1. Early Days of International Travel

I've traveled to many parts of the world. I often tell people that I've been

very blessed in my travels in that so much of it was done on someone else's "dime."

If I recall correctly, my first international trip was to Germany. I was so overpacked; way too many bags and way to heavy bags! It was a very embarrassing sight. It was clear that I had never travelled abroad before. Thankfully for me, I was traveling with gentlemen who seemed to fully understand my plight. Here I was, a young, Black woman who had obviously never traveled abroad before. I was the only female on the trip. How lucky for me , the guys I was traveling with didn’t laugh or joke about my situation; they just helped me out with my bags and shared other little tips on traveling overseas.

I was enraptured by so much that I saw: small German villages, castles, picturesque landscapes, wine vineyards, and so much more that I had only seen and read about in books.

I remember one German hotel that brings back some laughable moments. I was getting out of the shower and heard a knock on the door. I wrapped a towel around me and went to the door. A housekeeper was there and seemed to be asking me if I was ok. I kept nodding and she left. I went back to the bathroom and I heard a knock again. Back to the door again; and now several cleaning ladies were there. We exchanged more gestures and nodding and the housekeepers left again. After repeating this another time, and after quite a bit of frustration for all of us; one of the housekeepers marched past me and went into the bathroom. She pointed to a cord that was strung across the bath tub. It turns out that I was unknowingly touching the cord which was attached to a bell in their workroom. It that rang to signal a customer in distress in the bathroom. When I finally understood what they were trying to explain with their numerous gestures; we all looked at each other and had a good, long laugh. I also learned about an alternative "Emergency Notification”method!