First of all let me wish our members in New Zealand and Australia a Happy New Year. How's it looking so far? Promising I hope.

Wonderful thread this. And outstanding comments by Tom, Lou, and others. I must agree with all and add one personal reason. Traveling the world helps me to reconnect with my dearly beloved grandfather gone some 23 years now. The man opened my eyes to the world of travel. The stories he told, pictures he showed me, and coins he brought were the seeds sown which would flourish into an overwhelming desire to follow the paths he tread upon a half-century before. Without a doubt I consider this the greatest gift given to me growing up. One that I regularly try to pass on to the younger members of my family. I hope you all do the same.

John in San Diego