Exploring New Places

This is a continuation of last week’s story of our cruise experience. Aside from the delicious food, enjoyable activities aboard ship and the freedom to relax with a good book poolside; there are travel excursions offered at each Port of Call. These give you an opportunity to explore new areas and try out new activities.

Exploring helps us in breaking out of boring everyday sameness. The process aids in our knowledge of the world around us, increases our multicultural awareness, and increases our appreciation for life and history. Some of the activities offered on our cruise were snorkeling, scuba diving, and walking up a waterfall in Jamaica which connects with those who enjoy higher risk taking activities. I am a low risk taker so I usually am not found on those activities.

The excursions on cruises are extra expenses so you need to watch your budget. That is why with our group of four we chose to go on the Tulum Mayan ruins tour. Click here on Tulum Ruins to view more information about the ruins and photos


The Tulum ruins are set on a Cliffside with access to a beach below. The tour guide who was very knowledgeable on Mayan history shared how the Tulum site was an area for the higher aristocrats of the Mayan society and for religious purposes. From artifacts found buried the guide mentioned Tulum was a major trading center in its days.

We were lucky that our guide was not trying to be a Las Vegas comedian but instead filled us in with historical information about the Mayan culture and the ruins at Tulum. One sad item to learn was that at its height the Mayan culture had libraries with thousands of books. These were destroyed by early visiting priests who believed their culture to be evil. We were told of the mass of Mayan literature only three books survive today and they are in European University libraries. This story shows the importance of respecting other cultures. We can disagree but to destroy without fully understanding one another is a travesty of history.

The guide told us that it is still a mystery why a culture as advanced as the Mayans disappeared so quickly with no reason why. The archaeological excavations continue today as they had recently unburied another dwelling site. So maybe the mystery will be solved at sometime in the future.

Educational tours such as this one, is one of my favorite exploring activities. Looking at the layout of the small city of Tulum, I used my imagination and wondered what life was like in the 1200’s when Tulum was in its zenith period.

Of course you do not need to go on a cruise to explore. There are sites all over this country to explore and around the world. In your local area where you live there may be small museums and historical sites where you can visit and learn from.

There are many types of exploring activities you can partake in. I am emphasizing an example of historical site exploring as that is something my family and I enjoy. Here are a list of websites you can visit to peruse historical sites in the U.S.A. and around the world.

U.S. sites to see of historical importance:

http://www.historyplace.com/tourism/usa.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._National_Historic_Landmarks_by_state



World Historical locations:
http://www.worldhistoricalsites.com/

http://www.historicalsitesoftheworld.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_Site

Our journey on this earth is so brief and when you explore websites as those listed above you can see there is so much to do in life. There is no time to be bored with an ok life. We have opportunities in life to flourish and live more than ok in exploring the vast opportunities around the world.

Reflection:
Go back to the cruise websites from last week and explore some of the travel excursions offered on the cruise ships.
View a couple of the above websites on historical locations and write down 5 you would like to visit in your lifetime.
Take 15 minutes of quiet time to write about one of your favorite exploring times in your life journey.