Reaching New Horizons

In this post, Pauline Cheng shares with us the experience of the trip she had with husband Fred to South America where she finds a new outlook for life of being forever young at heart and active in spirit.


We were back from our fantastic trip to South America on 17 April. The views there are wonderful and unique beyond imagination. Certainly this trip has changed our preconception of S America. We can't wait to share with you all our wonderful experiences, although what we saw was only the tip of an iceberg. Fred and I already talked about taking another trip there. How about having it as a spot for our future reunion?

I would say I did get by marginally with my spoken Spanish, but I couldn't help freaking out when people spoke too fast. There is still a lot of work to do. I intend to set it as a priority to work towards mastering this language before my next trip to S. America.

I surprised myself by doing a daring thing during the trip. I played the zipline (L'accrobranche en Francais; la tirolesa en espanol). Basically you hang yourself (with only some secure devices

attached to the hip) from a wire cable and slide yourself a great distance from points A to B.

This particular one is about 1.5 km long (with 2 stations in between), which is high above the treetops of a rain forest situated near the Iguazu Waterfalls in Argentina.

Although I am still not sure how I could be so gutsy, I am glad I did it and I will certainly do it again when another opportunity comes. From this experience, I can't help wondering if I did miss a lot in life just because I used to become self-defeated too soon.

Talking about keeping our mind positive and energized, I have to share an inspiring story with you. On the cruise ship, we met a couple in their late nineties (the husband is 95 and the wife is 98). They traveled by themselves. Despite all their outward signs of old age - slow paces, very wrinkled faces, crooked backs and rheumatic hands, they were able to take everything in stride. They have been traveling continuously and intend to keep on exploring the world. The Inca in Peru (over 12,000 feet sea level) is one of their destinations in near future. Instead of retreating themselves to a nursing home where their life may be comfortable but not self-fulfilling, this couple made a choice to make the best out of their limited time on earth. Their great spirit and positive outlooks certainly inspired every single person they came in contact with. The encounter with them would surely serve as my constant reminder that there is always a new horizon for us to reach.

Well, there will only be a bit more than two months before we meet. In the next while, Fred will work out the routes and the points of interest for our Yellowstone trip. Let's keep in touch.

Pauline Cheng from Calgary