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It’s been said that the number one leisure activity for the baby boom generation is travel, and, being a boomer, I can attest to the allure that travel holds. Journeying is invigorating, fun, relaxing, and romantic and it can bring history alive in a way nothing else does.
May I add that traveling can also inspire you to do new things.
Our trip to and through the Panama Canal inspired my husband and me to write a book. A travel memoir entitled: Cruising Panama’s Canal, savoring 5,000 nautical miles and 500,000 decadent calories.
Although I’ve made my living writing and my husband is an accomplished photographer, this was our first attempt to write something together. And a whole book, no less!
As you travel and try new and different foods see unexpected sights, explore unfamiliar villages or cities, you come to realize that attempting new things is fun. Newness is exciting. It makes you feel more alive.
In writing our book, we got to re-live and re-think our wonderful experience. We had to concentrate more intensely on what we did and saw, so that we could make it come alive for our readers.
We had to paint a picture of the enclosed garden in Costa Rica where butterflies the size of small birds would flit right up to us and then dart away.
Al, who delights in desserts, had fun describing the look and taste of chocolate cake with raspberry sauce and the fragrance of fresh-from-the-oven peanut butter cookies.
It was a challenge using words alone to re-create the wonder of going through the Canal locks, and feeling our 82,000-ton ship rise smoothly as a rubber ducky in a bathtub.
Our book writing endeavor took more than a year to complete. But that project has nudged us out of our comfort zone and into even more new experiences.
We’re now doing book readings at book stores and conferences. Tonight we’re reading (along with some other authors) at a lovely restaurant in Santa Rosa, California.
Wherever we read, people are eager to share with us their own travel or cruise adventures. Such joy!
Now that Cruising Panama’s Canal is out and readers are responding to it with warm and glowing reviews, we find ourselves connected with folks in France and Australia, Canada and all across the U.S.A.
We’ve heard from readers in Wisconsin, Los Angeles, Florida, Berkeley, Montana, Mossouri, Manitoba, Seattle, San Diego, South Carolina, New York City, and San Francisco…to name a few.
Our lives are enriched by our readers, who enthusiastically share their personal travel stories, opinions and insights.
So the benefits of travel continue to enrich us, rippling from the trip itself, the book our trip inspired, and the gentle-hearted readers who love our story.
To check out our book and its reviews, just click on: http://www.amazon.com/Cruising-Panamas-Canal-Al-Lockwood/dp/0615927084/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393433475&sr=8-1&keywords=cruising+panama%27s+canal
April 25, 2023
