Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted on by Laura & Brett

(Photo credit: Unsplash/Thanksgiving)

The gift of wonderful readers is one of the nicest blessings of all, and I am giving thanks for all who stop by The Occasional Nomads every day. Wishing everyone good health, good times, whatever is beautiful and meaningful, and whatever brings happiness this holiday season and throughout the coming year to you and yours.

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Published by Laura & Brett

Slow traveling the world with a sense of adventure!

16 thoughts on “Happy Thanksgiving!”

  1. Happy Thanksgiving! I’ve been reading you from the UK, but haven’t been able to comment. Hope you both enjoy the day! 🦃

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  2. Happy Thanksgiving to you as well! Through your generous writing and sharing, you have enriched and inspired my life so much and I am truly grateful for that. Enjoy this beautiful holiday!

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    1. Thank you, LS, for being such a good friend and loyal reader. Is there a similar holiday in Australia? If so, when. I have family up in Queensland, but didn’t hear anything about it this year.

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      1. Family time is normally at Easter and Christmas. Easter is good for big heavy roasts as the weather is getting cool. Our national holiday is a contentious point. First Nation peoples call it a day of mourning as it commemorates the day the British landed in Sydney with the first fleet. Still for many it’s a day of BBQs (as it is in summer) and catch-ups with family and friends. So, no, I don’t think we have anything similar.

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      2. Thanksgiving is not very popular with our indigenous people either, and the true history of the “first” Thanksgiving (in 1620) is quite different to the one most Americans still learn in school. That story has achieved myth status and that’s awfully hard to knock down or change. For the record, I am directly descended from participants in the so-called “first Thanksgiving” and have never believed it was as told or pictured. Things just didn’t add up.

        Thanksgiving is also one of the most contentious holidays in the U.S. Notorious arguments break out between family members, maybe even more so now with all the political animosity out there; there are complaints about menus, etc.; but for the most part people enjoy getting together and focusing on food and family (or friends). The day before Thanksgiving is the biggest travel day in the U.S., and most people love it because it creates a four-day holiday for most (Th, F, S, and S).

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      3. Who doesn’t like a four day holiday!

        When we visited the state parliament of California, an overseas visitor asked the guide about who was here before the settlers. “No one,” we were told. “Well the Spanish had a mission further south.” The visitor persisted – before the Spanish. “No one.”Mmm. Strange that a parliament guide would give such misinformation and just ignore the indigenous peoples.

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      4. Brett and I were stopped dead in our tracks when the Opera House guide opened the tour by asking our group to take a moment of silence and reflect on the indigenous people who lived on the land first. Neither of us had ever experienced such a moment, and it was wonderful. It’s also something that is extremely unlikely to ever happen in the United States. Slavery and the genocide of indigenous peoples are our two original sins, and we have never come to terms with them (and I’m beginning to think we never will). Talk about the people who lived here first? Best to just ignore them. There have been a few breakthroughs, but so many are like the guide you had in California. Our current Secretary of the Interior is indigenous (so is our congressman – he is full-blooded Hawaiian) and I have been seeing a LOT more information about indigenous people, customs, etc. But we have a very, very sorry history to overcome and an almost infinite way to go.

        A friend just wrote that four days off, three days working is the ideal for a week. I agree!

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  6. Happy Thanksgiving! So much to be grateful for…..my house is under contract and I just purchased my January flight to France!

    Wanted to let you know that the passe-sanitaire info that I shared 6-7 (?) weeks ago has changed. It is no longer possible for vaccinated, non-student, non-EU citizens to apply online. Instead application must be made in-person at an approved pharmacy in France. https://www.sante.fr/how-to-obtain-a-french-health-pass.

    I’m still figuring it all out, but am thinking that I won’t be able to take a train from the Marseille airport to my final destination without a health pass. This may change,but I’m thinking of renting a car for 24 hours. There is a pharmacy at CDG in terminal 2F but I don’t know if I’ll have enough time between arriving from USA and catching my connecting flight to MRS. The French Government’s website said there are more changes to be announced on 29 November. Am praying that borders stay open long enough for be to fly in January, but this is out of my control!

    My plan is to spend the winter with my French “mother” with whom I lived as a college student almost 40 years ago! She had a very difficult time alone last winter and could use companionship. Depending upon Covid, we will go traveling around France or will stay in place and live a typical French life.

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    1. First – what a wonderful trip you have planned! How wonderful that your French mother is still alive and you can visit and spend time with her. My Japanese family from 50 years ago is mostly gone now, and my “sister” is nearing 80 years old. Either traveling or hanging out at home, I know you will have a wonderful, memorable time.

      From what I understand, your CDC vaccine card should work just as well as the passe-sanitaire until you can get that done in Marseille. The pass is really more of a convenience? One recommendation is to make a color copy of your pass, front and back, and have it laminated, keeping your original pass with your passport. Not sure if this will still work versus getting the passe-sanitaire, but worth a try and should help you catch your flight versus having to rent a car.

      We are a bit worried right now about the emerging Omicron variant and how it may affect our plans. We’re staying positive but looking again at our Plan B (post about that next week).

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