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 Leah & Friends in Iwakuni, Japan   I've often wondered what inspired me, a girl of simple origins from an average mid-western town, to travel the world.   Maybe it was the subscription to National Geographic my grandfather gave me for my fifth birthday.  Each month, the magazine would arrive in my mailbox with a little label bearing my name and address.  Truth be known, the label on the outside of the magazine was almost as exciting as the glossy photos on the inside.  Photos of far-away places like Mykonos and Madrid and Mozambique. I remember one issue about the Seychelles.  An article inside explained that archaeologists believed the Garden of Eden was located off the coast of one of the islands.  The article included photos of what looked like a submerged tree with great vines swaying as if on a breeze.  How it captured my young imagination!  Oh to dive below the sea an...