Emily Paine Carter

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Somewhere on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean are some fabulous photos that might have accompanied this column.

But a pesky wave off the coast of Spain grabbed Ned Savage's camera -- and his shoes. "Such is life," said his mother, Salemite Ginny Savage. Such is the stuff of traveling, of making memories we'll laugh about later.

Ginny had responded via e-mail to my request for coincidences -- such as, have you ever bumped into a hometown friend in an Amsterdam cafe? (Not Botetourt's Amsterdam -- although a lovely place.)

She then shared news of local students studying in faraway places.

Upbeat, gregarious, Ginny is no stranger to journeys: She is a veteran traveler and president of World Travel Service American Express in Roanoke.

She said she used to travel to Europe quite often and frequently ran into familiar folks "on the streets of Paris, in markets in Florence ..."

Now it is 20-year-old Ned's turn for adventures abroad. (He is also the son of the late, wonderful Lon Savage.)

The 2004 Salem High School graduate is a junior at Hampden-Sydney College and is studying in Granada, Spain, this semester. He has dual majors: history and fine art. He's also an artist; I've seen some of his fine acrylic and oil paintings at the family's historic home, which has been on the Salem Museum Holiday Homes Tour.

I suggested Ned illustrate a journal, with sketches of scenes lost to the ocean during that carnival in Cadiz. "Just like the old days in IB [International Baccalaureate at Salem High] Art," Ginny replied.

He did e-mail his mom that the festive pre-Lenten weekend was "great." And "at least he is appropriately contrite [for the loss of the camera and shoes]," Ginny wrote.

His overseas courses sound impressive: advanced Spanish; Islamic art; Islamic civilization in Spain; and Arabic, "challenging, but the work is actually kind of fun," he e-mailed his mom.

He also is working on the magazine that the Hampden-Sydney students are putting together about the overseas study program, and soon he'll be playing intramural soccer. He will spend a week in Morocco this month, and he is firming up plans for "la semana santa," or Holy Week, over spring break.

"Does all this make Salem seem a bit dull?" Ginny said jokingly. While she thinks Salem is "the best place in the world, I also think it is very important that we see other places and know what else is out there," she wrote.

She is delighted with Ned's "wonderful opportunity -- not just to become conversant in Spanish, but to experience another culture, and to interact with people from around the world."

From my secure front porch, I asked Ginny whether she shared any of my fretful-mom safety concerns. She said she feels better about her son being in Europe than him running the road between Salem and Blacksburg, and Farmville and Charlottesville. Point taken.

Do you have a child studying overseas? Please e-mail emilypainecarter@email.roanoke.com for probable inclusion in an upcoming column.

In other news of good kids on the move: Leslie Korsh said that TV's Jan. 15 "ER" closed with the song "All She Wrote" by her son Ross Copperman. His album will be released March 26. For more information on Ross -- of Glenvar and London -- check out www.sonybmg.com.