Six Degrees of Temecula

I recently took a trip to London and Scotland with my two children; this wasn’t my first international trip or my first experience meeting someone I know from home in another part of the world, but still unique in some way.

I woke up this morning to endless news coverage of the Royal Wedding, but instead of feeling overwhelmed with the barrage of footage, I felt a small connection to the event.

We were able to go to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard during our visit and, at my urging, we managed to get up early enough that morning to secure a spot right next to one of the gates and our view of the guards was fantastic.

While watching the news today, I saw the very spot where my daughters and I stood just a few short weeks ago. This event reminded me how connected we all really are. Standing in front of the palace in March somehow made me feel, almost, like a distant participant as I watched the news today.

While waiting at LAX to board our flight, we met a family from Temecula who were also waiting for the same flight, turns out we were on the same return trip as well. After introducing ourselves, the teenagers realized they had their own connection with one another, common friends despite attending rival high schools.

We parents chatted and as we soon learned, both families had the same itinerary so we exchanged email addresses and planned to meet for dinner at some point during our journey. The seven of us met at a restaurant in Edinburgh a few nights later, had a great time, a lot of laughs and plan to get together again soon, this time without the Scottish delicacy, haggis.

We arrived in Edinburgh on an early Friday morning and decided to wander around Princes Street which I’d describe as the main drag in the new town area of Edinburgh. The street is lined with shops, restaurants, cafés and hundreds of tourists and residents.

As we were walking along, one of my daughters said, “Hey mom, look! That girl has on a Cal sweatshirt!” I looked and it did seem a little strange to see a UC Berkeley shirt in Scotland and while these thoughts were running through my mind my daughter said excitedly, “Mom! Those are Mike’s daughters! I can’t believe it!” 

I was as dumbfounded as she was to see two people we know from Temecula walking along a busy street in Edinburgh, Scotland. After I got over the shock of seeing them, babbling, "I can’t believe you guys are here! I can’t believe we saw you here! This is crazy! Where is your dad?" I hope the girls didn’t think I was too nuts, but I really was having a hard time believing my own eyes.

For a few moments, it was as if we were all sitting at a local restaurant, catching up with one another instead of standing on a windy sidewalk watching buses and cars driving by on the wrong side of the road.  I took a photo of the four girls with the Edinburgh castle high up on a hill in the background, and we wished them a wonderful trip and went on our way.

These two serendipitous events helped illustrate the concept of six degrees of separation, which may better be called six degrees of connectedness. No matter where you go in the world, you’ll experience something very familiar or home-like.

I went many miles to get away from Temecula to see another part of this big world we all share; it was very soothing to see a piece of home so far away from home. I suppose it also clearly show us home is where you and your loved ones are; whether it’s Via Princesa in French Valley or Princes Street in Edinburgh.