Travel Tales by Dusty Dyson

CHISWICK, WEST LONDON – My family and I were on a train late last night on our way home after a day out, when a man turned to us and said, “This is an odd thing to say, but…”

More below…

Last Weeks in England

Greetings from London!

This is Dusty here. My dad asked me to write today’s postcard.

Just in case you don’t know who I am, I am the oldest child in my family. I am 13 years old, and I love cricket.

We came to England because my grandma died. But we decided to stay for six months because we really like it here. And because my grandma had a lot of friends, and we really like seeing them.

But soon we are going to leave.

On Monday, we went on the train and visited a friend of my grandma’s. We gave them the things that my grandma left to them in her will.

They live in a beautiful place in the countryside. We took their dog for a walk. He is an English Bull Terrier. His name is Toby. Here we are on top of a hay bale…

Discovering the Kindness in the World

I’ve been traveling for the last three years. I have been all over the world and have met a ton of people.

One thing I realized is that there are a lot of kind people in the world.

I learned this because people were kind to us often. And they didn’t want anything in return. They were just kind to us because they wanted to be.

Here are my favorite three examples…

The first one was in China. It was our first day there. We had just crossed the border from Vietnam, and we were in Nanning.

We wanted to get a subway to our Airbnb. But we needed a special app to pay for the subway tickets.

We didn’t have the app. Luckily a man saw that we were having problems and bought our subway tickets on his phone with his own money.

The second time was also in China.

We were in a restaurant in Chengdu. While we were eating, a stranger paid for our food without us knowing and then left the restaurant.

We only found out when we tried to pay. And the owner told us that somebody else had paid the bill already.

The third time was also in China. We were staying in an Airbnb in a town called Dunhuang, in northwest China.

A friend of our Airbnb host asked if she could come over and make dumplings for us for no reason. She came over and she made as many dumplings as we could eat. And she even showed us how to make them.

They were delicious. Here she is showing my brother and me how to make them…

An Odd Thing to Say

As for the man on the train I told you about at the beginning of this postcard…

I had been making conversation with him on the train home after visiting granny’s friends yesterday.

He got up from his seat to get off the train because we were at his stop.

Before leaving the train, he turned around and said, “This is an odd thing to say, but I work in Parliament… And if you would like a tour of Parliament, I’d be happy to take you on one.”

My dad said, “We’d love to,” and then the man told us how to contact him.

Hopefully we have time to take the tour before we leave. And I’ll get to tell you all about it.

– Dusty Dyson

Like what you’re reading? Send your thoughts to [email protected].

In a recent mailbag edition, one reader asked for reputable gold buyers in Idaho. Today, a fellow reader offers a suggestion…

Reader comment: I have been buying from Money Metal Exchange in Eagle, Idaho. I live in Ohio and have had no problems with shipments. They also will store your metals for a fee in their vault. I have paid for some with cryptocurrencies, also.

Another reader shares concerns about the Dyson family’s maskless travels during the COVID-19 pandemic…

Reader comment: Whenever I see your photos of England, I’m always surprised that no one is wearing a mask, as the U.K. still has over 30,000 new cases of COVID-19 every day. (It had a 7-day average of 33,498 new cases per day on Sept. 26.) In the photo in Monday’s Postcard, you and your family are sitting on a British train without masks! I would feel very nervous about taking a train in England without wearing a mask.

Here in Japan, where I live, no one would take a train or bus, or enter a shop or office, or walk along a busy street, without wearing a mask. I don’t want to sound smug, but Japan has a 7-day average of 2,533 new cases per day, which is roughly one-thirteenth of the number in the U.K. And Japan’s population is roughly double that of the U.K., so the number of new cases per million people per day in Japan is about one 26th of that.

Finally, others share recommendations for activities to do on a return trip to England… and reflect on the eulogy Tom wrote for his mother back in January…

Reader comment: I still enjoy getting your Postcards and following your family and all your activities. Since you are so close to Shakespeare’s home, I would have thought you would have tried to journey there for a history-making event. I have been there twice in my life, once as a college student and took public transportation in 1960, and later as a senior adult when my husband was working for a company in Birmingham. That time we had the use of a rental car. But it was a very worthwhile trip.

We also managed to get to Wales and go down into a coal mine, as well as visited several major castles. Maybe that is something you might like to do. But, of course, you can save all of that for your return trip to England. Blessings to you all.

Reader comment: I lost my Mum at around the same time as you and I came across your posts while looking for help with writing a eulogy. What you wrote for your Mum really struck a chord and helped me a great deal. Thanks so much for sharing that.

I stuck around because I am also a precious metal investor, along with some crypto, and I happen to live within a few miles of your Mum’s place in Chiswick. I love the way you write.

Tom’s note: Thanks for the kind words and feedback! Please keep your comments and questions coming at [email protected], and I’ll do my best to address them in one of our Friday mailbag editions.