What’s your earliest travel inspiration?

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!