Travelling is my passion and I seem to have passed it on to my children. A few years ago my then 10 year old son Kyle informed me that he had a bucket list and invited me to review it with him. He pulled out his chrome book where in a world map he had carefully pinned all the places in his bucket list, he showed me each one of them, carefully explaining the reasons why they had made the list. At the top of his list was Machu Picchu, at that point I promised him that one day in the not so distant future I would take him there.
I am Peruvian and I have been to Machu Picchu twice before, I didn’t need to go again, although I think this is an incredible place that people should visit once in their lifetime, the last time I was there I was so sick with altitude sickness the entire 5 days of the trip that I swore it was going to be my last time… but looking into the eyes of my eager 10 year old I realized that I wanted to be there on his first visit to Machu Picchu. I promised myself that on my next family trip to Peru I would make sure to book a tour for all of us to visit the capital of the Inca empire (Cuzco) so that we could access this magnificent and mystic sacred city of the Incas.
The opportunity presented itself about a year ago when one of my nieces, whom I hold close to my heart, announced her wedding in Lima. Being that Kyle is her Godson, the whole family was going to travel for the wedding. This was the perfect opportunity to take the trip! I immediately made reservations for the wedding and announced my intentions to my Peruvian family to take my Canadian family on a trip after the wedding to Cuzco & Machu Picchu. Everyone thought that this was a great idea and one by one, my siblings and their families joined the trip. We ended up being 17 of us (with matching t-shirts) that boarded a plane at 5 am on an epic trip just 2 days after the wedding including the bride and groom. This little boy’s dream became an epic family reunion in one of the most beautiful places in the world! Thank you Kyle ❤️
As it turned out, the day that we ended up going to Machu Picchu was Kyle’s 14th birthday. He was feeling on top of the world fulfilling his dream on this special day. As we arrived on the bus we could get some glimpses of the city and after entering the gates and as we climbed to the view point I could feel the emotion and see the look of awe and wonder on his face… was that worth it? it was absolutely priceless… to feel the energy and the emotion on such an important day.
The logistics of organizing such a big trip were massive, finding accommodations, transportation, and activities that interested everyone…. not everyone made it to Machu Picchu as most had been multiple times…. dinners took on average 2+ hours…. but it was amazing! The cousins living abroad bonded with the ones in Peru, the brothers and sisters and in-laws had time to catch up over good Peruvian beer, Pisco Sours and gourmet food. And most importantly, we were able to spend quality time and relearn to appreciate family in the land of ‘slow food’ literally.
This is a gratitude post, not only because I was able to spend time with my family (all 17 of them) and travel to such an incredible place, but because I was able to fulfill one of the dreams of my son. I know that if I didn’t take him there, he would have eventually gone on his own, but I wouldn’t have been part of it.
There were lots of reasons why we shouldn’t have taken the trip, including work commitments, finances, school commitments for my other son in grade 11, political instability in the region due to a failed military coup, my inability to deal with altitude sickness, etc, but we made it happen and I don’t have a single regret about it, but I’m so grateful that we made it happen.
Kyle’s face at the top of the mountain where we took this photo was just priceless. I just hope that one day when he has kids of his own, he takes the time to learn about their bucket list and decides to be part of that special dream.
Keep tuned as I might be organizing a retreat in this magnificent region of the world in the next couple of years that will include an organized tour to this amazing gem of civilization (Machu Picchu).
This is now an item on the top of my bucket list. Would you be interested? Drop me a note.
