When we travel to a new part of the world, Tom and I often compare a city and its neighborhoods to places we know back home, trying to wrap our heads around where a spot fits into its environs or maybe it’s just to help us feel at home. It also reminds us that while the world seems huge, nature repeats itself often and human development plays out in recognizable patterns.
For instance, while driving from Auckland to Wellington on the North Island of New Zealand a couple years ago, every ten miles we found ourselves saying, “This looks just like San Enselmo. This is like Paso Robles.” We felt like we were back in Northern California. And Wellington at 5:00 pm is definitely like the streets of San Francisco’s financial district with brisk ocean winds pushing the brief-cased business people to their favorite watering holes after work.
This morning, as I wander along my favorite riverside path of Brisbane’s Kangaroo Point, I’m reminded of the ocean-front cliffs of Lima, Peru and think about rocking- climbing attempts near Boulder, CO and in the Santa Cruz Mountains of the Bay Area.
From the deck of a City Cat ferry, Brisbane’s riverfront reminds me of places along the canals of Redwood Shores, CA, Fort Lauderdale’s inland waterways, and the canals of Virginia Beach, VA. Beautiful waterfront homes stretch down to their private docks where boats and kayaks are moored and ready to play. I can imagine living in any one of them, and probably never will, and that’s okay.
Shopping areas and neighborhoods here remind me of Palo Alto, CA, Coconut Grove, FL, and the bucolic green country lanes of the Virginia/North Carolina Tidewater.
The world is a beautiful place, full of natural beauty, wonderful people, rich history, and imaginative art. Why do we travel, if not to rejuvenate and appreciate home and special places and the people we love even more? For us it’s not about getting away. Instead, we marvel at how travel amazingly creates new synapses of connection. (Like sailing west out under the Golden Gate Bridge at sunset, only to realize we’re leaving Lisbon, Portugal, and sailing under an exact replica of our Golden Gate landmark? Mind-bending. The Margaret River wine country of Australian is like Napa Valley was forty years ago. Our waiter at breakfast yesterday morning was in Santa Fe two months ago. Our friends in Maleny, QLD have fond memories of traveling the Navajo Rez and Kayenta.)
So on this balmy summer morning in Brisbane, Australia, I’m sending love to you today and pulling the threads of our lives a little closer together from Down Under. Hope you feel the tug on the tapestry.
Brenda 💕