When Jacqueline Lundquist's father died mere months after returning from his tour of duty in Vietnam, he left behind a gap in her memory that was only filled much later by his many letters, sent as he served in the trenches in Southeast Asia.
"It's an interesting story," recounts Jeannie Barresi, co-proprietor and managing director of Beyond Boundaries Travel. "Jacqueline was only five years old when her father died. She spent the next thirty years not knowing anything about her father until she finally opened up the box her mother had given her, which contained over 300 letters and dozens of audio tapes he had written and recorded while stationed in Vietnam. It was through his voice that her father came back into her life."
To reconnect with her father through his letters, Jacqueline journeyed to Vietnam - finding a connection to her long-lost father through the places he wrote about, the country from which he sent his loving letters to his family waiting back home.
Ms. Lundquist eventually wrote a book based on her father's letters and her voyage of discovery. Letters from Vietnam (compare prices) is based mainly on the 300 letters and tapes he made while serving in the Vietnam War between 1967-68. President Bill Clinton himself gave the book his thumbs-up: "Jacqueline's careful and loving collection of her father's letters and then her own journey to Vietnam to see for herself where they were written is a wonderful tribute to a man she longed to know and came to know through his own words."
Now, travelers can travel through Vietnam with Ms. Lundquist leading the way. Through a tour of Vietnam co-organized by Beyond Boundaries Travel, they can walk through former battlefields and tranquil hill villages to explore our shared history.
The 12 day/11-night tour takes place from November 3-14, 2012, traveling to Ho Chi Minh City, Hoi An, Hue, Hanoi and Sapa. It includes 11 nights in luxury hotels, all internal transportation, most meals and more. The tour is limited to 24 persons only. Price per person is $7190 based on double occupancy.
Guests will engage with local entrepreneurs, non-profits and war veterans during this special journey. A pre-trip to Cambodia including Angkor Wat and Phnom Penh and a post-trip to Halong Bay are also available.
"As a tour operator, it was quite an interesting challenge to create a program that addressed this part of our shared history [the Vietnam War] but also to offer visitors an insight into the vibrant changes," explains Jeannie. "Entrepreneurs returning to their new country, engaging travelers in scenic and historic beauty - in short, acknowledging this painful past but not dwelling on it."
Jeannie sees the tour as an ideal program for travelers interested in seeing the real Vietnam: an up-close-and-personal look at a country whose history is so intertwined in theirs. The tour is not designed along traditional Vietnam tours - as Jeannie explains, "we expand upon the must-see sights to include visits with vets, with entrepreneurs coming back and investing in their former villages, visiting an organization training street youth for the hospitality industry, taking moto-bike rides into rural areas, dining and staying in restored French and Vietnamese colonial treasures."
In the middle of the tour is Ms. Lundquist herself - "a most vivacious host!" marvels Jeannie. "She is warm and welcoming to all who travel with her. And she knows everybody - great stories!"
For more information on the tour or to reserve your adventure, visit the website at http://beyondboundariestravel.com/lfv/index.html, or contact Jeannie Barresi at 719 471 0222.
To get a preview of the sites Col. Lundquist may have seen during his tour of duty, read about Vietnam War Sites of Interest, or explore Vietnam on your own through our Vietnam Eight Day Itinerary.