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Category Archives: Wisdom

FamilyMomentsWisdom

Life in the time of Corona: Riding out the storm in the French countryside

James and Paula O'Byrne Posted onMarch 20, 2020March 20, 2020 2 Comments

“It is a strange fate that we should suffer so much fear and doubt over such a small thing.” – Boromir The Lord of the Rings When the plague reached Paris in 1348, anyone who could afford to flee the city to the safety of the countryside did so immediately. It was with...

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Wisdom

Is coronavirus killing compassion, or just exposing selfishness?

James and Paula O'Byrne Posted onMarch 12, 2020March 12, 2020 1 Comment

Greetings from Europe – where the viruses come from! I went to sleep at home in France thinking that the coronavirus was a global public health problem we all needed to attack together. I woke up to discover that it was a problem caused by those damn Europeans – people like me –...

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MomentsWisdom

Retired? We need a new word for this crazy, busy life

James and Paula O'Byrne Posted onMay 26, 2018May 26, 2018 1 Comment

“Are you retired?” The question always stumps us. Every day for 37 years I went to a newsroom. Then one day a little more than a year ago, I suddenly stopped. And now, 13 months later, I’m still not sure how to answer. On the one hand, it’s easy. Yes, Paula and I...

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JoyWisdom

Springing into the light

James and Paula O'Byrne Posted onMarch 15, 2018March 15, 2018 1 Comment

  I learned yesterday what a Thello is. It’s a train company that runs night trains (with sleeper cars) from Paris Gare de Lyon (an hour north of our house), with a stop in Dijon (half an hour south of our house), before traveling through the night to Milan and all of northern...

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FamilyWisdom

Changing the world, one modest project at a time: Bringing water to Cambodian high school students

James and Paula O'Byrne Posted onJanuary 25, 2016January 28, 2016 Leave a Comment

Watch the video to learn more about this worthy, achievable project to improve a small group of lives in a small corner of the world. A post by Brendan O’Byrne, United States Peace Corp Volunteer, Cambodia, 2015-16 The Project The high school where I teach in Cambodia just got a new bathroom built...

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Wisdom

Love is all you need: A philosopher waxes eloquent on a philosophy of travel

James and Paula O'Byrne Posted onJanuary 20, 2016January 21, 2016 2 Comments

  Bill, Greer, James, Paula, Amy, Michael. The Karijini Six.  We are blessed with friendships not only around the country, but around the world. One of our friends, Michael Levine, of Fremantle, Australia, has had a really profound impact on how we view travel, by imparting to us his very simple philosophy about...

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Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”

— Mark Twain

Wisdom

Why we like to fly before the sun

James and Paula O'Byrne Posted onJuly 14, 2015September 28, 2015 Leave a Comment

People always think we’re crazy when we take 5 or 6 am flights that make us get up in the dark. But today is a good illustration why we do it. Plan was to fly Boston to Dulles to MSY, leave BOS around 245p, home by 615. Weather great in all three places. Then it...

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