From a South African gold mine several thousand feet below the surface to honeymooning in Tahiti, Joan Stacy has seen it all.
Joan and her late husband got married in 1964, and instead of going down the traditional path of settling and having a family, the former stewardess and the Lufthansa Airlines executive settled in Miami and made numerous trips in the U.S. and overseas every single year of their 57-year marriage, before his death a few years ago.
They had their version of Jules Verne’s “Around the World in 80 Days” adventure in 1962, traveling more than 50 countries – visiting dozens more than once – and with 49 states in America. The one state they missed was North Dakota. “There just wasn’t anything there we wanted to see,” said Stacy.
Stacy moved to Dallas, Texas in 1960, becoming a stewardess for Frontier Airlines. “At that time, retiring age was 32, so I stayed with them until 1969.”
She herself took advantage of an offer from TWA for airline employees.
“It cost $650, which covered hotels, transportation, special events and some meals; and it took six weeks,” the Village Rio Grande resident said. She roomed with another single female who spoke five languages, which came in handy as the trip took them to a number of cities and countries, including London, Paris, Rome, Cairo, India, Thailand, Singapore and Japan.
“I went to Japan twice, four times to Hong Kong, and three times to Thailand, and at least that many to Singapore,” Stacy added.
Describing her favorite trip to The Villages Daily Sun, “Bora Bora captured my heart. It’s the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen,” she said.
Stacy’s travel tales are whimsical and even horrifying at times.
“A friend and I went to Burma in the early ’60s, which ended up being right after the military coup. They weren’t going to let us leave the airport; but our flight wasn’t for two days; and there was no place to sleep or eat; so they finally let us go into the city – without our luggage,” she said.
A visit to South Africa was also among her frightful experiences. In 1984, Stacy and her husband rented a motor home for a month and were told they could drive it, stay in it, but couldn’t get out of it while they traveled, as the country was still struggling with apartheid.
The couple toured nearly all of the countries in South America, the Caribbean islands, the South Pacific islands, Western Europe, and all of the countries in the East except mainland China and a few in Africa.
– Attributed Source, The Villages Daily Sun