The People

Some people are only part of your day. Somehow, they become part of the journey.

I went to Ireland expecting to remember the places. The roads. The mountains. The water. The sheep. The wool. I didn't expect to remember so many people. Most of them were people I met for an hour, an evening, a breakfast, or sometimes just a conversation at a picnic table. But those little conversations became part of the trip, too.

THE MORNING CONVERSATIONS

At the B&B in Galway, there was a couple from California who came down for breakfast each morning.They were in Ireland to hike, and they had rented a car so they could spend their days driving around County Galway and County Mayo. We talked about travel and hiking and places we'd been. Nothing extraordinary happened. And that's exactly what I liked about it. Just two people traveling, sitting down over breakfast, comparing notes about where they'd been and where they were headed next. I looked forward to seeing them each morning.

THE WOMAN WHO DANCED

On Inishmore, I met a woman from Norway at breakfast. We sat outside together, and she told me stories about her life. She had been a professional fisherman in Norway. She had lived in different places around the world. Her daughters lived in different countries. She told me she never really thought of one place as home. When she finished with one place, she would eventually feel that itch to begin again somewhere else. She had this weathered, peaceful way about her that made me want to keep listening. Later, another couple came up to her and mentioned that they had seen her dancing at Joe Watty's. She laughed. After they walked away, she looked at me and said something I'll remember. She said she didn't care what people thought. She heard the music. She felt like dancing. So she got up and danced.

I understood that completely.

THE MAN AT THE PICNIC TABLE

One afternoon, I was sitting outside at a pub in Kilronan. It was quiet at first. Just me, another couple at a different table, and a little fresh air. Then people started arriving.

A man named John asked if he could sit at my table. Sure. We started talking. Two hours later, we were still talking. He was from Limerick and was traveling around Ireland on a musical journey, following the music and enjoying his own country. We talked about Ireland, travel, music, and life. I had a Guinness. He had his stories. It was one of those completely unplanned conversations that somehow becomes one of the things you remember most.

THE PEOPLE WHO TOLD ME WHERE TO GO

Several people along the way kept giving me the same kind of gift. A suggestion. The couple from Limerick at Abbeyglen told me I needed to drive toward Louisburgh.

Rowan Hughes, the owner of Abbeyglen Castle Hotel, showed me a map and told me the same thing. Patrick in Kilronan pointed me in another direction. I kept listening and I kept going. I think that's one of the best things about traveling. Sometimes someone who lives there can tell you where to go better than any itinerary can.

THE ONES WHO MADE ME FEEL AT HOME

At Abbeyglen, I spent one afternoon crocheting outside. As I walked past a couple, I smelled something that reminded me of my grandfather's pipe. I asked the man if he was smoking a pipe. He laughed and told me it was a cigar. Somehow that became a conversation. Then another conversation. Then several hours with him and his wife.

That evening, I had dinner by myself. Rowan came by and talked with me several times. He brought out the map again and told me about the drive toward Louisburgh.

Then he invited me to come over to their table for a glass of wine when I finished eating. So I did. There was music. There were musicians. There were other people sitting around talking and somewhere in all of that, I stopped feeling like I was traveling alone. I just felt like I was there and for a little while, it felt like home.

GERARDO

In Kilronan, I stopped into a shop and ended up talking with Gerardo and Patrick for about an hour. They told stories. We talked about the island. They pointed me toward places I should see. Of course, I managed to spend so much time talking that I missed some of the things I had planned to see. When I told Patrick I'd spent my day talking to everybody instead of seeing all the forts and ruins, he just laughed. He said, “That just means you have to come back. They'll be here.” He was right. And Gerardo had a story of his own to tell and this is a short snippet of some of his stories. I like that this is the only video on this page. It isn't really about documenting the trip.

It's about remembering a person.

AND THEN THERE WAS GLADYS

I wasn't looking for her. I was looking for blue wool. Instead, I picked up a skein she had spun herself. She told me they were her first skeins and suddenly, the wool had a person attached to it. I put the blue back. I took Gladys's wool home. Sometimes that's how a journey works. You think you're looking for one thing. You find something else.

I'M GLAD I STOPPED TO TALK

I went to Ireland to see a place. I didn't expect to remember so many people. Most of them I'll probably never see again. But for a morning, an afternoon, an evening, or sometimes just a conversation at a table, we were all going the same way. I'm glad I stopped to talk.

THE PEOPLE