(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

…you can’t take Holland out of the boy.  It’s a cliché that could apply to any place, but I found it to be true over the past couple of weeks.

I’ve had a pretty good success rate with my travel year so far.  I’ve enjoyed practically every place I’ve visited and the inevitable setbacks (cancelled flight to Memphis, missing baggage in Paris, etc.) have been overcome without too much difficulty.  However, I think the just-completed trip to the Netherlands will become one of those “legacy” trips that enjoys a special place in my heart.

We saw some very interesting things on this trip, but I think the best part was reconnecting with my Dutch relatives.  Without exception, my cousins were all thrilled to see us and it made everything more vivid and meaningful.  It was cool to see my family name on a church from the early 1600s, but even cooler to be shown it by a cousin who still attends that very church.  It was great to see a professional soccer game in Holland, but even greater to be taken there (and to an exciting pre-game meal!) by a cousin who belongs to the home team’s fan club.  And it was wonderful to see the very distinct northern extremities of the Netherlands, but even more wonderful to be shown around  by a cousin who lives there and could explain the places that are connected to my family.

All of which is a long way of saying that great travel experiences are not just about the places you visit…but about the people who are there.  I’ve had similar experiences with my Swiss relatives (eating at a mountain restaurant whose owner/chef was my mother’s cousin, and skiing with my uncle in my “ancestral valley” in the Berner Oberland, to name just two) and the memories last much longer than places you’ve passed through without any real personal connection.

What does this mean for future travel?   It may not affect the remainder of this year’s journey, but it will certainly have a future impact.  As I told each of my Dutch cousins, it won’t be another 23 years before I visit again.

And now, as promised, here is some information about my next trip.  While I have only just returned to Canada, I will be flying out again on September 4 on a very special journey.  I have been trying to have more time at home between trips but I could not control the timing of this one.   As time is of the essence, I’m going to give all of the clues at once:

1.  The theme is sports…and as a participant, not as an observer.

2.  The sports element is not just incidental; I will be participating in this sport virtually every day that I am away.

3.  I will be visiting a total of 4 countries (2 of which I have never visited before), with an airport stopover in a relatively familiar 5th country.

4.  Notwithstanding the location of this trip, it will have a very Canadian flavour.

5.  Perhaps because of clue no. 4, the “hosts” may be thrilled if some days are unsuccessful.

My itinerary on this special trip will be very busy, so I’m not sure if I will be able to blog in “real time”.  I’ll be back for 4 weeks afterwards, though, so the back-up plan is to get the posts up then.  At a minimum, I hope to get some status updates up on Facebook.  I’m sure it’s going to be great!