The Rewards of Travel

Brett Westerman

LONDON

My time in London over the past week has left me with memories that I will treasure for a lifetime and a trove of pictures to look back fondly on. My journey started on a cool Seattle morning at SeaTac International Airport. The flight across the states and the Atlantic was enjoyable enough. For a boy who grew up in eastern Washington who had never been further east than Idaho every new city or vista I saw sparked my imagination and fueled my spirit for adventure.

I arrived in London early Tuesday morning. Unable to check into my apartment until midafternoon I was left on my own to explore central London. Which as you can imagine is quite daunting to the uninitiated traveler unfamiliar with the surroundings. The jet lag and urge to find somewhere quiet certainly didn’t help either. But I took up the challenge and proceeded to spend the day guiding myself around central London, absorbing all the new sights and sounds I was exposed to.

The arrival of my group was a welcome sight, familiar faces in a sea of people from around the world buzzing around the city. Our travels as a group the first few days included trips to Stonehenge, Westminster Abbey, the Churchill War Rooms and Trafalgar Square. As someone who enjoys history I lost myself in the weight of where we were. To say I was entranced would be an understatement.

This new stimulus truly inspired me and made me feel like a child on Christmas Eve, every night a head full of the plans and sights the next day would bring.

The group dynamic was a good one, happy chatter and jokes filled the streets we walked through and the trains we rode on, much to the chagrin on the locals. Meals were a wonderful time to catch up on the day’s activities, share pictures, and make plans for the adventures the night may hold with visits to bars, pubs, and holes in the wall where the thirsty Londoner could wet their tongue and soak in the beautiful summer evening.

My experience in London has truly been a rewarding one. Years of book learning cemented by the firsthand experience of being able to travel abroad, my hope is that these pictures can help tell that story and shed some light into my journey here.  I fear this trip has sparked a dangerous ambition in me to travel, to taste, to hear, to see, to write and to inspire.