I remember that first time I ‘allowed’ myself to get lost in Kaohsiung. For weeks I had traveled only a set route – fearing to venture off it in case I got lost. Since nobody spoke English, I would have wandered for days before perishing in some back alleyway somewhere. But that day I felt confident enough that I could find at least one landmark (an 86-story building that I could see from just about anywhere) so took a another route. Sure enough, I got lost. Hopelessly lost. I drove around for over two hours before finding my 86-story building and getting back on track. But – that day stands out in my mind as the day I finally felt comfortable enough to ALLOW myself to get lost!! And that’s a good thing!!

We are now getting ready to take off to ride our bikes from Alaska to Argentina (with ten-year-old twins) and I’m sure we’ll get lost a lot. But that’s OK, because I know now that I can always find myself somehow. (You can read about our journey at http://www.familyonbikes.org)

But man! I learned Polish and navigated that country like nobody’s business! I asked for directions in Croatian! I performed complicated transactions in Madrid speaking only Spanish!

And I agree – it’s a serious triumph figuring out the streets of Bratislava.

I remember being (gently) relieved of my cash in a small Mozambican town with no bank – and having to talk my way onto three successive transports to the Zimbabwean border and then across – without a cent to my name. I felt wildly successful then.

Learning to master enough Thai to get me safely up the small Bangkok streets on local motorbikes is also a measure of success – not to mention survival.

And now I’m wishing I was traveling so I think I’ll go dig out some old travel journals…

I’m right there with you on the pizza delivery. After a year and a half in Korea, I still lacked conversational skills. But I got on the phone and ordered that sucker, and when it arrived I was thrilled to see I had successfully avoided the kimchi topping.