In 1967, I was living in Sydney, Australia. My husband at the time and I had decided to go to Sydney after we graduated from college in 1965. We wanted to have an adventure, but were also interested in the possibility of living there permanently.
After two years, it became apparent that, although we loved Australia and the people, it would be difficult to “get ahead.” Salaries were lower than in the United States, manufactured goods, which were mostly imported, were expensive, and we paid more than half of our income for housing.
In addition, we were lonesome for America and our families. Our oldest daughter was born in Sydney in October of 1966, and she was missing out on knowing her extended families.
We decided to borrow money from our parents so we could come home.
In early June of 1967, we had tickets on a ship to sail through the Suez Canal then go to Europe. We were looking forward the vacation time on the ship and about a month of touring in Europe.
Then, we got the news. War in the Middle East had broken out. The Suez Canal was closed. Called the Six-Day War, it took place June 5 – 10, 1967. Israel’s decisive victory over Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt included the capture of the Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip, West Bank, Old City of Jerusalem, and Golan Heights. The status of these territories then became a major point of contention in the Arab-Israeli conflict.
The ship we were to sail on was rerouted to go through the Panama Canal to Europe. We decided we didn’t want to sail past the U.S. and go to Europe. We asked for a refund.
I’d been teaching classes at East Sydney Technical College. My students had sent a bouquet of flowers to the ship. I didn’t get to see it.
Instead of the trip we were expecting, we flew to Hong Kong, Tokyo, San Francisco, and then Seattle.
It was good to get home and see our families and friends.
Europe? I didn’t get a chance to visit until May of 1993. I went with my youngest daughter, and we had a marvelous time visiting London, Yorkshire, Paris, Florence, Rome, Prague, and Munich.
Now, she lives in Madrid, and I’ve visited Spain 15 times.
