Around the World in 80 Years
Vassar alumnae/i have always been great travelers, but few have been as determined and deliberate as Betty Goff Cook Cartwright ’40. In the 1970s, after many years of traveling, Cartwright joined the Traveler’s Century Club (TCC). In order to join this nonprofit group, the traveler must have visited at least 100 destinations designated by the club — everything from easy-to-reach and familiar countries such as France and Mexico to more remote and little-known destinations including Wake Island in the Pacific Ocean and Lesotho in Africa. “The club serves many purposes,” Cartwright said. “It’s a goal-setter, a geography teacher, an instructor on travel planning, and a networking tool for meeting and exchanging information with other like-minded travelers. An essential element is curiosity about other languages, other cultures, and other people.”
Cartwright’s travels started with the Caribbean and Europe at age 9, but it wasn’t until 1999 that she reached the 300 mark. Her count is holding steady at 307; but she admits her recent ventures to Rodrigues Island and the Chagos Archipelago (better known as the British Indian Ocean Territory) may have been her “final wild travel fling.” Some areas still missing from her list are Ogasawara, Andaman and Laccadive Islands, and East Timor. (Need an atlas yet?)
When not globetrotting, Cartwright divides her time between homes in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and Memphis, Tennessee, where she was born and raised. For more information on the Traveler’s Century Club, visit www.travelerscenturyclub.org.