Travel bug

At this point, I am not blogging ahead, and I don't know what the next few posts will be.

Today I am taking a moment to post about one of the things I mentioned yesterday, with starting to travel.

I was a child in a family of seven, and we were not rich. Vacations when I was young meant piling in the car and driving North to Canada or South to California; if I-5 could go there, so could we. (East and West was for day trips.)

I liked that, but I always dreamed of other places too. One of my fantasies when I still thought I would be getting scholarships for college was that I would work for the summer then skip fall term to explore Europe via a railway pass and youth hostels. 

I did skip fall term, but that was just more working at Burlington Coat Factory, trying to save enough money for college.

Given that, convincing my mother and sisters that we needed to go to Disneyland for spring break when I was almost done with college is kind of amazing, but there was also a logic to it. 

Three of those childhood trips in the car did make it to Anaheim. There were some poor financial choices in there, where the ways in which my father funded those trips were not completely sound, but Disneyland was also a magical place. 

After my father left, we needed some magic, and I don't know that we could have managed something completely unfamiliar. There are no regrets about going. 

That started a tradition of my sisters and I going to Disneyland together, with Mom (who was not as into it) taking care of the pets. That was great, but there were all of these other places I wanted to go too. Getting there ended up requiring friends, at least at first.

Maybe it took a little while to feel like I had a grown-up income, and could do grown-up things. It took about four years after graduating college until I was determined to go somewhere! I was debating between Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Washington DC, or New York City. 

I told that to a friend from church. She told me, "I just sat through this sales pitch and have free airfare and hotel for Las Vegas." 

Well that was fortuitous.

So we went and we did almost everything that two non-partying people could do. Well, I did some things she didn't do, like the Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay and the New York, New York roller coaster. We did not see the Fremont Street thing, but we did do the Star Trek thing, which does not even exist anymore. Also, we never ate $5 prime rib, even though we could see a sign for it out of our hotel window.

It was a good experience, and cheaper than I had any right to expect. (We did upgrade to some extra nights at the hotel, and there were meals and entertainment, but it was still very reasonable.)

In retrospect, I am glad that Tammy didn't want to do everything I wanted to do. Going out into a strange (but easily navigable) city was probably good for me.

A year later there was a terribly busy work season. I remember seeing an ad for Mexico, and fantasizing about getting away. I still didn't go anywhere new until another friend, Tara, called me and asked me to go with her to visit a mutual friend who had relocated to Washington DC. 

That was one of my other cities!

And I overdid the walking, and got sick on my last day, which was not ideal, but I still had a great time. I asked her to cruise to Mexico with me, and I got to go through that underground river in Xcaret. 

After that it became easier to be okay with travel, and going somewhere new and not worrying.

Before we went to Vegas, Tammy had this guidebook, and I pored over it, trying to plan the exact best itinerary, something that is actually a bit illusory, at least for the "exact best" part. 

I have nonetheless planned some pretty good trips for Hawaii, Mexico, Chicago, Philadelphia, Chicago, Toronto, Australia and New Zealand, and even Dublin -- a city I have never visited -- for other people.

I have done most of those with my sisters, but I can travel with other people, and I did Toronto completely alone. I have navigated an elderly woman with a failing memory and bad knees through some terrible airports.

Those are some good memories, but there is also a confidence in knowing some of the things I can handle, and help other people feel good about.

My first time on an airplane was when I was heading to the Missionary Training Center at 21 years old. My determination to do something before Tammy came along for Vegas may mean that I would have gotten somewhere anyway. Having half of my extended family in Europe probably would have gotten me there eventually.

It is also easy to get stuck in what you know.

We knew Disneyland, once, so that was a good starting place. There was a free ticket. There was a friend in DC. Now I don't mind if something is completely unfamiliar. (I will still do a lot of research.)

I don't doubt my ability to go anywhere.

Sometimes there still needs to be that little boost.

So thank you Dad, Mom, Julie, Maria, Tammy, Tara, and Heather. 

I don't know what happens next, but I will take it.