Where Nextfor Helen Bingo
By Laura Wahler
Helen Bingo took me by the arm and led me into a small bathroom where she pointed to a beige wall partially hidden by a dozen framed souvenirs—“I’m having to buy smaller things because I’m running out of wall space,” she said, laughing.
As we continued the tour of her Penfield home, she shared more of her impressive collection, gathered from the 108 countries she’s visited around the world. Intricate wooden statues, figurines made of camel bone, a kneeling woman carved out of granite: Helen tells the story of each item, pausing only occasionally to peek at the handwritten description she attaches to every piece.
Her eyes dance with excitement as she talks with ease and familiarity about people, cultures and international adventures that have consumed her life since her retirement from teaching 21 years ago.
Now in her mid-80s, Helen was recently inducted into the Travelers’ Century Club, an international organization that celebrates intrepid travelers who have visited 100 or more countries. The fancy lapel pin that comes with membership, however, clashes a bit with her safari gear and hiking boots. Helen would rather accessorize her journeys with a Tilley hat; after all, she insists, baseball caps just don’t flatter her. She’s picky about what she wears and how she’s photographed, but that’s one of her many characteristics that you can’t help but find endearing.
Listening to her speak, it’s surprising to learn that she taught biology and not geography. Helen knows her countries, and she knows them well: their people, their histories, their cultures. Our conversation flowed effortlessly from Tibet to Israel to the native lemurs of Madagascar. “They’re so cute,” she said, showing me a picture. “How could you not love those little things?”
Helen certainly finds excitement in the “little things,” a trait that makes exploring the world that much more thrilling to her. As a mother, a teacher and an adventurer, Helen has a lot to talk about, and she has a way of sharing a story that can capture your attention for an entire afternoon.
Appetite for adventure
For many, touring the world is a lifelong passion, but Helen said she really didn’t start traveling until after her husband passed away in 1978. Her first big trip was to Norway for a cross-country skiing adventure in 1980.
Today, the whole world has opened for curious travelers with newly accessible destinations and new travel options, especially for women. Helen’s daughter, Lesley Johnson, joins her mother on journeys at least once a year, but there will be no beachfront condos for these two; they want adventure, culture and excitement. The biology lover in Helen particularly enjoys the animals she encounters—at an elephant sanctuary in Thailand, on a camel ride in Mongolia, or on a safari in Africa.
Helen said she prefers not to travel alone, and typically opts for 10- to 14-day organized group trips. In planning their vacations, Helen and Lesley try to pick destinations that are “off the beaten path,” said Maureen Talavera, Helen’s AAA travel consultant. With AAA, Helen has recently visited Greece, South Africa and Indonesia, among other places, and she has two more vacations scheduled for later this year.
“Our destinations are more culturally unusual,” Lesley said. “We try to go on tours with smaller groups, where you can experience more of the culture and how local people actually live,” she continued.
A AAA member since 1969, Helen likes the guidance and planning offered by AAA and closely follows suggestions for what to pack, wear, visit and eat. She loves to immerse herself in the culture of the countries she visits—dining with a host family and observing their rituals is one of her favorite things to do, and she’s even been known to join in the action at a tribal dance or two.
A world traveler in her own right, Lesley will accompany Helen on an upcoming trip to Oman, Yemen, Kuwait and Dubai this fall. While Lesley insists that Helen is “slowing down,” she isn’t at all surprised by her mother’s enthusiastic passion for world travel, as well as her numerous community commitments back home. “I hope that when I’m her age, I can do the same,” Lesley said.
The devil is in the details
Once Helen chooses a destination, she actively researches the country, its history and its people. She likes knowing about the customs and cultural differences before she arrives, she said, because it makes her more comfortable on foreign soil, and it makes her a better guest of the places she visits.
Likewise, Helen also prepares for her journeys by staying in shape. The remote places she visits are physically demanding, and Helen attributes eating right and exercising to how she stays healthy during her trips. “You don’t just jump into travel unless you have some sort of physical regime,” she insisted.
In the nearly 30 years that she has been circling the globe, Helen has enjoyed many things, but it’s the “nitty-gritty” particulars about travel planning that she doesn’t like. She lets AAA sweat the small stuff, such as her visa, itinerary and reservations. “I trust the professionals at AAA to handle the details,” she said. “AAA would not take on something they didn’t do well.”
“I love working with Helen because she’s pretty cut-and-dry,” Maureen Talavera commented. “She keeps telling me that she’s running out of places to go.” But while it may seem like 108 countries is a lot to have stamped on her passport, the Travelers’ Century Club currently puts the number of countries in the world at 317. Helen has more than 200 countries left to visit before she officially runs out of places to explore. Helen said she probably won’t get to all of them, and her daughter will likely surpass her travels.
I asked Helen to pick her favorite country. After a moment of reflection, her diplomatic answer stopped short of actually naming a favorite: “I loved South Africa,” she noted, and then added, “I loved Australia, New Zealand; I liked China, Thailand, Cambodia …”
And the list keeps going—just like Helen Bingo.
