“The Universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.” 

-Eden Phillpotts

Busy, busy, busy…the whole world seems busy and unmanageable and then…when you least expect it…there comes a magical moment and the dust clears and you feel whole and happy once more.

The image of my son in full wizard regalia in front of a ‘real’ castle in Italy took my breath away.  Not just ‘cuz it was cool, but because it was really magical.  The moment was enchanting and it made me stop and realize how thankful I was for him in my life.  That innocence.  His belief in true magic and the renewal in mine.

Travel is a doorway into the ‘magical’ realm.  It is, like the wardrobe in “The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe”, a portal into the unknown.  Even places that I have been to before become new and remarkable through the eyes and the ears of my son who invites me into ‘his’ travel world each and every time we set foot outside our home.   The way he tore through the Jardins Du Luxembourg like a dog let off of a leash; the way he touched the hands of ‘Chip’ and ‘Dale’ at Disneyland; the way his wizard cape caught the wind as he dashed through the cobblestoned streets of a medieval village in Italy and the way his little train loving heart exploded with sheer joy and enthusiasm just taking The Tube from the airport in London. 

He’s a ‘think different’ guy and I am his happy companion.

After a ‘magical’ day in Rome I was feeling full of the wonder of having paid pilgrimage to the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain.  My son’s report to his Dad went like this:  “Dad – we had a fun day.  We ate ice cream called gelato, saw a cool building with a hole in the roof and we threw some money in a big fountain.”  

Like I said,  it is his portal we walk through every time we leave the comfort of our living room.  It is my new reason to travel.