One of the most inspiring places I've been is Vietnam.  The Vietnamese people are so gracious, respectable, hard-working, and positive.  The countryside is serene and majestic.  And the lifestyle is balanced and peaceful.  The time I spent there had a big impact on my perspective.

The place that has apparently had the biggest impact on my life is Myanmar (Burma).  It is because I have experience the graciousness and hospitality of the Burmese people along with the wonderful culture and spiritualty of it that has inspired me to do anything I can to help them become free from the junta they are currently being controlled by.  I still have friends there today that I stay in contact with when I can. My career path is starting to take a change in direction because of my involvement in the recent movement for peace in Burma. (please forgive spelling errors, It's late, and I'm tired) :)

I don't think I can choose just one place, but the trip that made a massive difference to me was my Up with People tour in 2005. We went to US, Japan, and Europe with 55 motivated and passionate young people wanting to make a difference. Learning about different cultures, helping them out, showing our culture creatively, learning SO MUCH about yourself and others...that trip helped me grow so much and I feel so much more connected to the world.

Jamaica. Exactly a year ago I traveled to Jamaica with 4 other friends. I still smile when I remeber how our rental car got stuck in the middle of the forest, on top of the Blue Mountains and how we got to spend time with some coffee farmers. Their hospitality and optimism were amazing, in spite of all the poverty surrounding them.

A couple of weeks  ago, I visited a rural village outside Hyderabad and saw microfinance operations at work. The women in the community groups are focused, practical and yet visionary - for the vast majority, the small loans they receive not only support small business enterprises (if you can call selling goat's milk an enterprise) but provide cash for them to send their children to school. They appreciate what so many of  us take for granted - that an education, not handouts, is often the quickest and most reliable path to escape from poverty. 

Smaller World trips with Sustainable Harvest International will give you the opportunity to really experience life in rural Central American communities while helping the local families to raise their standard of living and protect the environment.  Check it out at http://www.sustainableharvest.org in the get involved section.

 I grew up in Charlottesville, Virginia... and the Thomas Jefferson Parkway (also known as Route 53) was the main way my parents would drive between our house and the city. The winding road, covered by shady pines and ancient oaks, this road is one of my favorite places to visit in the world.

Along the road is Monticello (Thomas Jefferson's home), Ash-Lawn Highland (James Monroe's home), Michie Tavern (really good 18th century food), nearby Montpelier (James Madison's home), and Lake Monticello (many a good swim as a kid). At one end of the road, Palmyra, my childhood home... at the other, the University of Virginia. It's no wonder I grew up with a sense of being a true Virginian, surrounded by such rich history!

http://monticello.org/parkway/

China has been the most life-altering place I have visited and done fieldwork in. Living in the rural villages, in the south, and in the outermost rings of major cities allowed me to see the endurance of the Chinese people, their incredible hearts, respect for the natural balance of the world, how oneness really relates to medicine and life and how we are all reflections of each other. 

   Within its vast expanse there are lessons and jewels beyond measure. With 56 minorities all within its borders, all living in distinctly different terrains and conditions, it is simply amazing. I plan to return to continue my work to share with the world. Aside from Chinese worldview and philosophy the medicine holds answers for so many conditions, as seen with malaria and Artemesin. I am so honoured to have taken part in so many festivities, met so many wonderful people and been touched by so many souls. Namaste

Hot on the heels of my trip to Hyderabad, I was even more blessed to be able to visit Rwanda a couple of weeks ago. Unquestionably, a life-changing experience.  As mentioned before, we have sponsored two children there for some years and I was able to meet with them; I also visited the geneiocide memorial in Kigali, and, although horrified, yet felt a strong sense of optimism. Any visitor to Rwanda, having marveled at the beauty of the country, cannot fail to appreciatee how far the country has come since 1994; reconciliation is an abstract concept until you meet someone who had more than forty family members murdered - and yet has dedicated his life to forgiving those responsible.

Rwanda has a long way to go, but it's getting there, and business (the reason I was there) is starting to flourish. If you have a chance, check out the video interviews with Paul Kagame on this site - he is a remarkable man who has an enlightedned approach to helping his people move forward. As the interviewer notes, an African leader that spends more on education than the military is unusual, to say the least.

Without a doubt our first trip to Southern Africa changed my life in a total and unparalleled way. My worldview was already open and I had some understanding of what it meant that there is a wider world 'out there" but the consequences of travelling to the wildpolaces - seeing lion and elephant and warthog and myriad birds and baboon and roan antelope and giraffe and gosh! Just everything we saw opened up my eyes, my soul and made me soar! Our trip report is here:
Southern African Adventure, The beginning of a love affair...
Botswana, Zambia, South Africa

Since then, in trying to understand the beauty and terror and complexity of Africa I have gone from soar to 'sore' at times, and know that - for every lion I see in a national park another is being hunted in a "canned operation" or for every elephant herd roaming another whole herd has just lost its last member at the end of an AK47 for its tusks. Or that rape and humiliation are weapons used as a par for course in the civil wars of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The hard bits and the brilliant bits and the longing to go back... travel to Africa opened a door and issued and invitation to my heart and mind. Don't just sit there reminiscing about the last trip - do something... at the same time we are saving like the clappers for our 2008 trip!

So nothing is easy in this world of travel, of interest and wanting to make a difference but everything is stimulating and alive and messy and needs our commitment, education and input.

Jude