Friends find adventure in world travel

OBERLIN — Friendship and adventure doesn't have a time limit. Reaching retirement and aging may have brought those concerns to mind for Yolanda Cruz and Ruth Devereaux, but common bonds eased those worries right away. The world, it turns out, was just waiting for them to pack their bags. Cruz, 74, of Oberlin, is a retired Oberlin College biology professor. Devereaux, 72, of Wellington, is a retired nurse practitioner. They met during COVID in an online book club organized through Kendal at Home, an independent living program to assist active seniors age in place in their own homes. They got to know about each other through the club — that they both like doing the same kinds of things, and talked more at a photo shoot they were asked to do for Kendal. Devereaux asked Cruz if she'd like to go for coffee. She agreed. From there on, it just seemed like a natural step to make plans to go to Sicily. They laugh about it now: Devereaux wanted Morocco, but Cruz won out. Sicily it was. For a friendship that is just a mere few years long, the conversation ebbs and flows like the world's rivers they've crossed since: Neither of them liked the tour guide, but the cooking class with a Michelin-starred chef was great. And then came the dreaded pandemic. They both caught it on the trip, but Cruz got kicked off the tour on the last day because she tested positive. She had to take a public bus to meet them at the next leg of the tour, where she would stay in the same hotel room with Devereaux, who knew she also would test positive soon, and fly home on the same plane with all the same passengers they'd been with for days in cramped quarters. What a crazy time that was, they reminisced. But that is traveling: The journey is the adventure. That was their first trip together, in 2023, but since then they have traveled to Uzbekistan, Qatar, Morocco, Mexico City. "We are a little bit different," Devereaux said. "We travel for food. "Morocco was a food tour. That tour put us in guest houses with families. The mom and dad could be in the kitchen cooking camel burgers and kids playing marbles on the floor. It was amazing." They have different perspectives that complement each other's views. "Yolanda focuses on history. I say where are the birds. In Sicily, I said 'Where are the birds? There are no birds.' I took a couple of pictures of shorebirds and a few pigeons. She hadn't noticed." Before meeting, both women were used to rigorous outdoor activities. Devereaux kayaked and camped. Cruz hiked. And both are veteran solo travelers. Devereaux has traveled with her adult son through Southeast Asia, visiting Thailand, southern India, and Singapore. She's gone to Cambodia with a nonprofit clinical organization for a month at a time. Cruz has traveled alone throughout the world, and just completed a personal goal of visiting all 50 states. She just drove across the country by herself for the first time, visiting family in Southern California. "I tend to do more nature. I did a trip to Yosemite, I did watercolor painting and some hiking as well," Devereaux said. "She fills me in on history backgrounds." "I just got back from Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Croatia. That was spur of the moment. I went to England in June. I hiked the Hadrian Wall path. I went to Peru last year, I went to Machu Picchu. I went to Turkey last year, I went to the oldest human settlement there. I'm going to Florence next month." Cruz, a great fan of Alexander the Great, is amazed when she stands anywhere he once stood. She calls herself a "frustrated archaeologist-historian" who goes on trips to learn. "I guess that's why I travel. You don't get a sense of deep time here," she said. "I agree. I wish more people could travel. It really would open people's eyes to see how other people live, to see how other people see us in this world, to see America," Devereaux said. "If you put the bad actors on one side, there are a lot of helpful, generous people out there." The pair are planning a trip to India next, and a hike along a section of the Appalachian Trial through Pennsylvania and New Jersey in spring. In the meantime, they do regular stuff too. They went ice-tubing in Mansfield. It was a first for Cruz, who "thought I was going to die." "We all held hands, four across, and went down," Devereaux said, a smile across her face. They "winter camp" in Findley State Park in Wellington, in tents in January, with a winter potluck picnic. "Sometimes it is snow and ice and we have the best time," they said. "On Friday we're going to Severance Music Hall for a concert," Cruz said. "You learn to let a lot roll off your back. You learn you don't have control of a lot. Not everybody is like me. And you learn 'awesome' in the true meaning of the word: awe-some," Devereaux said of traveling. "You learn your limits, you learn your boundaries. It's a total education in itself. All the history and archeology I know, beyond books, is from traveling," Cruz said. "If you just stay here, and that is all you know, that's your whole world," Cruz said. "But you can make that world bigger if you travel. You can see other people have the same desires. They want to do good by their children, raise their families, have a better life. They have a whole lot more in common with us than just the crap we talk about." Contact Rini Jeffers at rinijeffers@gmail.com.