Travel Talismans

I just recently returned from an out-of-state trip during which I got lost, encountered other travel ills or was physically hurt each day of the trip. Whether it was missing an exit or going the wrong direction on a highway, it began to be laughable that a day couldn't go by without incident. Then a tire blew out on the van carrying our supplies. It might not have been funny had my business partner & I already had such a run of traveling luck. And that I commented that I'd never had a blow-out on the first day of our trip, well, I think that was just coincidence.

That I got whacked in the ear by a paddle while Kayaking on the Atlantic (which was a blast) would have been overlooked were I not to later be driven head first into the beach and throw out my back while canoeing. No, there were one too many incidents on my trip to be just a run of bad luck. That something else was afoot didn't occur to me until I was safe in my car and saw that my travel talisman was there on the dash. See, at the last minute, we decided to take a cab to the airport, so I forgot to grab my talisman from the car.

This was the first trip since Russia 1995 that I've taken any trip without my talisman. My trip to Russia was the longest & farthest I'd ever been from home. The first time in a plane. The first time out of the country. The first time truly on my own for more than a couple week road trip. That my talisman would be delivered to me on this trip was nothing more than extraordinary. And it's changed the way I travel.

My first travel talisman was a small plastic and metal icon of Jesus that was a gift from our super cheesy tour guide of a monastery outside of Moscow. This guy should have been in Vegas giving tours. He wore a purple shirt unbuttoned a bit too far, jewelry and a mischievous smile that followed all his bad jokes. Anyway, he handed out these small items that one of my classmates at first mistook for a "chocolate bogamater" (bogamater = holy mother). It was a cheap trinket but it accompanied me in the following 9 years to more than 15 European countries, Niagara Falls, all my business trips across the states and weekend road trips. That talisman was stolen last Christmas when my car was stolen, taken for a joy ride, wrecked and recovered. I'm sure the thieves tossed it. They wanted the leather passport holder that safely protected it.

The talisman that I inadvertently left in my car on my trip to Florida was also an icon and a gift. Nancy was my roommate in Russia and also received her travel talisman on that trip. I'd like to thank Nancy again for the talismans. Because she also gave me a talisman for my house. So while I was getting lost in Florida, my house was safe and sound. And so was my car! And maybe, just maybe, they'd not have fared as well had I remembered to bring my talisman with me. (For those who don't know, I live in a transitional neighborhood. Beautiful old, houses that are being renovated & regentrified block by block.)