s Eve. Where we were celebrating – Trafalgar Square – was a ways away from our hotel. We made it by using the hot air ducts to navigate the route. I learned that every other city on the trip, the guys had the warm rooms and the girls had the cold ones. We all learned to snuggle together fully clothed.
In Amsterdam, I learned that USA fashion was at least one season behind. The European women were all in midi-skirts and we were still in minis. The European men really enjoyed seeing lots of leg for a change. The male students got interesting comments when we walked through the red-light district in Amsterdam about us girls and our skirts. I think they thought the guys had really lucked out. However, the best lessons came toward the end of the six-week trip of the European Economic Institutions.
While in Copenhagen Denmark, I found a company, Den Permanente. They were potters and had the most magnificent stoneware dishes. Here I learned never to send my mother a telegram. I frightened her almost into a faint when I sent one from Denmark. To her generation, a telegram meant someone had died. Yet, without the convenience of the pay phones much less cell phones, this was the only way for me to get a quick answer. I wanted to know what constituted a full-set of every day dishes. Once she got over the shock, which was cushioned by the receptionist who had gotten my telegram, she wrote back quickly. I ordered to have shipped exactly what she told me with place settings for 8 and all the auxiliary pieces.
This is where I got another lesson – ask before you pay. I used the combined traveler’s checks from almost everyone on the trip to pay for the dishes. Like with the phones, we used travelers’ checks rather than credit cards to pay for purchases. I found out later I could have used a personal check and the store would have waited to ship until it cleared the bank. How uneducated was I at 21? Thank goodness our next stop was Munich, where I could cash checks for every one and get us cash before Paris.
Truly there were more lessons to be learned on this trip. How young we were and how naïve! Naiveté is not just for the young. Having that open curiosity and willingness to explore is a way to really create a vision and a dream that is expansive enough to reach the stars. What is your exceptionally humongous dream? Is it too wild and crazy to imagine? I work with women to draw their visions out and make them real. Join me and Take the Dare.