The inspiration to travel started before Robert was even born. In fact, it all began with a Caterpillar Tractor Company calendar on the kitchen wall.
You see, my family got a calendar every year because my Dad worked for “Cat.” Those calendars had the most beautiful pictures from exotic locations around the world. Machu Picchu was my favorite.
That particular photograph never left my mind from the first time I saw it.
Years (okay, decades) later, Rob and I walked by a travel agency with that same iconic photo of Machu Picchu in their window. It made me stop in my tracks.
I’ve always wanted to go there,” I said. “Why don’t we,” asked Rob.
The American Express tour in the advert ended up being cancelled. They could not get 10 people to go because the Shining Path was waging gorilla war against the government. Many places were considered dangerous despite the fact they were not targeting foreigners.
So we decided we’d go alone.
It still amazes me when I think back on our decision to go alone. It is a testament to how thoroughly I trusted Rob and how totally trusting we both were about everything. With nothing more than a round trip ticket and one night’s lodging arranged in Lima, we took off.
I was looking forward to seeing Machu Picchu and Rob was excited about going down the Amazon. It was our good luck to meet a former American Express tour guide in Lima. He made it possible for us to do everything we wanted to do.
We even took a ride on a reed boat on Lake Titicaca. There was an indigenous group of Peruvians who actually lived on man-made reed “islands” that floated freely at that time. It was surreal. It felt like we were trapped in a “National Geographic” article. And a few days later we got to ride a bus down the famous Pan-American Highway.
The inspiration to travel comes in many forms. Travel itself is inspiring. You learn about yourself, about other cultures, about how to make your dreams come true. Traveling is more than taking a vacation. For us, travel is a lifestyle choice.
From our story, “400-days/155-beds” to be published in a series of blog posts by Marilyn Paluszak
We came to realize that packing travel into a vacation is expensive. It cost more money to see Peru in three weeks than it would have if we had three months. Planes and trains are fast, but expensive. Worse, they leave no time to linger along the way.
Peru became our inspiration for future journeys. We learned we could travel independently. More importantly, we learned we wanted to:
Enjoy the journey as well as the destination.
Piranah! 
Not believing this is real. 
Home on Lake Titicaca. 
Making friends in the jungles of Peru. 
I made it to the Caretaker’s Cottage.