I’m on a ship right now, taking my in-laws on a cruise for the first time. They’re from Nepal and traveled the world in their 20’s, mostly for medical treatment they required. But leisure travel was less on their radar. Hailing from the Himalayas, we’re now showing them the open ocean.
Most of our fellow passengers are Black families. The commercials on our room’s TV screens feature all-Black casts. Our parasailing excursion companions were Black teenagers. As a white/South Asian family, we are the minority. I guess cruise lines are racially-driven marketing engines? We’re cruise newbies and soaking up the experience.
Travel has offered a thawing out for me, post-pandemic. Our family has traveled as often as possible the past two years. While the pandemic afforded silence, it also froze me in time. Transitioning to a post-pandemic world has felt dizzying, and chaotic. But these little trips melt me back to myself.
I shared some of these thoughts with Tara Henley on her show, Lean Out, in a recent podcast interview. She’s the bestselling author of a book by the same name and we met last year in NYC at Dissident Dialogues. In the interview we discuss God, love, and the heterodox space.
My personal background has come up more often in interviews than I actually discuss in Trust Your Mind, and I’m grateful to be able to share my fuller story. When you write books, only so much makes it in, and there’s more to the story under the surface.
Almost ashore,
Jenara
We’re similarly headed my first cruise! Let’s debrief on your return…