When my husband Earl had to leave the Air Force on a medical discharge, we did not give up our dream for world travel. Our financial situation was a little less tight now since VA compensation paid for much of his education expenses and I was teaching full time. So, we started our “Travel Fund,” where we would stash every spare dollar we could squeeze out of our budget.
However, we could see that overseas travel would take many many years of scrimping and saving. Then up popped a wonderful opportunity just as Earl was finishing his schooling for a teaching degree from Malone College. We learned that the Australian government was paying travel expenses for teachers – and their families – who would come there for two-year high-school assignments. Their economy was growing so fast at this time that there weren’t enough local residents to fill all the jobs being created so they were bringing in workers of all kinds from many other countries. Free travel to a faraway country and a job awaiting – for us it was a dream come true.
To add to this dream, actually it could be combined with fulfilling a childhood ambition of mine. Living in a minister’s home, we entertained many missionaries who came to speak in our church, and I was totally absorbed in their exciting stories, especially their slide programs showing what I consider to be their adventurous life in the jungles of Africa or South America.
Now…going to Australia wasn’t living with natives in grass huts in the wild – we had a modern house in a suburb of the big city of Melbourne. We weren’t missionaries in the sense that a church back home had raised money to support us and send us there to “convert the natives.” Instead we were volunteers, often called “occupational missionaries,” supporting ourselves but working as laymen to assist ministers in small pioneer start-up churches which were popping up to serve the growing population of the country.
Combining our desire for service opportunities with the chance to explore a big country so far from home – it was a made-to-order adventure for us. So as soon as Earl graduated from college, we sold our car and all our furniture and, with our 5-year-old son David, we were ready to embark on our world exploration.
The first leg of our journey was on a small passenger-carrying freighter from New York City to Brussels. It sounded like a great adventure when I read the advertisements – the 10 passengers had the run of the ship and ate gourmet meals with the captain – and the fare was low low, frugal low. However, those 10 days crossing the Atlantic were without a doubt probably some of the worst 10 days of my life. The ship had no stabilizers – and we were skirting hurricanes from day one. I took to my bunk and stayed there for 5 days; when there was nothing left to get rid of in my stomach, dry heaves took over. In the meantime, Earl and 5-year-old son David were having fun roaming around the ship this whole time, coming back and telling me about the great meals they were having with the captain. On the 6th day, I thought I was feeling well enough to perhaps eat a bite so I went to dinner. This was a Norwegian ship and I guess a Norwegian chef – raw eggs garnished the entrée. That sent me back to my bunk until – thankfully – we reached European dry land!
Next came 2 months driving around Europe in a tiny rental car, thanks to our travel fund we had built up the last several years. However, it was not large enough to make this a luxury trip; Europe on $5 a Day was our travel bible. We stayed in simple guest houses and mapped our route to include mostly free attractions and simple activities that a 5-year-old would enjoy.
The last leg of our long trip to Australia was on a cruise ship from England to the port of Sydney. This was an exciting first for us, just as glamorous as it had looked in the movies. We were in first class, even invited one night to dine with the captain. The 12-day voyage was not smooth sailing the whole time, but fortunately I had gained some sea legs since the earlier freighter nightmare. One night while during a dance the ship hit a big wave and everyone on the dance floor was thrown to one side, with handsome ship officers scrambling to help the ladies. I thought that was a romantic event suitable for a steamy novel!
We soon learned that the lower-class decks below us had much simpler accommodations – this was before the movie knowledge we learned from Titanic. Those lower decks were filled with hundreds of male Greek immigrant workers who had been offered free transportation and jobs when they arrived in Australia. We actually had quite a bit of contact with them. The first day of the cruise, the ship’s news sheet contained a call for teachers, who would be paid to conduct daily classes to help the Greeks learn some basic English. Earl and I both signed up. Even little David went along with us and was learning how to teach common words with a lot of gesturing and acting. We three knew no Greek and our students knew no English, but we all did a lot of laughing and found that was a good start for universal communication.
Outside the Orleans buffet with my mom and Aunt Starr
