The Micro-Stories in My Travel Journal

 

Every photo holds a micro-story

 Choose the country, select the dates of travel, then, buy the Page-A-Day leather journal. It has to have rounded corners, measure 5" x 7", have lined pages, a ribbon bookmark, and an elastic closure to secure the pages. It can never be a spiral journal notebook. The spirals snag everything inside a backpack. 

    "I counted 48 countries travelled," Jim puts his pencil aside. 

    "I counted 50 travelled," I reply.

    "Perhaps 50 because I've been to Viet Nam and you haven't, and you've been to Morocco and I haven't. 

   "Well, then, what can we say...to be honest?" 

 "To keep learning, understanding, and sharing, let's add a few more countries and a few more micro-stories."

"I like the way you think. I'll stock up on more journals."

    We have drawers, shelves, and bookcases where we store finished travel journals. Who will read them, we don't know. Sometimes, we like to refer to them and recall a village or restaurant, or day tour for someone on a travel thread who is seeking information. 

    I keep the journals and faithfully write at the end of each day regardless of how tired I am. I write to make sure we remember people, experiences, encounters, and discoveries.  So, how do I organize a travel journal? I'd like to share my way.

    On the inside cover, I write the date of the adventure, the countries involved, departure and return dates, and add one address label in case the journal is lost. The following pages outline the devotions we'll find and read each day.  Next, I list the shoes we take because a trip to every country oddly requires a different type of shoe. Finally, I list the backpacks we take, which are always Ospreys. (Except for a recent 2026 Camino in Spain, we took only Fjallrave Skule 28L used for our 10-day walk.) So why is it important to list shoes and backpack sizes? When we plan our next trip, we always refer to our journals and the shoes we took, the weather there, the purpose of the trip, and the usefulness of the shoe type. If the shoes were faithful in all those ways, then we can trust them again. We've never made a mistake.

The following pages of my travel journal hold to a pattern: dates, locations, people, culture, languages, food in detail, complaints (yes) and finally, blessings of that day. 

    I have written late into the night so I will not forget the unusual encounters we have experienced that day. We meet some of the most interesting people along the way who openly share their culture with us. I think cultures and people are drawn to backpackers. My guess is they see us as truly experiencing their culture as independent travelers. I write what they say, what we try to say in their language, and what we learned about their culture that day. 

    We have truly seen the purest of people who genuinely want to help the backpacker. One micro-story happened recently in Ferrol, Spain early in the morning as we began our Camino out of town. Pilgrims on the Camino are constantly searching for the Yellow arrows that may be found on sides of buildings, on standing markers, or small signs to direct our path. Sometimes they are evasive.  Suddenly, we heard a barking dog behind us and a man's voice loudly calling out. We stopped and turned to see an old gentleman tottering on a cane beside the barking dog. He was pointing. We were walking away from a Yellow arrow we had missed...away in the wrong direction. We were following our last arrow sighting and had failed to see the change in direction. We could not say "Gracias" enough! Both the dog and the gentleman earned a place in my journal that night. They also earned the "blessing of the day!"

    We enjoy opening pages of journals from decades ago just to read about who we were. We compare countries and cultures and the changes we notice now. We laugh at ourselves and how we barely managed in some countries. Still, certain people in certain locations vividly remain unique based on how they changed us. 

     We fully believe every people intersection we have had along our journeys have been orchestrated by God. 

    We'll keep buying Page-A-Day journals and keep writing!

    Thanks for coming along with us today.

    Keep Looking Up!

    J:m and L:nda, who want to stand firm in the Good News of the gospel so His peace will shine through and be that Light.

    

    

    

    

That One Question: Part 2

    We have recessed ceiling lights in our kitchen. With the flip of a switch, our whole kitchen lights up. We avoid stubbing a toe or tripping over a pet. We can start an early day in a once dark room, flip on the coffee maker, reach for cups and platters, and alert the kitchen to its purpose, all under bright lighting. 

    But there is one recessed light that we forget to use. It isn't activated when the other recessed lights are prompted to work. It's a directional spotlight that illuminates only the kitchen island. The switch for it isn't on the kitchen toggle plate. Instead, it rests against the back of the kitchen toggle switch around the corner on the dining room wall. We forget about it. It has a dimmer, too. Its soft beam would rest easier on the eyes early in the morning. 

     More times than not we question why we miss the opportunity to use that one spotlight.

    Have you ever wondered about missed opportunities?   We have.                                                                                                              

   

     When we travel overseas to Spanish-speaking countries, we carry two small business-sized cards that carry two different scriptures on them.  On one side of the card, the scripture is in English, the flip side reads in Spanish. 

   

     Many times, God gifts us with conversational settings. We practice our broken Spanish, and they use their broken English. It's fun, purposeful engagement, and a fantastic way to learn more about culture and foods. 

    Eventually, we always ask that one question in English: "Do you have a church home?" Or, ask in Spanish, "Tienes una Iglesia local?"

    Immediate reactions are revealing, of course, as they would be in any culture. Multiple times, that question leads into authentic conversation about their church, their pastor, and their ministries. We share about our church and ministries. 

    Eventually, we offer our scripture cards to them. One couple in Argentina, placed their cards on the back panel of their phones under the protective shield. 

         Do we ever forget to ask that question or offer the cards? Yes. Sadly, several incidents come to mind. Though the Irish don't speak Spanish, we should have offered our Uber driver a card. He was curious and asked questions about our faith. When dropped off at the airport that day, I could have reached into my crossover and shared a card, but I forgot.  Another time in Ireland, we met two young adult women from Ukraine in a church vestibule and started a conversation about baptism as we focused on the baptistry. Of course, they didn't speak Spanish, but one side of the card has the scripture in English. The card unfailingly opens up spiritual conversation and leads to that one question: Do you have a church home?  Why didn't we share the scripture cards with them? We simply forgot, much like forgetting to flip on the spotlight that illuminates the dark space in our kitchen.  

    

    The Psalmist nailed it when he wrote,  "Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you."   

    Does God redeem lost opportunities? Indeed, He does. When we retrace our walk and ask God to share His light in places where we forgot to, He will. Where we walk matters to God. 

    

    Do you have that one question that opens up a non-threatening conversation about spiritual matters? You can have our question. And, we encourage you to print cards with scriptures that are relevant to the lives you most commonly encounter.    

 "I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness."                       (John 12:46)

Keep Looking Up!

J:m and L:nda