They left China on November 21, 1936 and sailed to Indonesia. On December 2, Helen described her experience eating mangosteens for the first time, "They are fruits with hard thick shells and small white sections in side [SIC]. The tasted is indescribable but delicious." While sailing through Indonesia Helen wrote about the presence of sharks following their ocean liner, "I saw a dark object swimming in the water. I knew at once that it must be a shark. Then we saw several. They were attracted by the garbage the ship had thrown out... One was at least 8 feet long. There was also a 3' baby. One came to the surface and opened his mouth where we could see his rows of teeth."
In late January the traveling trio arrived in India, a British colony at the time. The visited Calcutta and later, on January 29, they were in Darjeeling and took a day trip to see Mt. Everest. Helen expressed that she was not sure which of the mountains was the famous one, "Several people pointed out Mt. Everest. we saw various peaks, but weren't quite sure which was the world famous one." They left India in early February and made their way by boat to Egypt. While passing Aden, modern day Yemen, on February 15, Helen watched an Italian movie, "After dinner there was an Italian movie. we sat thru two reels of it and then went to bed as I really hadn't much idea what it was about."
Helen and her friends spent a week in Egypt and the middle east. They visited the Great Pyramid of Giza and the Sphinx by camel on February 21, 1937, "Our cars could take us but we preferred to ride a camel... We passed the largest pyramid which with the two others we had been seeing for some time. The size was really astounding. We continued on to the Sphinx." While visiting these historic structures Helen also complained about her clothing, "My skirt was much too tight but every one [SIC] else was having the same trouble." Her experiences are tied together by such comments. She recalls the feelings of discomfort as often as she comments on new experiences. The diaries chronicle the frustrating elements of travel. They left Egypt and visited the Dead Sea where Helen remarked, "The water felt very sticky and was so salty it made one's lips pucker."
After the Middle East they sailed to Italy. They remained in Italy from March 9 to April 17, 1937. While in Florence, on March 27, Helen commented on a meal she had, "We had wine, potatoes, peas, and ice cream with chocolate sauce. I liked it all but the peas which were choked in garlic." In between her commentary of local food she also remarked on the state of the world. During a visit to the Doge's Palace in Venice she remarked that, "Here [Doge's Palace] Mussolini and Hitler met and departed enemies. Now they are said to be good friends again." Hitler and Mussolini's alliance, which later included Japan, was the basis of the Axis Powers of World War two. After visiting Italy Helen and the Olsen's went separate ways for the remainder of the trip. Helen continued to Yugoslavia, Hungary, Switzerland, and Germany, while the Olsen's headed north to Scandinavia. Their journey is captured in the collection's video footage. The rest of Helen's journey is recounted in her diaries.
Upon arriving in Berlin on May 27, Helen observed a demonstration of German troops, "German troops and a a band were marching up and down the center terrace of Unter den Linden.... Outside [the palace] there was a little garden in which the Kaiser and his chancellor made the decision about the last war. [World War I]" Her statement of the "last war" feels especially ominous as the second World War had not yet begun. However, she seems aware of the tension over Europe during her time in Berlin. In that same vein, on May 28, she commented on the 1936 Berlin Olympics and what became of the stadiums and athlete housing, "After breakfast this morning I started out alone for the Reichssportfeld.... Of course the place was rather deserted now. They estimate that about 2,000,000 people came to Berlin for the Olympics last year.... All the male participants were housed about 20 miles away and brought by military trucks. The houses are now used for soldiers."
On May 31, Helen left Germany and traveled through Belgium. She arrived in Paris, France on June 2, 1937. On June 8th she visited Notre Dame which she felt "was splendid from the outside. The inside I found less impressive." She also observed the cemeteries at Belleau Wood and commented on the scars left from World War I, "The woods still have considerable debris in them. There are twisted pieces of metal belonging to airplanes, pieces of shell, and scrap iron. Trees with shell holes are still to be seen. A number of German machine guns are still standing." Helen left France on June 18 and sailed across the Atlantic to return home. She arrived in New York City on June 25, 1937. The last line of her diary reads "...my trip is over. May I get another chance to go again before too long!" She got that chance. She went on nearly forty more trips between 1937 and 1981. She visited countries that no longer appear on the maps and saw enough sights to last a lifetime. But those stories are as of yet unread.
