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I often hear famous travelers (and travel writers) describing the childhood trips that got them hooked on the open road, and those descriptions never fail to get me thinking about my own early travel inspiration. The funny thing is, for me it was the idea of travel rather than any one trip itself – I didn’t have much in the way of childhood travel experiences to get me started, but I can remember poring over my atlas and thinking about all the places I wanted to go, someday. A lot of my favorite books and movies as a kid also involved travel – The Chipmunk Adventure, anyone? – and they helped stoke the fires.
On the theme of books as travel inspiration, over at Vagabondish.com there’s an ongoing series on the “Five Must-Read Books That Fed My Travel Addiction” – check out the entries from Amanda Kendle, Olivia Giovetti, and my own contribution.
What was your earliest travel inspiration? A family road trip? A book or a movie? Or even a grade school geography class? Let me know in the comments!
March 14th, 2008 at 9:37 am
As a parent who loves to travel and has two young kids, this is something I think about all the time… how to inspre them rather than just dragging them around on my trips and through my agenda.
My earliest travel related memories are of my parents bringing back exotic gifts and pictures from Thailand, Hong Kong and Mexico. As they told me stories, I imagined those places in my mind, and they always seemed magical and fascinating.
I also remember being fascinated by Madeline, Tin Tin, and Riki Tiki Tembo both because of the beautiful illustrations and the different way of life they showed.
For my son (age 3), I’ve tried to give him storybooks from different cultures and he has a world map on his wall. Both kids (my daughter is 1) love looking at pictures and video snippets from our trips, and my son will often tell me his memories (churros and chocolate in Madrid, a gondola ride in Barcelona, etc)
Debbie
http://www.deliciousbaby.com
March 15th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Growing up I listened to many a fascinating travel story from my Grandfather.
My Grandfather grew up a poor kid during the depression like most of America at that time. And like most young men, he later joined the military–the Marines. Not having the means to travel on his own was not a problem once the US joined the fight in WWII.
Grandpa was shipped off to the Pacific Islands and found himself in Guadalcanal fighting in the first major land offensive of WWII.
But, his stories to me as a child were seldom about the horrors of war. Like most travelers, his fascination was with the people and landscapes. The islands were still “very native” 65 years ago and listening to his tales really cranked up my imagination.
I too never thought I would have the means to travel much beyond where I grew up, let alone to another country. Yet, once I took a month off after college to explore Europe I got a taste of the possibilities.
Since then I’ve taken a few more trips. One of the most special was a return to some of the islands in the Pacific with my Grandfather to explore these places with him after 60 years.
Currently my wife and I are living our dream and traveling the world together indefinitely. I send a postcard from every country we visit home to my Grandfather who is now 87 years old. A small thank you to the man who is my biggest travel inspiration.
March 16th, 2008 at 8:24 am
I like to travel, to write about it and to exchange links. As a child, my granpa talled me a lot of his travels, and moreover about the travels he did not do! These ones are most exciting, but granpa is no more alive.
April 21st, 2008 at 11:03 pm
My earliest travel inspiration came from my father who spent a year backpacking through Australia and New Zealand when he was young. That was almost 30 years ago and he still has friends there he keeps in touch with.
I remember that he was also the one who taught me that experience is far more valuable than any object. I was about 14 and one day while we were talking he asked me, “What did you get for Christmas two years ago?” After some moments struggle I came up with one or two gifts. “And the year before that?” I couldn’t remember a single thing. Then he asked me, “What was your favorite part of our trip to Europe 5 years ago?” My head began spinning with memories and places and people and food. I talked non-stop for about five minutes. Still to this day, most of my memories of childhood are of trips I took with my family. I’ve been hooked ever since.
Debbie, GOOD FOR YOU!! Travel and a sense of adventure is one of the greatest gifts a parent can give her child. When your children are grown up they will thank you endlessly for that.