We took our last walk around the Dales this morning. Tomorrow we head out to London, a bit of time in one of the world’s best cities before flying home. The weather has improved over the past couple of days. It’s much warmer when we get rained on than when we first arrived.

On Sunday we had the immense pleasure of spending time with our gracious hosts, the very lovely Jill and her engaging son, James. We swapped stories about our various holidays. While we were here in England, they were at our home in Oregon.

Jill, a solicitor, has made several trips to the US but this was her first time in Oregon. She and James are keen skiers, and although locals in Deschutes County have complained about the dry winter conditions, Jill and James found the skiing brilliant. Like us, they were fortunate to meet so many locals who were hospitable to them.

It’s the accents. If you are an American in the UK, people pick up on it and visa versa. They ask questions, tell you about their trips to the UK or the US, or about why they moved away from one or the other. Jill met a couple who invited her and James to join them for a cuppa of Yorkshire tea. He was a Brit living in Deschutes County. While here, I’ve met three American women who relocated to England after marrying Brits.

We both met people who offered us rides from one place or another. Tim nor I have ever driven in the UK. We rely on public transport. Tim isn’t keen to drive on these narrow roads and we both love the trains. This is the first time we’ve had a swap where the train wasn’t nearby. So we had to rely on the buses. In the US, we’d never rely on buses. But public transportation is so much better here in the UK. We are so good at it now, I can give advice to others on which bus will take them to Ripon, Richmond or Hawes.

Besides the UK is made for walking in ways that the US isn’t. We love the walking here,most of the time there are public pathways, well-marked. Jill nor James drove while in the US. Jill said it would make her too nervous.

Her cottage is in horse country, afterall. So they Ubered almost everywhere, including to Smith Rock and Tumalo Falls. What they didn’t count on, however, was that cell service for getting a ride back out might be spotty at best. So on a warm day after James hiked Misery Ridge at Smith Rock, they walked to Terrebonne before having enough service to call for an Uber. They lucked out in Tumalo Falls.

A Bendite offered them a ride back to town and regaled them with stories of his own. And therein lies the beauty of the travel: human connection.Being reminded that most people’s default is kindness. Obvously that’s not true for everyone, or even for any of us all the time, but nothing makes the world a less fearful place than making friends whereever you go.

Pub culture in the UK is designed for swapping stories. It’s that way in Deschutes County, too. One of the things I noticed when we were in Glasgow this trip is how quiet the trains are now. When I was living there in 2022, the trains were noisy with people chattering back and forth. This time they were all on their phones. People were silent, heads down.

I kept thinking of something Ellen’s mother told her: Look up. That seems like the best advice is all sorts of ways. How can we see the humanity in each other if we are looking down all the time? The more we look down, the more down we become. Media and tech thrives by playing to our fears, making us more and more isolated, more and more polarized.

If it is true that the eyes are the windows in our souls – and I do believe that – how can we possibly see the sacred in one another if we never look each other in the eyes?

Jill has the most beautiful expressive brown eyes. You can tell she’s a good soul because her countenance sparkles. And James has his momma’s eyes, and her good soul.

Look up, people. See the sacred in one another. Swap a story with a stranger. Lean into the goodness of others. Be hospitable.