Serendipity Travel

The July 2005 issue of AARP magazine has several articles that struck a chord with Charles and I when we read them. The overall title of the articles was "Vacation Magic" about the wonderful unexpected things that can happen during trips. We have traveled world wide for most of our 45 years together and many of our fondest memories were discoveries made by "accident."

One of the AARP articles was titled "8 Rules of Serendipity." That reminded us that during a trip to Hawaii in 1989 we even started to call our experiences "serendipitous." We were in a condo with ocean view on Maui. I was slightly disappointed upon seeing that the "beach" was just a rough black patch of lava rock. Then Charles said, "Oh, Honey, whales!" Whale season was supposed to be over but there they were—at least a dozen of them, spouting and frolicking.

As we were watching them go by, I saw 3 sculling boats going by in the opposite direction, half way between us and the whales. I kept saying, "Look behind you, you guys. You’re missing such a great sight and it’s right behind you." But the rowers were too intent upon their task to ever look away. It reminded me of an article Charles had read to me at breakfast that day. It said that if you wanted to see barracuda, manta rays, pilot whales or any of the big things when diving, you would have to remember to look behind you. I thought about how most of us don’t see the big stuff because we are either too afraid of the deeper water behind us or we are too engrossed in our tiny task at hand.

Later that same day we went driving down the coast. Traffic was terrible and roadwork was making it slower. One area we passed had lots of people snorkeling near the road so we pulled off to see what was there. Charles had put our fins and snorkels in the trunk "just in case" so we were prepared. There were coral heads within a couple of feet of the surface with the water up to 20 feet deep in some places. Most of the coral wasn’t alive or colorful but the fish were spectacular. There were dozens of types and hundreds of some just a few feet away from us. We have dived in the Caribbean where you had to take boats miles offshore to see such sights. We never would have expected to see so many great fish so close to shore in shallow water.

I told Charles that the whale sighting and snorkeling were a form of serendipity but he complained that didn’t like the word. To him it meant something like chance or luck. I insisted that to me the word meant a "God-touch" that makes you notice Him and causes gratefulness and pleasure.

The next day we were picked up at 2am and taken to the summit of a volcano crater. At sunrise we donned our helmets, gloves, and warm gear to straddle our mountain bikes hoping to hang on for the 38 miles downhill on the 10,000-foot drop to sea level. Constant curves and steep grades made for a tension-filled adrenaline rush. Even though there was no wind you make quite a good one going 30-mph downhill on a bike. The National Park Ranger station at the top reported the road to be the steepest paved road on planet earth.

I didn’t use the word "serendipity" that day but Paul, our bike leader did. Upon reaching the bottom, he said we were a "serendipitous serpentine of swift Schwinns." When he said that Charles poked me in the ribs and we snickered.

Years later, during a birding trip to Costa Rica we again had the serendipity experience. Even the story of how we had hired Rudi as our personal guide to Cost Rica was amazingly "co-incidental." My aunt and uncle were on a cruise through the Panama Canal and were in Costa Rica for a day trip. Aunt Ruth was also a birder and was outside looking for birds while the other travelers were inside a hotel gift shop. Noticing her with the binoculars up to her eyes, Rudi, being a life-long bird enthusiast, walked up and engaged her in conversation. Somehow in this short conversation Ruth found out that Rudi sometimes led birding groups. Later when Charles and I planned our trip to Costa Rica, she somehow found his card that had been tucked into her bird book years before.

We called Rudi’s home phone and found that "it just happened" he had 4 days open two weeks later. So we "just happened" to be able to book a flight on the busy Easter holiday weekend and that began one of the greatest trips of serendipity that we’ve experienced.

Later when I was tempted to wonder if this unknown guy was a good choice, I read a comment written about him in my Costa Rica guidebook. It said Rudolpho Zamora was "the best guide" they had ever had.

During this 1998 trip, our guide Rudi thought we were "so lucky" because we saw birds that casual tourists never get to see. We went to the Skywalk, which is a series of five spans of swinging bridges in the treetops of the Monteverde Rain Forest. As we entered he told us to step aside and let a group of noisy tourists pass by. Then he silently pointed to a low branch straight in front of us where the rarely-seen Resplendent Quetzal was sitting in a ray of sunlight shining through the thick treetops illuminating his two-foot long emerald green tail.

Rudi couldn’t believe that the bird just continued to sit there in front of us while we stared. He explained that if one ever saw this bird, it would be perched at least thirty feet above in the shadowy treetops. He had seen it at eye-level only one other time and he had been alone. We tried to tell him that it wasn’t luck but that we seem to have the favor of God accompanying us but he obviously didn’t understand.

A few days later he was driving our rental car on a country road when he stopped to point out some sort of sparrow in the hedgerow. While he was watching the sparrow another bird walked out of the brush, crossed the road and entered the tall grass again. I said, "Rudi, there was a rail," and he said "Impossible!" Then the little guy cooperated by marching right back out and walking down the middle of the road in front of our car. He couldn’t believe it. He said that he had been a bird fanatic for 20 years and he has seen only 3 of the 12 or so rails in the country during all that time.

Rudi explained that he could tell at the first sightings how each guided trip was going to go because "People see what they deserve to see and some don’t deserve to see." I told him that we didn’t deserve to see but that we still were very thankful to see.

Most people just assume they can’t do the things and go the places we go. It just takes planning and a desire to experience as much of the world as possible. At home we were just homebodies who sat in front of the TV while reading or doing needlework but when traveling maybe we did have just a little more sense of adventure than most people do.

I remember when we were planning our first trip to travel in Europe by ourselves. Charles had been reading Rick Steves’ book "Europe through the Back Door." The book contended that one should carry only a backpack and travel via rail and on foot without making any reservations ahead of time to have the flexibility to respond to whatever came up. I read the book and agreed that I could live three weeks out of a backpack but I wanted to draw the line when it came to not having a set place to stay at night. I worried about what if we couldn’t find anywhere to stay. Charles said, "We have a rail pass so we just get on the train." I said "Oh" and that settled it. That attitude has given us some great experiences.

Once while staying in a youth hostel in Switzerland we had made plans to rent bicycles and bike downhill to a village the next day. But when we got up in the morning it was rainy and unfit for bicycling so we resorted to Plan B—get on the train. The train was headed south so we just stayed on until it arrived in Milan, Italy. We didn’t know what was in Milan and hadn’t brought any guidebooks (no extra weight when carrying backpacks). We stowed our packs in railway lockers and just wandered around visiting buildings, parks and statues.

When the day was about gone we happened to pick up a tourist pamphlet that mentioned that Leonardo Da Vinci’s "Last Supper" painting was in Milan. We hurried to the subway and arrived at the chapel a bit before closing to gaze at the wall-sized fresco mural that we had seen in small reproductions all of our lives.

We didn’t know how unusual it was for someone to just walk in and get tickets. A travel brochure I recently read said the following: "Advance reservations are absolutely mandatory. Only twenty people can visit the artwork at a time, for a maximum of fifteen minutes. These tickets sell out several months in advance, so please book VERY EARLY. We regret we cannot accept any requests made less than 21 days prior to the museum date." Oh, well.

A fantastic bit of history we learned while there was detailed in a framed copy of LIFE magazine from the 1940’s that hung on a nearby wall. During the WWII bombing of Milan the chapel was destroyed—or at least three walls and the ceiling were demolished. The magazine photo showed piles of rubble surrounding a single wall standing alone with its 15th century masterpiece completely intact. We decided it was probably another "God-touch" that others might call chance.

Some rules for serendipity published in the AARP magazine article are:
1. Forget brochures – Brochures lie. (Our brochure is a pretty good preview of what we really will be seeing.)
2. Don’t dither – Many anguish over any trip and usually put it off (sometimes too late).
3. Trust hotel maids – Talk to the real locals. They know where to eat and shop.
4. Listen – Everyone may not be a fascinating storyteller, but everyone does have a fascinating story.
5. If it’s cooked, eat it – (In Israel, we have not had problems with the food or water causing sickness.)
6. Get on the bus – (The article meant to get on a local bus but you won’t have to since we will have our own bus with local driver and Israeli guide.)
7. Get off the bus – and create your own guided tour. (Our guide and bus driver will take care of luggage, schedules, entrance fees, explanations and history. When we depart the bus, we can feel assured that our possessions are being watched by the driver. )
6. Talk to taxi drivers – (We will be met at the airport with our bus so we won’t have to bother with taxis.)

My personal list of rules includes:

1) The unexpected will happen so EXPECT it.

2) When the unexpected happens, smile and say "Oh, well."