Make a pilgrimage

or Mecca, to name a few. People make these trips because they believe that visiting those places will deepen their devotion and help them feel part of the community of faithful people through the ages. But places don't need to be religious to feel significant. There are many other reasons a place can feel important, and taking the time and effort to visit can give a sense of purpose to travel or to discretionary time. I'm in general, so it might be worth making a pilgrimage somewhere as one of

your next trips, or even as a weekend event. For instance, maybe your ancestors lived somewhere that you would like to visit. Years ago, I visited the little town in the Netherlands where my grandfather lived. You might go find the town where your great grandmother was born and visit the church where she was baptized and married. Even if you can't get that precise, you might know that family members were from,

say Sicily. As you wander around the general area, you'll know that you are probably seeing the same landscape that they saw. That can be an awe inspiring feeling. Of course, you don't have to visit sites from just your own family's past. Maybe you are fascinated by a particular period of history. It might be worth visiting the beaches of Normandy, or the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma or Ellis Island. See where other people's courageous actions created the life we

live today. Other pilgrimages may be more personal rather than religious or historical. Did you love Laura Ingalls Wylder's Little House Books when you were a kid. Go on a road trip and visit places depicted in her books. Did you learn to cook from the Moosewood Cookbooks? Travel to Ithaca and eat at the Moosewood Cafe and reconnect with your twenty something self. Place is meaningful, and the truth is that most of us are going to travel somewhere

in the next year or so. I'm all about seeing exciting sites and relaxing, but connecting with an interest can make for a good mix when added to these other things. If you normally take vacations with your family, maybe you could do a weekend trip to a site of interest, or maybe there's even something nearby and accessible. You love model trains and you find out there's an elaborate disy display at a store two hours from your house. What

a great place for a Saturday pilgrimage. You'll spend Saturday doing something, so why not spend Saturday seeing something that will delight you and touch on a part of your identity. So think about what inspires you and intrigues you, think about the places that are important for those things, and then think about how you can get yourself there. Doing so will probably make for sharper memories than just doing the same thing over again. In the meantime, this is Laura.

Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.