So what do I mean by a different kind of voyage, as my title suggests?
I'll be taking a ride on a British Columbia ferry overseas. That is to say, getting down to the terminal early in the morning on two occasions: one to go out to a part of Greater Vancouver I've never visited - New Westminster; the other to downtown Victoria, to the Royal Jubilee Hospital's Pain Clinic.
Well, how very exciting, I don't hear you calling. And I couldn't agree more.
Yet, and yet, I think of all the people in the world who I've had the honour to meet as I've travelled around interviewing for Burnished Gold: Stories from Around the World of Resilience, Courage and Healing after Major Trauma. All those people who don't have the opportunity to write and publish. Because they don't know how. Or because they would face unspeakable punishment for doing so. Or for many other reasons. All those people who are in pain. Because they don't have access to basic medicines like Tylenol or its equivalent. Or because there are no medical services where they live.
And my gratitude overflows. Not for what I don't have or can't do right now.
For what I do have.