A life shaped by travel
Since early childhood, travelling has been a key part of my life. At age 4 (1975), I took my first flight. A small plane (about a 9 seater) from Sydney to Parks in country NSW. My young stomach didn’t handle the turbulance very well and I threw up on my Dad’s lap.
In 1980, aged 8, our family took off on the first of two big international trips. We were to be gone for 6 months, travelling through Europe and the USA before settling in San Francisco for 4 months.
By the time we returned to Australia, I had been bitten well and truly bitten by the travel bug. I began planning our next big family holiday, a 10 week epic touring thoughout the USA and Canada. In September 1982 off we went again.
There are certain factors that seem to shape our lives. Travelling has been one such factor in my life. (As evidenced by the fact that this and many other journal entries have been made whilst sitting on planes.) Many of the key events and decisions in my life can be linked to travelling.
For example, it was on a flight to Canada that I first felt the call of God to be in ministry. It was on a beach on a remote island in the Phillipines archipeleo that I felt the call to Thailand. It was on a holiday in New Zealand that I broke the news to my parents that I was moving to Bangkok. It was by a lake in Chile that I felt God guiding me about the specific timing for the church planting adventure. It was on a trip to Thailand that I first met my wife. It was in Sedona, Arizona, on the day of my best mate’s wedding, that we discovered we were expecting our first child.
It was travel that set the scene for the biggest adventure of my life – a journey to Thailand to try and plant a church. Over the course of this year, I will try and make regular entries to this blog and unfold the events that led to this adventure, the adventure itself, the fall back to earth and life afterwards.I want to tell my story so that others may see and perhaps learn something from my experiences and along the way provide a bit of humour and hope. Happy reading.
In 1980, aged 8, our family took off on the first of two big international trips. We were to be gone for 6 months, travelling through Europe and the USA before settling in San Francisco for 4 months.
By the time we returned to Australia, I had been bitten well and truly bitten by the travel bug. I began planning our next big family holiday, a 10 week epic touring thoughout the USA and Canada. In September 1982 off we went again.
There are certain factors that seem to shape our lives. Travelling has been one such factor in my life. (As evidenced by the fact that this and many other journal entries have been made whilst sitting on planes.) Many of the key events and decisions in my life can be linked to travelling.
For example, it was on a flight to Canada that I first felt the call of God to be in ministry. It was on a beach on a remote island in the Phillipines archipeleo that I felt the call to Thailand. It was on a holiday in New Zealand that I broke the news to my parents that I was moving to Bangkok. It was by a lake in Chile that I felt God guiding me about the specific timing for the church planting adventure. It was on a trip to Thailand that I first met my wife. It was in Sedona, Arizona, on the day of my best mate’s wedding, that we discovered we were expecting our first child.
It was travel that set the scene for the biggest adventure of my life – a journey to Thailand to try and plant a church. Over the course of this year, I will try and make regular entries to this blog and unfold the events that led to this adventure, the adventure itself, the fall back to earth and life afterwards.I want to tell my story so that others may see and perhaps learn something from my experiences and along the way provide a bit of humour and hope. Happy reading.
posted by Chris Batchelor at 2:43 AM
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