Hello readers! I have decided to start a blog about travel. But why travel?
I’ve always had a bit of wanderlust. It must be genetic, as I inherited a trait from both sides of my family. Some of my first memories were in my grandfather’s den, spread out on the floor with his Rand McNally road atlas and his 1950 set of World Book Encyclopedias. My parents and grandparents never knew what I was getting out of the experience until, one day, I had the chance to compete in the National Geography Bee. Four times, I competed in the Geography Bee and had the opportunity to compete at the state level in fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. In 1993, I won the North Carolina contest and an all-expenses paid trip to compete in the national competition in Washington, D.C. Amtrak sponsored the early Geography Bees, and we could choose to go by train or plane. Having never been on a train outside the confines of a theme park, I suggested that we travel on the train, so we caught the northbound Crescent in the middle of the night in Greensboro, taking us to Union Station in downtown Washington, D.C. The competition went fine, but I missed one question that today still haunts me about the Delmarva Peninsula, and I did not get the chance to advance to the final round. It was not the competition that I reflect on today; it was the experiences I had on that trip that shaped me into the traveler I was destined to become. We had an outstanding behind-the-scenes tour of the U.S. Capitol building that my teacher, Mr. Graham Flynt, had arranged with our Congressman Steve Neil, where one of his staff members gave us experiences such as traveling the underground subway between the Congressional office buildings and the Capitol to provide me with the honor to sit in the Speaker’s chair of the House Chamber. That same day, I had the opportunity to meet with one of our Senators, Lauch Faircloth, and to meet someone on the Capitol grounds that my mom recognized from CNN, an up-and-coming representative from Georgia, Newt Gingrich, who later became the Speaker of the House. Travel gives us these opportunities, and I desired to visit places I had only read about in books or watched videos on television.
As a teenager, I talked my parents into letting me plan a trip as I wanted to go somewhere besides the usual summer trip to the beach. It was the first trip I planned, a driving tour to Cincinnati, Louisville, and Nashville that only whetted my appetite for future travels. Later, when I was 20, my father and I planned a two-week trip across the country where we flew into Chicago and went by train first to California, then up the coast to Seattle, where we caught a bus to Vancouver, back down to Seattle where we boarded another train to Essex, Montana, which was outside Glacier National Park, and finally back to Chicago. Travel became an ambition.
When my wife and I were married in 2003, we went on our honeymoon to London. Other than a trip to Niagara Falls and Toronto when I was seven and the abovementioned trip to Vancouver, this was my first trip outside the United States. Although Adrienne jokes that “I never take her anywhere,” the journey to England was our first of many over the next few decades, leading to our growing number of adventures worldwide. Her running joke has also bestowed itself as a clever name for this blog.
There are three main reasons that I decided to start a blog about my travels; to provide a chance to reflect on my own travel experiences, to share my reflections with others who may have an interest in travel, and to provide a historical record to share my wanderlust with my children, nieces and extended friends and families. I also hope these reflections on our journeys inspire and entertain the casual reader. Travel is one of life’s great teachers, and I am fortunate enough to experience and share those lessons.
I look forward to sharing my travel stories and reflections and hope all who read the blog are inspired and blessed to pursue their wanderlust.