Go Girl
“[...] I’ve been humbled at what goes on behind the scenes in the lives of people all over the world. It is while traveling—whether in the Congo, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Greece, Hungary, or England—that I’ve learned to see people not as statistics but as human lives with something to teach. Most people in other countries do not have the necessities we have, let alone conveniences. They don’t have the inspirational books, music and conferences so plentiful in our culture. But I’ve found people of other cultures to be tremendously generous. They have a joyful, authentic faith that is not based on circumstances.”
Excerpt from the back cover: Ready for a trip of a lifetime? Whether you'd like to walk in the warm sands of a Hawaiian beach, camp at a nearby lake, take a day excursion while on a business trip, or just read of such travels, Marlee LeDai can help you find adventure wherever you are.
Go Girl will ignite your curiosity about the world and give you the courage (and travel tips!) you need to leave behind the familiar and explore new terrain. Whether it's a mission project, family vacation, personal pilgrimage, or girlfriend getaway, your travels can show you not just new places but valuable new things about yourself, others, and God.
“You'll never see the sea divide with your own eyes until you take the first step,” writes Marlee. What are you waiting for? Pack your bags and get ready to be amazed by adventure!
I enjoyed reading Go Girl (ISBN: 9780800759711) by Marlee LeDai, illustrated by her daughter, Leyah Jensen who is a book designer for Scholastic. I love traveling and this easy-to-read book has fired up my desire to travel even more.
The 205-page book has four parts and at the end of each part features a traveler’s profile and story:
Part One: An Encounter with Amazing Grace
Part Two: Explore the World; Discover Yourself
Part Three: A Time for Epiphanies
Part Four: The Adventure Is Already within You
Apart from the inspiring profiles, there are plenty of quotable quotes and it’s no wonder that my copy is full of yellow highlighter marks. One can’t help but be inspired if one reads this book. In one part, the author mentioned she read Under the Tuscan Sun, by Frances Mayes and wanted to live that story.
Go Girl also offers lots of great travel tips such as how to travel overseas, stay-safe tips for traveling solo, the absolute essentials, and many more. One tip I particularly loved is “laughing is the best-kept secret of a successful trip.” I agree! Great book, this.
The quote by Beth Lueders above reminded me of my travel last year to Bangkok, Thailand. I was walking around town with my Italian travel buddy and one of the areas we passed by was under the highway (but I can't remember exactly where). Families were living there in the open, under that huge underpass.
I ponder on the homes we have—some very big homes, some smaller—but what we have are definitely what these people don’t have. Many of us here are book lovers and we have so many books to the point we often fret that we don’t have enough time to read them all. We have audio books, we have plentiful of music. We have food on our tables, and sometimes we complain about having too many choices and not knowing what to choose.
Whenever I think about the things I don’t have or dissatisfied with what I have, I travel back in time to that underpass in Bangkok. I am indeed blessed.
“What the pilgrims see along the way depends on what they are capable of seeing.”
