Remember the Willie Wonka prize all longed for: A Golden Ticket to go to Wonka Land. It was a land beyond imagination, full of oompa lumpas, endless supplies of candies, a chocolate river, everlasting gobstoppers, and magic? In the film only a dozen or so people will able to secure a golden ticket. But I want to tell you right now, you have a golden ticket to Travel the World!
You are living in a time and place when access to the world is easy and available. I am not overly opinionated on loads of topics, but travel is one of them. Travel the world, see things we have only read about in the bible, visit the lands that inspired fairy tales, or only visited in dreams. Why should these locations just be reserved as backdrops for films or novels, you can be a character in your own movie. Get a passport and start now!
I am in Jordan as I write this, never did I think I would end up here or dream of here. But the more places you go, the more you are intrigued to step your foot in unexplored terrain. And I have such gratitude for that. Don’t let fear keep you from seeing the world.
At the hotel I am staying in, I saw a Filipina waitress, and I thought “wow I have made it.” I am travelling the world non-stop in a field and job, that’s allowed me the salary and flexibility to explore. This waitress was creating a new life for herself and all whom comes afger her.
In reality it wasn’t me that made it alone. My parents, grandparents, and my biological lineage for me brought me to a land of opportunity. My mom and grandmother (and all before her on that side) were immigrants from the Philippines, and on my father’s side great-grandparents also were immigrants Poland and Slovakia. We have golden tickets as we are living the dreams of our ancestors. Not only that, we are living the dreams of our human ancestors.
Never was there a time that connects us more in humanity, we are all recipients of the hard work of those that came before us. Technology, computers, internet, the ease of cell phones, personal international flights, easy access to be our own travel guides. Why not take advantage of this? Get out of your backyard and see the fruit that’s been planted and picked for you. It would be a waste to let the fruit rot and not experience what the world has in store for you. Take the Golden Ticket, you are guaranteed entrance in Wonderland.
It Only Takes A Smile 