Reflections

by Katie Butler-Johnson

In Spring of 2005, I found a National Geographic Expedition Catalogue in my mailbox.

I’d received similar mailings in the past and daydreamed of someday taking their “Around the World” trip. This time I thought: Why not now?

I tiptoed the idea of my going by my four kids. Since I’d be, theoretically, spending part of their inheritance on a self-indulgent trip, I wanted their approval. After they all said “go,” I sent in my deposit securing the LAST place on the 2006 trip - a year before the actual travel date.

Once they received my registration, things began to arrive by mail. There was a health form to be filled out by and returned directly from the doctor’s office. Did my lungs work? Could I walk distances on uneven surfaces? Was I mentally stable? (Wonder what glitch caused that requirement?) Did I have the required shots and prescriptions for malarial pills and high- altitude meds?

Then came the reading list. Two books followed: “Ice Maiden” by Yohan Reinhardt and “A Crack in the Edge of the World” by Simon Winchester. Both authors would be on the trek.

Next came a clothing checklist. With temperature varying from 30-90 degrees, National Geographic (NG) knew just what and how many clothes were needed. (No Diva dressing!)

NG even sent us a piece of luggage they called our “Wheelie” – a small bright red Traveler Roller Carryon. We were allowed one larger suitcase along with that wheelie. The larger suitcase would stay mostly in the luggage hold of our plane. We’d get our wheelie every stop and both cases periodically so we could replenish the small case with clothes for the upcoming climates and transfer those not needed to the larger case. We never had to wrangle those suitcases through an airport; the NG staff shepherded them through customs and on to our hotel. Since all the wheelies were the same, they were easy to corral. We’d fly during the day and sleep in hotels at night. When leaving, we’d simply place them outside our hotel room at night and would see them the next night, in the next hotel room, in the next country

There were notable cultural and artistic experts as part of the crew on board the plane and even more available at each destination. Two essential NG staff members accompanying us the entire trip were a chef who monitored all food preparation to make sure no one got Deli-Belly and a doctor in case someone did.

We began our expedition in Washington, DC. by boarding our chartered Icelandic 757 jet, retrofitted to sit 88, and flew 33,360 miles around the world in 26 days. It was a very efficient, delightful, exhausting, amazing, mind expanding, once in a lifetime whirl around the globe. It took me to Peru, Easter Island, Samoa, Australia, Cambodia, China, Tibet, India, Africa, Egypt, Morocco, and the Azores and included fourteen World Heritage Sites!

In Peru, we visited Lima, Cusco & Machu Picchu. We saw Moai statues on Easter Island and took part in a Keva Ceremony at Robert Louis Stevenson’s Samoan home. We snorkeled at Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and marveled at sunrise over Cambodia’s Angkor Wat.

After parking our 757 in Chengdu, China, we boarded a smaller plane to fly over the Himalayas to Tibet where I ate a yak burger visited the Portala Palace, Dalai Lama’s official home.

Upon return to China and our 757 in Chengdu, we encountered a problem. The Indian Bureaucracy couldn’t find our landing permit; we couldn’t leave Chengdu without a landing permit. While NG Headquarters in DC grappled with how to help the Indian clerks “find” that permit, we had John Fahey, the President and CEO of NG, traveling with us. Perhaps that’s why the NG staff on the plane opened the luggage compartment, retrieved a case of champagne, possibly meant for celebrating the flight home, and served it to us as we waited. That made the hours fly quickly while NG headquarters “handled” the permit issue. Eventually, we made it to Agra, India and the Taj Mahal.

We met anthropologist Louise Leaky in the Serengeti and Zahi Hawass, Secretary of the Egyptian Antiquities, in Cairo where we also sailed the Nile in traditional feluccas. Then it was on to Luxor and the Luxor and Karnak Temples. In Marrakech I bargained for trinkets at the Souk. After a final stop in the Azores to fuel up, we headed HOME!

I’m glad I splurged on this trip when I did. I’ve had 19 years to savor and share memories of it. I’ve heard it said that, when people reach the end of their trail, they often regret never having done their “someday” thing. That trip was mine.

Have you gotten around to doing yours?