December 15, 2000

This week: Shipped Out, Boxed Up...Memorable Holidays

A few weeks ago we asked you to call in with your most memorable Holiday trip. From the calls we got, we discovered that while some trips are terribly unforgettable, some unforgettably terrible. A winner in both categories was the Christmas journey of a young woman named Maria. When she was twelve, her Dad decided to go Swiss Family Robinson and ship her and her five siblings downstream along the Colorado as far from the stench of shopping and commercialism as possible. It could have been worse. The endless rain, after all, was seasonable, her baby brother's surprise case of jaundice was not life threatening, and Dad's inclination to keep falling off the side of the boat into the freezing water developed a kind of reassuring rhythm. But then, on Christmas morning, with the stockings sopping on a nearby branch and the rain flooding the tents, things started getting really unusual.

Speaking of the stress of the holidays, there's nothing worse than spending them alone. Imagine what it would be like to be in solitary confinement. Brent was in officer training school during the Vietnam War and as part of his "prisoner of war" preparation he spent his most unforgettable Thanksgiving-shoved into a box.

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What about our listeners who've spent an extended period of time away from home? Let us know how you assimilated yourself into the local culture. What did you miss about home, or did you leave your roots behind, never looking back? Call us at 888-SAVTRAV or send us an email about your life as an expatriate. That number again is 888-728-8728.

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