In 2017, my husband and I traveled to Portugal for the first time. We stayed in a little city called Quarteira which was not very touristy. We loved walking to the beach and strolling the promenade each morning and evening. It was a wonderful place to use as a base to see as much of the Algarve as possible.
One trip took us to Sagres, where a fortress to Prince Henry the Navigator still stands. We were told that when we approached the edge of the fortress, we were at one of the ends of the world. There was only water to be seen. I imagined being a sailor in the 14th or 15th century boarding a ship and not knowing where one was headed. I was astounded to hear that Prince Henry the Navigator started the whole colonial expeditions and slave trade, so I was not very happy with him, as a black female.
But, standing on a hill, looking out at the sea, and thinking about being at the end of the world with all the places to go touched my traveling soul. I could picture trying to sail away to find the other ends of the earth, just to have it listed on my resume. It was a solemn moment when I thought of the people who were stolen by the Portuguese and made slaves in Brazil.
Standing at the end of the world, so far from home, I marveled that with a couple of airplane journeys, I could travel to another country, when there was a time that it took months by ship. Standing there looking out at the Atlantic, I thought I would love to see the whole world, walking on ground that has been trod for millennia. How cool is that?
Help from Heaven 
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