PEOPLE WE MEET ALONG THE WAY ...

"Sometimes it's not about the journey or the destination ... but about the people you meet along the way".   -- Nishan Panwar

Before Charlie and Theresa started their journey over the Atlantic for their Grand European Adventure, they visited their friend Hazel Wilson in New York. I remembered hearing the name Hazel Wilson when I was a child. Wondering if Hazel and my grandparents were just friends or actually related, I did some research.

Hazel Anderson married John Wilson in 1920.  They knew each other 4 weeks when they eloped.  Based on the ancestry of Hazel Anderson, it seems most likely that she was a friend and not a blood relative of Theresa and Charles.  

Based on my research, Hazel sounds like she was a very interesting woman.  According to a newspaper article, She had traveled all over the world, except for Greenland, Iceland and Australia. Hazel also traveled all over the United States, visiting every state except for Maine and Washington.  Perhaps she even visited those before her death.  

Disclaimer: the photo above shows Grandma Theresa (2nd from the left).  I have no idea who the other people are in the photo.  It was taken in 1953.

THEIR GRAND EUROPEAN ADVENTURE

Fifty four years ago, my grandparents (Charles Sherlock & Theresa Nebgen Sherlock) embarked on what I like to call "A Grand European Adventure".  They left Burbank, California on 22 May 1961 and arrived back home a month later.  I have my Grandmother's travel diary from that trip and color slides that my Grandfather shot.

Their European Adventure fascinates me for two reasons.  The first reason is the places that they visited.  I have traveled to Europe three times now and I just can't seem to get enough!  My travel "bucket list" now includes many of the places that they visited and wrote about in the travel diary. I am planning my own European Adventure later this year.  I have this burning desire to re-trace as many of their European Adventure steps as possible.  I know that I won't get it all done in one trip but that just means I will have take several trips which is just fine with me.

The second major reason their trip fascinates me is that they met many distant relatives on their trip -- both in Ireland and in Germany.  Some of them were mentioned by name in the travel diary and others were just described.  I also have photos of some of their relatives and traveling companions but since no identification is given, it will require some detective work on my part to discover the true identities of the people in the photos.

Let me end this post with a travel quote that sums up my opinion of travel from an unknown source --

"Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer".