About the party -
At my age, I treat every travel opportunity as a kind of pilgrimage - a time to learn more about others and about myself. I try to shake off expectations, be aware of the little things and open myself up to the unexpected. In his book, "The Art of Pilgrimage" travel writer Phil Cousineau suggests celebrating the "coming back" with a party and I did that on my return from Spain. Here are some of the ideas and thoughts behind my party:
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Make it fun and start with colorful invites.
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Invite a manageable number (I invited 20; 15 attended).
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Have plenty to eat but don't overwhelm your guests with too many choices (experience talking here)
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Offer gluten-free and vegan choices; offer non-alcoholic drink options
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Have your best pics made into 11x14 prints and mounted on poster board. Post them around the house.
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Don't have a slide show, video or "entertainment" on your TV screen or computer - people would rather talk and eat.
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If you're cooking yourself, have food prepared the night before. I was lucky and my friend Mary Margaret offered to prepare several of the dishes and bring them; I just had to make enough space in the refrigerator for the gazpacho shooters.
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Scatter bits of ephemera around the house for ambiance and conversation starters.
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Final thoughts:
My seatmates on the flight to Spain were two smart, funny, friendly voice artists from southern California - Michelle Blenker and Diana Birdsall. Michelle had won the Unicorn Award and they were on their way to teach in a workshop in Barcelona. Michelle asked about my travel plans; I told her about the Rick Steves tour and she said it sounded great, and "you'll meet a lot of new people." I thought about that remark the rest of the flight. I travel to see art, experience different cultures, different foods, but I don't think about traveling for "new" "people." At my age, frankly, "new" isn't the greatest. I wake up and my foot hurts, that's "new" or my finger won't bend, that's "new." And people? New people? You know I love you all but more people? New people?? And then, what happens? on this trip I met an extraordinary person. Really, extraordinary. They say you can tell a person's true character by how they behave at airports but I think it's how they act at the Alhambra - so many new sights to see, pics to take, crowded, and in all this, out of the group's view, she takes the phone from a wizened hand and tells him to stand over there with his wife and takes their picture, missing her own photo op. Kindness, not a "nice", mother-may-I kindness, but a take-charge kindness. She asks the server his name, he tells her "Renaldo." She says, "Hi Renaldo, how's your day going?" And she doesn't need to leave a tip (but she does) because she's already made him feel like a million bucks. She risks kindness. Everyone wants to be around her because she makes you feel good about yourself. Wow. I'm grateful for having been able to come to Spain, grateful for the places I've been, the sights I've sampled, and I'm grateful for having met Tracey. Here's to meeting more new people!!