I realized I had to look at all the stamps I have before I send it away. So.....of course a flood of memories started coming back. John and I had been together for less than a year when he took me to the passport office during a hot July in Miami 10 years ago. At the time, I had no idea what was in store for me in the decade ahead.The first stamp I got in the passport was at the Narita (Tokyo) airport. We had to go through Japan to get to our vacation in Hawaii. Yes. You read that correctly. We went to Hawaii via Japan. It's a long story which I'll save for another day.
There are stamps for Stansted and Frankfurt, Germany - we ended up all over Europe on those trips - Belgium (very cool place - we had great Mussels in Brussels - seriously!), Holland (oh my goodness - the flowers! The Flowers!), Italy (Venice! Need I say more? It was Venice!) and Cinque Terre (amazing cluster of 5 towns along the Italian Riviera).There's a stamp for London Heathrow......and unfortunately I left my purse on the plane when we arrived in London! Eeeek! Thank goodness I was able to retrieve it the next day and nothing was missing.
I've flown to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris twice but oddly there are no stamps for that in my book. Why doesn't Paris do stamps??? I want a Paris stamp! The second time I flew to Paris I was alone. John had to catch an earlier flight than me. My flight ended up making an emergency landing in Gander, Newfoundland (someone had a medical emergency on the plane but it ended up being a false alarm. She was promptly removed from the plane). I saw a gorgeous sunrise in Gander and then it was off to Paris. Where I promptly got lost on their subway system when I was trying to meet up with John. Then I became the woman who was crying hysterically and begging a cab driver to take me to the hotel where John was but I had no cash so would he please take me to an ATM first. Not my finest moment.
The first time I flew to Paris was much better. John and I were only in Paris briefly as we were actually on our way to somewhere else (but I don't remember where!). We did a whirlwind tour of Paris and then fell asleep on the grass under the Eiffel tower on a beautiful spring day. What a great way to recover from jet lag!
Then there are several stamps for Mexico. Three stamps in one year alone actually. And there should be a 4th stamp but I can't find it! We've been to Cancun and Mexico City and some icky place John wanted to go for surfing near Acalpulco and Cabo San Lucas. Ahhhh.....Cabo......John rode the Baja 1000 with a group of friends for one of the guy's 40th birthdays. It took a week for them to ride from California down to Cabo. The girls all met the guys at a resort in Baja for a week long vacation after their ride. They all showed up broken and bruised and battered but very happy. One guy broke his arm. One guy got a concussion. And John was full of cuts and bruises after he was flung off his motorcycle and landed in a cactus. Yes. A cactus.
And I can't forget the Bahamas - there are a few of those stamps in there too!
And then my favorite stamp.....Pisa, Italy......
We went to Tuscany on that trip. Best. Trip. Ever. We stayed in a 15th century castle and visited all the little towns dotting the hills of Tuscany. Everything about Tuscany is amazing and perfect - The wine. The cheese. The truffle ravioli. The flowers. The castles. The cypress trees. I want to go back. Now.
So, tomorrow I'll say goodbye to my first Passport. And hopefully the next one will go on just as many adventures with me. Australia? Switzerland? Tahiti? Italy again (yes, please!). Paris maybe.....I need to ask them about that stamp thing! And from now on I'm taking this with me.....
I have such vague memories of so many of our trips. When did we go there? Why were we there? What were we doing? Soooo.....from now on I'm going to record all of these details.If anyone is still reading this who isn't John or my Mom I commend your dedication. And I promise that my next post will be soon. And it will be about sewing.
Happy Sewing. And Happy Traveling,
Jenny
P.S. I've recently heard a rumor that you get your old passport back when you get your new one. I sure hope it's true! I'll let you know. Either way....it still seems like the end of an era and the start of a fresh new one!
12 comments:
Well I have read it right to the end and I am not John or your Mum!! I have never had my passport stamped but have never been out of Europe so that may be why. Do they keep your old one or can you ask them to send it back with your new one??
Linda
Ask them to send it back with your new one. They should, or at least they used to. I enjoyed reading about where you've been and remembering my trips to some of the same places.
Let me know if you get it back! I need to renew mine too. It only has stamps from 3 trips to the UK, but I don't want to give them up either. Must scan before I send it off....
Yes, they send the old one back to you. They just punch a couple of holes in it so you cannot use it.
well, you are right - your mom read it through to the end and enjoyed your story and can't believe you didn't keep a journal of your travels!!
are you planning something that i, as chief babysitter for emma, should know about????
Are you sure you don't have a stamp that says- Roissy -CDG. That's what mine says for last year when I visited! Passports are great reminders of fabulous holidays!
You have been to some wonderful places. I was in Holland and Germany back in 1984 and haven't been abroad since. My husband worked for a Dutch firm here in the States and had to go to Holland for training for a month. I worked for the same company at the time, and I was afforded the opportunity to go over for 10 days to be with him, all I had to pay for was my airfare, all meals, lodging were on the company. We absolutely loved it. I'd go back in a heartbeat. Here's an idea, just in case you don't get the passport back, photocopy the pages with all the stamps. You could then do a small scrapbook just like the real passport. You have too many memories associated with that book, I would let mine get away without a copy.
I would love the hear that Hawaii story sometime! Great post - I just got my passport and was in Germany, Czech Republic, and Poland - and I'm looking forward to adding more stamps.
Read through the whole post! Oh what adventures you've had. I've only been out of the US once (not counting the Caribbean and Mexico). Sounds wonderful! I'd want to keep that passport too!
Wow, Jenny! I didn't know you were such a world traveler! All the places you have been sound so awesome. I haven't been to any of them, but I have been to Tahiti, Bora Bora to be exact, and I definitely recommend it for a future trip of yours!
It's been a long time since I had a passport stamped, sigh. I'd love a chance to do some more overseas travelling but I don't think it will happen anytime soon for me.
Hi Jenny, short time ago I used a white lie - my old passport was full of Cambodian, Indonesian, Kenyan and other exotic stamps, and once expired, our passports are destroyed! So I claimed the passport lost and asked for a new one... ;-)
And it's funny, I've been to France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Finland and many other countries in Europe, but have never been to America!!!
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