Make a pilgrimage

One way to make downtime more meaningful

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio Good Morning.
This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
tip is to make a pilgrimage to a place that
is significant to you. Doing so can make your leisure

(00:23):
time feel a lot more purposeful. For centuries, people have
visited places of religious significance, places like the Western Wall
or Mecca, to name a few. People make these trips
because they believe that visiting those places will deepen their
devotion and help them feel part of the community of
faithful people through the ages. But places don't need to

(00:47):
be religious to feel significant. There are many other reasons
a place can feel important, and taking the time and
effort to visit can give a sense of purpose to
travel or to discretionary time. I'm in general, so it
might be worth making a pilgrimage somewhere as one of
your next trips, or even as a weekend event. For instance,

(01:09):
maybe your ancestors lived somewhere that you would like to visit.
Years ago, I visited the little town in the Netherlands
where my grandfather lived. You might go find the town
where your great grandmother was born and visit the church
where she was baptized and married. Even if you can't
get that precise, you might know that family members were from,

(01:29):
say Sicily. As you wander around the general area, you'll
know that you are probably seeing the same landscape that
they saw. That can be an awe inspiring feeling. Of course,
you don't have to visit sites from just your own
family's past. Maybe you are fascinated by a particular period
of history. It might be worth visiting the beaches of Normandy,

(01:52):
or the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma or Ellis Island.
See where other people's courageous actions created the life we
live today. Other pilgrimages may be more personal rather than
religious or historical. Did you love Laura Ingalls Wylder's Little
House Books when you were a kid. Go on a

(02:14):
road trip and visit places depicted in her books. Did
you learn to cook from the Moosewood Cookbooks? Travel to
Ithaca and eat at the Moosewood Cafe and reconnect with
your twenty something self. Place is meaningful, and the truth
is that most of us are going to travel somewhere

(02:34):
in the next year or so. I'm all about seeing
exciting sites and relaxing, but connecting with an interest can
make for a good mix when added to these other things.
If you normally take vacations with your family, maybe you
could do a weekend trip to a site of interest,
or maybe there's even something nearby and accessible. You love

(02:56):
model trains and you find out there's an elaborate disy
display at a store two hours from your house. What
a great place for a Saturday pilgrimage. You'll spend Saturday
doing something, so why not spend Saturday seeing something that
will delight you and touch on a part of your identity.
So think about what inspires you and intrigues you, think

(03:19):
about the places that are important for those things, and
then think about how you can get yourself there. Doing
so will probably make for sharper memories than just doing
the same thing over again. In the meantime, this is Laura.
Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of

(03:41):
our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've
got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at
Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a

(04:04):
production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit
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