I am thankful for friends, family, relatives, co-workers, classmates, teachers, and all kinds of people.

It seems like most things I'm thankful for boil down to being thankful for a person. For example, if I say I'm thankful for libraries, what I'm really saying is that I'm thankful for the people who created them, the people who work there, the authors who wrote the great books, and so on.

Years ago in England I met an older, wiser man who liked to dress in a kilt even though he probably had less than 1% Scottish ancestry. We were talking about all of the different perspectives and values people have. Some seem right and some seem wrong. It's hard to make sense of it all. He summed it up by saying, "We are all searchers." I love that idea. But lately I've been thinking instead that we are all travelers. Sometimes we're searching. Sometimes we're wandering, working, hurting, or just sleeping. But we are all certainly traveling. And the best thing about traveling is the people you encounter. One tiny example: My dad and I once made friends with a man in Mexico named Roberto. He took people scuba diving by day. At night he played saxophone in a jazz band. And he spoke Russian because he was convinced Russia was going to invade Mexico. My dad really liked this guy and kept coming back year after year. It's amazing and fun the kinds of people we meet throughout life. More amazing than coral reefs or the grand canyon.

Our social connections are maybe the best things we have in this life. And one of the few things we can take with us.

I'm attaching a video clip I took while traveling on a bus in 1996. I was in college, touring with the BYU Folk Dancers. As we crossed the border into Sweden someone put in an ABBA tape and suddenly everyone got up and started dancing. This is the joy that can exist in families and friendships as we travel together. (I had to remove the sound so it doesn’t get blocked by music copyright policies.) The second part of the clip is at a sculpture garden in Oslo. The sculptures are Gustav Vigeland's life work depicting all kinds of human connection.

Thanks to everyone who posts throughout the year about their life's travels (and travails).