I heard a high ranking Army officer being interviewed on the radio, who I immediately took to him as he had a manner that instantly commanded your respect, a necessary skill for his role. He was also very self deprecating about the many obvious achievements that he had been involved with. One thing I had never thought about was the relationship between courage and fear. His point was that without fear you don’t need courage. I debated this in my head (as I do) and then realised that what he said is correct – it only takes bravery and courage when you are fearful and you are required to fight through that fear. Now I have never been in the extreme situation of combat and I guess we are all in awe of the traumas and courage of the service men and women who do fight for our country. Whilst many other fears arguably cannot compare to this, nevertheless we all have our own personal fears.
It reminded me of my trip to Bhutan last year – there were four in the group that suffered from serious vertigo and were required to climb down and then up, some stairs in the last section through a cliff face to Tigers Nest. It is nerve racking even without vertigo and particularly in the conditions of snow and ice. So from a distance, you can see the most amazing, most important and most impressive Buddhist monastery in the region and the dilemma of fighting the fear is to actually get through the tricky last section and arrive at this iconic structure. The four were supported and encouraged by the rest of us to do this – that takes nothing away from them, because they all achieved it. It does display that with our own self will and determination mixed with the morale & support of others we can get through a great many difficulties.
It also made me realise one of the advantages of travelling with a group of people, even with people you don’t know. I didn’t know anyone on the Bhutan trip before I went but very quickly there is camaraderie and it is for many people a better experience by sharing it with others. This is the essence of Bales escorted groups because vital to everyone’s enjoyment is the like mindedness of the participants and a shared sense of what you want to see and do. Some of my most treasured moments that I have of my travel experiences relate to the people I shared the experience with.
I would encourage you to consider doing something that you really have wanted to do, whether it involves a challenge for you or not, hopefully involving going on holiday with Bales! Just remember that our key responsibility to you is to ensure that we put the perfect holiday together for you and that also our consideration of your welfare and safety is paramount.
Until next time….
About Mandy Nickerson
Other articles by Mandy Nickerson
Mandy endeavours to share her travel experiences (where she will 'tell it like it is') and also detail the latest exciting projects that she is involved in.
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