If I had unlimited funds, and no need to work, I would travel, travel and travel. To me, travel means exploring and finding out where the locals spend their time. Avoiding tourist traps as much as possible. Visiting museums and finding out-of-the-way places to stop and look around. And without fail, every time I come home, I’m more grateful about life in Canada.Â
Some examples: as much as I loved Paris, it made me grateful for personal space. Arizona made me grateful for cooler temperatures. Las Vegas makes me grateful for calm and quiet. And Iceland made me grateful for choices. My first trip to a grocery store after we got home, took me aback. I counted 8 varieties of apples. At the major, Icelandic grocery store in Reykjavik, there were about a half-dozen shriveled examples of one variety. Icelanders are well fed and have everything they need, but produce isn’t something they’re used to buying a lot of. Almost all of it is imported and therefore very expensive.
So, forget about brocco-flower and pomegranates and freshly-cut fruit trays in Iceland. So many things we take for granted aren’t realistic options in many other parts of the world. I come back with a low tolerance for complaints about our high standard of living. I come back feeling overwhelmed by and grateful for everything we have.
My in-laws were POW’s in WWII. Whenever someone from the old country came here to visit, they would take them to Knob Hill farms to see groceries as far as the eye could see. I know exactly what you mean by being humbled and grateful for our blessings here in Canada.