From Australia to Austria
ChangingStory Traveler Lives
From Australia to Austria
How a Grand Circle Home-Hosted visit forged a far-reaching friendship by Julia Hudson
The friends in front of Salzburg’s Hellbrunn Palace. They had not seen one another since meeting in Australia eight years earlier.
Sometimes, the best part of traveling isn’t so much about seeing the sights, but meeting new people. Just ask Katherine Reynolds, who visited the South Pacific with Grand Circle in 2005, and discovered how a Home-Hosted meal can turn into a lasting relationship. Katherine visited the home of Jean and Geoff Bonham, a couple living in Cairns, during her Land Tour. Having brought a Colorado cookbook as a hostess gift, Katherine was pleasantly surprised to learn that Jean collected cookbooks, and the two women found they had plenty to talk about during the meal. “I felt like I’d known her forever,” says Katherine of the women’s chemistry. She describes Jean as “fun, with a unique and quirky sense of humor. She has a great sense of adventure, of curiosity.” Jean calls her initial feelings upon meeting Katherine “an instant rapport. We are like sisters; we help each other with any problems, cheer each other up when needed.” Over the past eight years, Katherine and Jean have found themselves surprising the global postal system by mailing
16 INSIDER • FALL/WINTER 2013
cookbooks, calendars, wine, and more between Durango and Cairns. But the friendship has gone even deeper. When Geoff passed away a few years after their meeting, Katherine contributed in his honor to her church’s choral society, and mailed Jean a copy of the program bearing his name.
“My last recollection of Katherine,” says Jean, “is when I was leaving Salzburg— at the ungodly hour of five o’clock in the morning. It’s of her in her pajamas, as she came racing down the hotel steps and stopped the taxi to wish me a safe journey to London and then home to Australia.”
Katherine and Jean had not seen each other in eight years when the two women were able to reunite in Salzburg, Austria. Jean stopped there while en route to London for work, and Katherine was performing there with her church choir.
The women hope to meet again in Paris, to celebrate the publication of Jean’s novel, or perhaps someday in Colorado, where Jean has never before visited. “Now...how exciting is that?” asks Katherine. “And it all started with a Grand Circle Tour to Australia! So far as I know, your HomeHosted exchanges are unique and, as it turns out, can produce lasting friendships ... Thank you!”
Worried that they might not recognize one another after such a long time, and inspired by a James Bond novel, the friends planned to arrive wearing a flower and carrying a copy of their local newspapers. But as Jean says, they “didn’t need flowers or newspapers; we recognized each other immediately. We hugged each other, with happy tears!” When asked how it felt to see one another after so many years, Jean says it was “overwhelming. We couldn’t stop smiling, and both started talking at the same time, and then burst into peals of laughter.” Jean suggested that Katherine introduce her as “Aussie Jane” to the rest of the choir, and shared some Australian chocolates with everyone. The fournight visit included choir rehearsals and performances, a tour of the Salzburg Cathedral, and hiking up to the Eagle’s Nest, a German mountain chalet. Says Katherine, “it was a great renewal and confirmation of our friendship.”
Katherine and Jean (third and fourth from left) during their now-legendary meeting in Cairns, Australia, in 2005. Also in the frame are two fellow travelers and Geoff Bonham, Jean’s late husband.
Katherine shared this story on Grand Circle Travel’s Facebook page. We would love to hear your stories, too! Connect with us at: www.facebook.com/grandcircletravel
From Australia to Austria
How a Grand Circle Home-Hosted visit forged a far-reaching friendship by Julia Hudson
The friends in front of Salzburg’s Hellbrunn Palace. They had not seen one another since meeting in Australia eight years earlier.
Sometimes, the best part of traveling isn’t so much about seeing the sights, but meeting new people. Just ask Katherine Reynolds, who visited the South Pacific with Grand Circle in 2005, and discovered how a Home-Hosted meal can turn into a lasting relationship. Katherine visited the home of Jean and Geoff Bonham, a couple living in Cairns, during her Land Tour. Having brought a Colorado cookbook as a hostess gift, Katherine was pleasantly surprised to learn that Jean collected cookbooks, and the two women found they had plenty to talk about during the meal. “I felt like I’d known her forever,” says Katherine of the women’s chemistry. She describes Jean as “fun, with a unique and quirky sense of humor. She has a great sense of adventure, of curiosity.” Jean calls her initial feelings upon meeting Katherine “an instant rapport. We are like sisters; we help each other with any problems, cheer each other up when needed.” Over the past eight years, Katherine and Jean have found themselves surprising the global postal system by mailing
16 INSIDER • FALL/WINTER 2013
cookbooks, calendars, wine, and more between Durango and Cairns. But the friendship has gone even deeper. When Geoff passed away a few years after their meeting, Katherine contributed in his honor to her church’s choral society, and mailed Jean a copy of the program bearing his name.
“My last recollection of Katherine,” says Jean, “is when I was leaving Salzburg— at the ungodly hour of five o’clock in the morning. It’s of her in her pajamas, as she came racing down the hotel steps and stopped the taxi to wish me a safe journey to London and then home to Australia.”
Katherine and Jean had not seen each other in eight years when the two women were able to reunite in Salzburg, Austria. Jean stopped there while en route to London for work, and Katherine was performing there with her church choir.
The women hope to meet again in Paris, to celebrate the publication of Jean’s novel, or perhaps someday in Colorado, where Jean has never before visited. “Now...how exciting is that?” asks Katherine. “And it all started with a Grand Circle Tour to Australia! So far as I know, your HomeHosted exchanges are unique and, as it turns out, can produce lasting friendships ... Thank you!”
Worried that they might not recognize one another after such a long time, and inspired by a James Bond novel, the friends planned to arrive wearing a flower and carrying a copy of their local newspapers. But as Jean says, they “didn’t need flowers or newspapers; we recognized each other immediately. We hugged each other, with happy tears!” When asked how it felt to see one another after so many years, Jean says it was “overwhelming. We couldn’t stop smiling, and both started talking at the same time, and then burst into peals of laughter.” Jean suggested that Katherine introduce her as “Aussie Jane” to the rest of the choir, and shared some Australian chocolates with everyone. The fournight visit included choir rehearsals and performances, a tour of the Salzburg Cathedral, and hiking up to the Eagle’s Nest, a German mountain chalet. Says Katherine, “it was a great renewal and confirmation of our friendship.”
Katherine and Jean (third and fourth from left) during their now-legendary meeting in Cairns, Australia, in 2005. Also in the frame are two fellow travelers and Geoff Bonham, Jean’s late husband.
Katherine shared this story on Grand Circle Travel’s Facebook page. We would love to hear your stories, too! Connect with us at: www.facebook.com/grandcircletravel
