An important part of my life has always been my desire to travel – without a doubt this love came from my father. I have the memory of watching a documentary on whether the Hanging Gardens of Babylon existed, and my Dad explaining to me about the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and how most of them had been destroyed. Years later we would discuss what the “must see” sites of the world would be now and we never did complete a final list.
Last summer, the new Seven Wonders of the World were announced, when I read the list a smiled knowing my dad had managed to see all these wonders, but also that I was lucky enough to share some of these experiences with him.
Our first major family holiday was for six weeks to India; although the holiday was intended for us to spend time with our family it was important for my dad that we saw the country as well. Although I was still very young for this holiday I remember the long coach ride from Delhi to Agra, to see the Taj Mahal. I had no idea then why the building was so important as far as I was concerned it was a place I had seen on the news when Princess Diana went there alone.
Over the years we continued to have many family adventures, but the last time all four Desais went away together was to China. For me personally it was a memorable trip, it was it was the start of my journey to giving up meat (and as a result I lived off rice and chocolate for two weeks), without a doubt the highlight of the holiday was the walk along the Great Wall of China at Badaling.
The following year my sister and I intended to have our own adventures, but when my parents told me they planned on spending three weeks travelling around Mexico, I decided to tag along. Early one morning towards the end of the vacation we were up at 5am to avoid the crowds and see Chichen Itza, we ended up spending the whole day there climbing ‘the castle,’ exploring the throne room and walking around the ball court.
The link to the Seven Wonders doesn’t end there, after Jason and I got engaged, my parents, sister and I started planning our final Desai Family holiday to Peru so I could see Machu Picchu before I got married, (Jason decided against joining us on the trip as he feared the spiders). Unfortunately a month before we were due to leave my dad was diagnosed with cancer and the holiday was cancelled.
So having seen three of the seven wonders I became determined to see the other four as a legacy to my dad. As the new most important man in the life, Jason has already started this quest taking me to Rome to celebrate our first wedding anniversary so I could see the Colosseum, and he is even talking about ways to avoid the spiders in Peru!
Published with wonder of WordPress, whilst I am away.
Tags: Daily Life, Rome, seven wonders, Travel
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