During my five years with Royal Caribbean, I had the privilege of working with some truly marvelous people. One of them was Canadian Shannon Wall (aka Shocker Shannon). I learned so much through her free spirit, full of passion for everything this world has to offer. She loved the kids and work as much as she loved her free time and immersing herself in every bit of the marvelous nature wherever the cruise ship took us. I was undoubtedly too work-oriented at the time and she showed me how to remember how life is just going by and that it is important to stop, breathe in the sea air, take a hike, write and paint, relax and enjoy the free moments we have with those we love. It was one of the best lessons for me to learn before having children.

Interestingly enough, we both moved on to become mothers of three boys. Thanks to my husband’s job, our three boys have had the exceptional opportunity to travel. Before their teens, they had visited more than thirty countries, always using local transportation, visiting the remotest of places and taking the roads less traveled. We avoided touristy places as much as possible so that they could actually feel each country’s magical atmosphere and interact with locals. As young adults, they have begun to travel alone, each time departing with vast curiosity about what they will find.

Shannon’s boys have not only had similar opportunities to travel, but they have been given the ULTIMATE travel opportunity. Shannon and her husband took their boys out of school for a year to travel around the world (Instagram shann232323 and Dreamsintoplans.ca). Shannon has been homeschooling the boys throughout their incredible journey. I’ve been following them along the way, and I can see how the boys have grown. Their faces! Their smiles! Each place has brought them immeasurable joy! As a family, they have had the most intense opportunities to grow. Their endless adventures to unlimited countries and among the natives of those counties have compelled each one of them to grow boundlessly. What a beautiful family!

They just got into Kathmandu this morning, flying by Mount Everest during arrival. “This world, this world!! What a place!!” is what she wrote to me. Shannon already knew years ago that the world is a magnificent place. She helped me see it. I showed it to my boys. Years later and three sons later, she continues to see it, feel it, encounter it and saturate herself and her boys’ lives with it.

Thank you, Shannon, for the inexhaustible love you have for this planet’s marvels and all the people in it. I love you! Christina

Learn English and go!