God of Wonders

I love to travel.  But like most people who love to travel, I don’t do it nearly as much as I’d like.  It’s not because I don’t have a ton of vacation days saved up.  I have enough stored up to take from the second week of November through New Year’s Day off, if I wanted.  It’s not that plane tickets would be an issue.  At one point I had enough frequent flyer miles for 6 trips to anywhere in the world.  I can get by in several foreign languages, have an iron constitution when it comes to new foods, have an impeccable sense of direction, and am generally very adventurous and open to new experiences.  Also, I don’t usually get seasick, jetlag, or motion sickness.  No, the primary reason I don’t travel as much as I want is because I don’t like to travel alone.  I once spent a week exploring Japan solo with nothing but a book bag and a train pass.  It was nice, but I think I would have liked it better if someone was with me.  If I were to find someone I could get along with who could just leave the country at a moment’s notice, I’d be a happy camper… oh, I like camping too.

I’m going to San Juan, Puerto Rico with a few friends at the end of the October, which is nice but not very adventuresome, but hopefully it will be relaxing.  It’s going to be pretty affordable at least… $700 max for hotel and airfare.  If you want to come, let me know.  Last year at this time I was planning on going to Australia with a friend of mine to see the Great Barrier Reef, but that fell through.  One of my dreams is to eventually see the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.  I’ve only seen one so far.  A part of the reason I want to see them is to see these little tidbits of God’s glory shown here on earth.  I think it helps me get a sense of awe at His majesty – something we don’t see much of in our 9 to 5 worlds here.  So if you’ll indulge me, I’d like to show you a part of that dream of mine by introducing you to the seven wonders that I am longing to see.

1. The Grand Canyon

This one I’m already intimately familiar with.  Last year in October four of us hiked down to the bottom and back out again.  Twenty miles of trails to go one mile down and one mile back up.  It was all at the same time awe-inspiring, thrilling, traumatic, and exhausting.  On the anniversary of the trip I will write a day to day recap of the trip – so watch for it.

2. The Great Barrier Reef

This is a 1250 mile coral reef off the northeastern coast of Australia.  It’s home to the widest assortment of marine life in the world.  Last year, I had it all planned out.  We’d arrive in Sydney and make our way up the eastern coast of Australia to Cairns where we’d spend a few days learning how to scuba dive and exploring the reef.  Someday, hopefully soon, this will come to fruition.

3.  Victoria Falls

These falls make the Niagara look like an overflowing rain gutter.  Bordering Zimbabwe and Zambia, the Zambezi River abruptly falls into a huge chasm in the ground.  The falls themselves are over a mile and a half long, making it the largest falls in the world as far as volume of water is concerned.  The natives call it Mosi oa Tunya translated: the smoke that thunders.

4.  The Northern Lights

a.k.a. The Aurora Borealis.  This display only happens about three days a year near the arctic circle.  It’s the interaction of solar particles in the solar winds and the earth’s magnetic field.  I’d like to think of them as God’s fireworks.

5.  Mt. Everest.

I don’t think I’d climb it, but I’d love to see it.  However, this would actually be the hardest on my quest because of restrictions to access.  Maybe I could see it from afar on a visit to Nepal or something.

6.  The Harbor at Rio de Janeiro

This is that place you see in the photos with the huge rock jutting into the sky and the figure of Jesus on top of a nearby mountain with his arms stretched out.  I’m not sure why this is considered a natural wonder, but I’m willing to find out.  Maybe I’ll also check out the Amazon Rainforest while I’m there, which is another dream of mine.

7.  Paricutin

Before this was a volcano, back in 1943 this was a village called Paricutin in Mexico which stood on a flat plain.  One day, CRACK, the ground opened up and the ground began to rise – not quick like an earthquake, slow like water.  After a year, the volcano grew to about 1100 feet.  Although this is probably one of the greatest finds of geological significance because it was literally the birth of a classic volcano, I think that the wonder would be lost on average tourists like me.  But if I get through the list of the previous six, you know I’ll be here to finally complete my quest at the very least

Now I don’t mind taking trips to more civilized locations like Europe or the Caribbean, but everyone goes there. I’d rather go off the beaten path… literally.

Post Script:  Anyone out there fly AirTran a lot?  And is over 21 years of age?  I have several coupons for free drinks that expire at the end of 2003 that I probably won’t be using.  Let me know if you want them.  Hmmm… maybe I’ll just go to the airport and hand them out to people waiting in line for checking in to AirTran.  I could be like the alcohol Santa Claus.