With our dollar down and thoughts of how jets contribute to global warming, I’ve been considering the value of travel. Is it worth it?
In our sunset years, having traveled makes the life we’ve lived more interesting to gnaw on. For our children, travel stokes their youthful passions and gives them reason to think big. And, in this election season, it’s agreed that our statesmen and women gain critical understanding through travel.
I believe living a life without stepping outside your corner of the world is a lost opportunity. I can’t remember meeting anyone who, after all the planning, expenses and challenges of turning their travel dreams into reality, didn’t value the experience and consider it time and money well spent.
My parents likely won’t be using their passports again — but their travel experience is part of their vocabulary. Right there with treasured old movie clips and that piece of classic sheet music that’s been on the piano for years is a sparkling chest of travel memories that can be dipped into at will…and is.
My dad still remembers marveling at how quickly Germans would say “You’re welcome” after someone said “Thank you.” We had a game where my dad would bounce on hotel beds with me playing “Danke-Bitte” — our invented game where he would say “Danke schön” and I would respond through my giggles as fast as possible with “Bitte schön!”
Our daughter is now immersed in a rich, quasi-travel experience: studying international affairs and journalism at Georgetown University, with classmates whose families make up the intelligentsia of countries from all over the world. I still remember our little made-up game called “What do they speak?” Passing hours on the trains and autoroutes of Europe, I’d say “What do they speak in Italy?” and our 4-year-old traveler would answer “Italian!”…”What do they speak in Ireland?” “Irelandish!”…”What do they speak in Norway?” “Norwegian!”…”What do they speak in Thailand?” “Thailandish!”
I’d love to hear how your parents — or you as parents — shared and inspired a curiousity for (rather than a fear of) our world.
I too, am grateful my parents and grandparents helped me to see a larger world. I just moved and when going through boxes found a couple early atlas’s, travel picture books, countries of the world flash cards with all the data on them, books of animals and peoples of the world, great buildings of the world, oh, and my constellation flash cards. The trips to Greece, Italy, Egypt and Mexico with my grandparents helped me realize that American’s were not the know all and end all of civilization. The world seemed like my world in those days. I do have to mention the wonderful, though partially corrupting influence of James Bond movies. They are what got me out into the world on my own…to make my own discoveries, which included what Sarah Palin discounted last night as a “Journey of personal discovery”.
My journey began the summer before the third grade — 53 years ago. Thank goodness for parents who appreciated and encouraged travel, education and books. How many hours did I spend on the floor reading and pondering encyclopedias and atlases? I’m still doing it along with using the Internet. I can Google and Yahoo with the best of them! Movies and books (fiction & non-fiction) just added to my need to experience the world. Thank goodness I’ve passed this desire to understand and know the world to my daughter. PS: Don’t get me started on Sarah Palin.
The first trip I remember, was when the family moved from Michigan to Penna., about 77 years ago. Since then I have spent at least 2,500 nights somewhere other than my home address. I will not use my passport again, it is not needed as I travel from the bed to the bathroom. (Well I do walk a few blocks each day.) This is what the years of intensive travel meant to my Beautiful Sweetie and I. Name and picture catching are the everlasting joys of travel, an added reward for years of exploration. === As an example, during our visit to St. David, Wales, we saw the magnificent Cathedral; the exquisite wooden ceiling; the beautiful little town; and green rolling hills to the horizon. A few years later, TV news showed a picture of Prince Charles standing at the entrance to this beautiful old cathedral. That’s all most people saw, but not us. Our ear “caught†the name, our eye “caught†the picture, and in addition to the TV picture of Prince Charles at a Cathedral door, in our “Travel Minds Eye†we “saw†the three dimensional wooden cathedral ceiling; we “saw†the cemetery that extends down the hill; we “saw†the ruins of the abbey next door; we “saw†a row of houses, almost hidden behind hydrangea of various colors; we “saw†an elderly lady polishing the brass mail slot in the front door of her old stone house. === A picture is worth a thousand words. A visit is worth a thousand pictures.
I am eternally grateful that my dad, a U.S. Air Force officer, was stationed in Germany from 1977-1982. I am equally grateful that my mom planned dozens of trips all over Europe for us during that time. I feel that seeing Germany, France, England, Switzerland, The Netherlands, and a ton of other fantastic countries as a developing teenager greatly influenced who I am today.
Mr. Steves, I sense a great deal of emotion as you recall past experiences, with your father and as a father. Honestly, I owe you (and Gene) a great debt: a dream of mine was to see the world, but I always let other things (or other people) hold me back. Among the greatest gifts I’ve ever received was when a former co-worker told me about a man named Rick Steves, and how his ’03 guidebook made his monthlong stay in Paris extraordinary. Using your books for Paris(’05)and Italy (’06) helped me experience Europe in the most local. sensible, and safe way possible. Im going to Spain FOR 15 DAYS in October with your Spain 2008 book in snugly in my Civita bag. Each time I’ve traveled, it never failed: whether it was on the Chunnel bound for London or a quiet moment outside the Pantheon in Rome, when I think of how blessed I was to see the world in live living color and the sacrifices made by Mom and Dad–especially you, Mama(love you)–raising my sister and I to pursue and live our dreams, it made me cry. I understand not everyone has a desire to see the world outside of The States, but I can’t imagine being a better citizen of the world then to embark on your very own adventure. The Back Door Philosophy should be required reading for all elected Hockey Moms everywhere!! Humberd, I can only pray to one day see all you’ve seen. Keep dropping the knowledge, people are paying attention.
I will never forget that first morning awakening in France. We were in a wonderful little hotel in Toulouse. I was but a young man of 19 beginning a two year mission. I awoke early and opened those wonderful windows they have. They opened to a view of the bustling marche being set up. Sights, sounds, smells brought tears to my eyes. How grateful I was to be there! How wonderful the French people were in the way they taught me to enjoy life. I have returned to Europe many times since then and have fallen love with many other countries; however, the French and France hold a special place in my heart. Now when I buy some good French bread, some French Camembert, and a slice of pate for a picnic with my sweetheart, it takes me back to the days of my youth when I opened the windows on a sunny September morning and the world came alive for me. God bless each of you. Thank you Rick for what you do and for bringing people together.
PS. I remember my 4 year old daughter on a car trip in OK calling out “there’s a herd of birds”. One of those wonderful parental memories just as Jackie provided you on languages. Keep traveling and providing up with this wonderful forum.
Great blog entry. Travel does open our eyes to the world. Happy travels to everyone!
One way to initiate a family into the world outside our doors is to host a foreign exchange student. We had Kristof for a year in the 90’s and it changed all of our lives forever. This boy only 16, an only child came into our crazy family with 3 automatic little brothers. Now at 32, he is still our son, and his mother, father and aunt and uncle part of our extended family. We go see them they come see us. My two older sons have lived abroad and speak German. The last time we hugged goodbye at the airport he told my husband, “you know, you are my dad”…
I can answer’s Rick question ..my parents…. through the example they lead. always saved… never a new car.. simple things for the home but would spare no expense for education and we would travel from car trips to the Boston and NYC for the day or Montreal for a weekend ..but our big trip was always back to Ireland to visit family and i can clearly remember sitting in my aunts home on Inishmann of the coast of Galway around age 13 back in 1985 and finding a lets go europe left behind by a B and B guest and reading it cover to cover and getting so excited that this book could show me how i could travel the world cheaply and vowing right then to do so the first chance i got…. 2 yrs later my parents let me be the first kid in my high school to sign up to study abroad for a summer with a french family provide i earn the first 1000 dollars they would match …and off i went from my small New England town to the city of lights as a 16 year old boy… its been a love affair with travel ever since …and when i met my wife of 14 yrs one of the first things we talked about was our love of travel as a college kids we even snuck off on a few overseas trips before we married after school with no one in the know… the funny thing is family , friends and co-workers are always commenting on our “crazy trips” and ” spending all that money” i always smile and try to explain by changing what you value spending on and traveling smartly you can make it happen… so i guess thats how my parents taught me how incredible the big wild world is …and to go see it…. no one on their death bed ever wished they spend more time at the office, or drove a better car, or wore a more expensive watch but many wished the climbed the Eiffel Tower , gazed upon the Sistine’s Ceiling or walked through the Irish countryside.. happy travels
Despite a stroke several years ago that left my father somewhat shaky on his pins, he and my mom have not let their passports gather dust. They just travel with lower requirements for mobility. Earlier this year they did a Rhine-Mosel cruise, the previous year it was the Danube and in November they will be doing a monthlong cruise around South America. Even the Christmas after my father’s stroke, he still managed a trip to France that saw my entire family in the same place on Christmas day for the first time in 20 years. We even did a hike to the Source de Lison with my dad in a wheelchair my sister rented at a local pharmacy. She and her husband were temporarily living in France which is what brought us all there to begin with. I hope this inspires others to not let age or infirmity deter them from travelling. Oddly enough, my word to prove I am not a spammer is “fluff.” Not exactly apropos!
Rick When I was 19 years old (that was 11 years ago now) I lived in South Korea for two years. I lived in large cities and rural towns. I was a missionary for my church. I taught people (only those who were interested and wanted to hear, never forcing ourselves upon anyone) about my faith but a larger responsibility was to serve the Korean people. To demonstrate my love for them regardless of religious belief. It was through this service, teaching informal English classes to both adults and children, reading to children in orphanages, and performing any task that our help could be used on (such as helping a good friend paint benches for his immaculate preschool), that I came to love Korea and its people. I lived humbly while I was there. I paid my own way to get there (with my parents help), I received no monetary compensation from the church. The missionaries lived as locals. We shared meals in friends’ homes, we lived in modest apartments, we didn’t own cars. By the end of my two year stay I felt like a Korean. Ironically, upon arriving home to Maryland I got homesick for Korea. I was inconsolable. 10 years later I still feel like a part of me is Korean. I will never forget my experiences there and I can’t wait until my three sons, aged 4,2, and 1 month, are old enough to appreciate what I learned on the other side of the globe and old enough to have similar experiences of their own. Time and finances don’t allow me to travel right now but watching your programs help me hold on to my experiences in Asia.
Well, I was a bit (!) devastated when I had to cancel a three week trip to Europe this summer with my husband and two teens that I had meticulously planned for a year due to my illness. It was to be their first trip our of N America. But I’m inspired by the post above and the wheelchair hike and am optmistic for next year. And besides-I have the most amazing memories of a two week trip I took w/my husband–our first Europe trip in 20 years–to Prague, Edinburgh, and Denmark last year. This year though I did do a wonderful thing for my sheltered 16 year old daughter. We enrolled as “liasions” for locally hosted foreign exchange students. An especially eye-opening experience for her was sitting in on a mid-year orientation for the 20 students (mostly European but also from S America, thailand and India) to hear their opinions of America so far. “A classmate asked me if Denmark was close to Canada,” said one Danish girl shocked at American teens’ lack of geography. Then there was the Swedish boy who, when I mentioned I’d been an exchange student to Brazil in 1981 said “That must’ve been an interesting time to be there.” (I had to go google on Brazilian history to find out what I didn’t know then or now!) Then there was the game they played where they asked questions to the students (“Is drinking for teens approved of or not in your country? What about teen sex?) All those who could answer yes-most of the Europeans-walked to one end of the room while those that answered no stood at the opposite end (leaving typically the Indian boy and Thai girl). My daughter left that day with a much broader perspective on what was “normal” and how many different ways there are to live in the world. Fingers crossed that our next president brings multi-culturalism rather than an insular perspective to high office.
My husband & I met in the Peace Corps and loved overseas living so much that we decided our future children should have that experience and not have to wait as long as we did. Our dream came true when he got a job in Yemen when our children were the perfect ages of 9 and 11. So they spent 2 years immersed in a very different culture, going to school with kids from many countries. They tell us now that they didn’t like the idea at all then, but are now very glad we went. Our daughter subsequently studied in France for one year of college and planned a beautiful month-long trip for the 2 of us using your France book. It was heaven. Thank you for all you do.
My parents who are in their 80’s only traveled in the US, but loved every trip as if they had been around the world. We started taking our kids to Hawaii and Canada and Mexico and also all the western states. They and their families love to travel and are not afraid at all. One of our kids and wife have been to Europe a couple of times. And our other son has not been shy about travel on business for his company. My husband and I have traveled out of the country seven times and our families don’t think anything of it anymore, we always get asked by friends and family, where’s your next trip going to be.
My travels didn’t start with my parents. We did travel through a lot of states when I was younger but that did nothing for experiencing cultures. My mom has spent her entire life in North America and my dad went to Germany once. My travels started in college when I went on a mission trip with my church to Estonia. There were about 40 of us that went and something clicked. I just wanted to absorb the culture and language there and soak it all in. When we left, the missionary we were working with approached me and my friend about being missionaries there because he just saw a passion for being there he didn’t see in anyone else. I was still in college but my friend ended up spending a year there. I went back in 1996 (first trip was in 95) but didn’t travel again until 2004. Since 2004, I have been to Europe every year hitting 16 countries on 4 different trips. I can’t put into words what culture, languages, and Europe means to me. There is not a day that goes by that this passion and desire to see and be a part of Europe isn’t stirred. I realize that was started in 1995 was not just a trip but something that became a part of me. Or rather, awakened what was already inside longing to come out. I don’t know what to do with this but it is more than just traveling. It has changed my view and outlook on life. And it’s changed my heart. I can’t be the same and never will my outlook on life. And if there is something more to come with Europe, I can’t wait. I have a 2 1/2 month old son now and there is no doubt I will instill the wonder of travel inside of him as well.
Nancy, I just wanted to share something interesting with you. My wife’s aunt and uncle are taking a month long cruise to South America in November. So maybe they will run into your parents!
I was 8 months old when my parents left me with Grammy in Boston and they went on a much delayed honeymoon trip to Scotland, England, France and Switzerland. I grew up with the pictures of that trip. Then too, my family was active with AFS and we ultimately hosted a student from Peru. All of that set me up for my first trip to Europe as a student. It was 6 months and was packed with travel. It was in the days before cell phones so I went armed with letters of introduction and local references in case I got into any problems. But that trip was spectacular. I just learned that a friend of mine’s daughter is off today to Paris to study at the Sorbonne for a year. I was green with envy. She’s smart, adventuresome, and will have the best time ever.
Rick, Thank you for the blog this year. It is nice to see what is available in countries and towns, and what we are missing. Being able to communicate, and share our insights on cultures with others is rewarding. Jim Humberd, Have you written or published on any of your trips? I look to your comments on every blog. I would sit at your feet with a recording device. You should give travelogs across the country. I went to Germany/Austria/Hungary in Oct 1973 for six weeks, after encouragement from a army medic who spent 2+ years in Germany. Have been back 4 more times and want to visit more. My daughter (French mother), has been to Europe numerous times as exchange student, class trips tours,work/study, graduation tour, etc. She studies, picks up and goes. I have a major undertaking to get started. (A generation difference) Rick, I live about 20 miles from GU in Maryland, about 50 minutes away. If I can be of help in an emergency, or if you need a place to put your head, Please feel free to contact me. Paul S
Paul S and alfran, thanks for your compliments. I want you all to know that I am not in competition with Rick in any way. I have written and had printed (not published) several books, but just for fun, and just for friends. Three I had printed 8 or 10 years go, just a week or two before my Sweetie had a stroke, so selling books was the least of my interest. As a matter of fact, I am about to take 6 manuscripts to the printer, but they are not for sale, but I guess if anyone really wants one bad enough, something can be figured out. My web site has a couple of thousand pages of stories, photos, and book information (and all of the posts I have smashed on poor Ricks Blog). There are 80 pages about early computer days. I was making my living in the computer industry long before Steve Jobs, and Bill Gates were even born. Send me an E-mail and I can give you some hints how to find stuff on my Web Site. A screen or two down on the home page, will show the address of some of my favorite photos, and http://www.travel-tidbits.com/tidbits/cat_snippet_book_writing_gems.shtml has samples of my writing, and http://www.travel-tidbits.com/ is the Home Page. Thanks again.
Watching a world curling championship as a child with my little sister, I remember having a conversation about the team from Switzerland, the “Swirlish”.
My dad was in the merchant marines and I learned about far away places through his stories. When I was 16 I said “Buy me a car.” He answered: “If you get a job and save and buy your own car, I’ll buy you a ticket to Europe and a Eurail pass.” The rest is history! My wife’s grandparents were with Yale in China and they circumnavigated the world in the 1920s, when it wasn’t quite so easy. Her dad was a fighter pilot in the Pacific in WWII and then Her parents lived and taught in Japan, as did she after college. So I think it is genetic. Now we are lucky enough to be living in Europe these last 5 years. Our kids speak 2 languages, have visited most of the countries in Europe and go to school with kids from around the world. We try to impress on them how lucky they are. Travel gives so much meaning to my life, and we look upon it as a family treasure and a family tradition. We try to remind ourselves how fortunate we are. I look forward to seeing what route the travel gene will take my kids as they grow older and become independent. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to share!
When my daughter was 15, in 2000, I began indoctrinating her towards international travel. Previously, we had stuck to domestic, basically. A friend of hers had lost a close relative in the Egypt Air flight out of JFK just prior and kept telling her she was going to die. In tears the night before we left, she pleaded for us to stay home. I knew she wouldn’t understand what I was trying to show her until we were in Italy and saw it for herself. We made it. She understood. Several other trips ensued. The hardest thing I did as a parent was to send her alone to Europe, open jaws, and told her to figure out what to do between Paris and Rome (and how to get to her return flight on time). With some panic initially in Paris, she made it to Rome. In spite of a lingering fear of flying, she has lived two years in France, and has just moved to London for graduate school. She has a broad, open mind, and is extremely independent, pushing beyond fears to be a citizen of the world, and to try to change the world’s perception of an American. Not bad for a 23 year old. So that was my technique.
Oh my, I should have mentioned that several months ago, I met Rick at a Travel meeting in Long Beach, and I gave him one of my Snippet Books. I know he is a busy man, and has been working very hard as he traveled, so I haven’t heard if he got the chance, or the “push,” to read any of it yet. What about it Rick?
Our son had his passport at age 5 months- he’s now 13 and been out of the US 15 times and is on his second passport. (I’d have to figure how many countries…) We traveled quite a bit as a couple before he was born and continued traveling after, only of course, now as a threesome. Anyways, I wish I had a nickel for every time I described an upcoming trip to friends or folks at work and had someone comment: “And you are taking your son ?!” Sadly, it seemed to me that many believed children had to be of some magic age to travel internationally on a “Big Trip”, or that our idyllic vacation would be hopelessly spoiled by including him. Certainly we were daft for thinking of taking the “wee one” outside of the cartoon zone ! In fact, nothing could be further from the truth- we’ve had truly wonderful trips through these years and made a lot of memories. Along the way, I think he has grown into a fine traveler, not just a vacationer. His world is much bigger than mine was at his age- and he’s comfortable inside of all of it. It also isn’t lost on us that someday soon he will be old enough to want to travel with his own companions and have his own independent adventures, but until then we are going to keep including him until the day comes that he feels his parents are no longer cool enough to hang with.
Right on!, Bill. I have often heard the reason many people think kids shouldn’t travel is that they will be kidnapped and forced into white slavery. It is so common, I figure there must have been a scary movie (or scary politician) many years ago that planted this thought. Of course reason can do little against fear.
Unfortunately my parents were not traveler, though my father got to see a great deal of North Africa, Sicily, and Italy thanks to Uncle Sam. My first experience with travel was also with Uncle Sam, but to a much nicer Europe (Bad Tolz, FRG), and since then travel has been in my blood. I’ve tried to impart that same bug to my son, but alas, he tends to take after a lot of people here in Southern Maryland who have never ventured out of the county they were born in. Luckily my wife shares the same affliction and we enjoy travelling, sometimes frugally sometimes not. I hope that it has made me a better citizen, of the US and of the world.
Bill, like you, my wife and I traveled A LOT before we had our first child a couple of months ago. And like your child, I hope my son gets to experience traveling to many different countries as well as we go on trips as a family. THAT is the life I want!
My grandparents were the first one’s to instill me with an interest in the world around me. I’ll never forget them calling us from England in the mid-eighties and telling us about the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. Now, at 29, and a history teacher, I cannot thank them enough for the values that they instilled in me regarding traveling and seeing the world. It is because of them that I had the initial curiosity to go explore the idea of a semester abroad and it was also their support that helped me through the initial homesickness. The semester that I a spent in Brighton, England was the most amazing of my life and has left an indelible mark on my life and worldview. Rick, I appreciate the ability to revisit (albeit vicariously) some of the places that I visited in the south of England and also love to watch all your programs that occur nightly on the PBS HD stations. Thank you again for the service and entertainment you provide. p.s. I began watching your shows with my grandparents and now watch them with my husband.
Just to show how travel effects people, the Hero of this story had never been more than 300 miles from the home where he was born, when I convinced him to visit San Francisco. ===== Many years ago it was my job to entertain computer customers, so I arranged a flight in the upper floor of a 747, to impress a bunch of school administrators from the Kentucky and Tennessee, with a visit to computer installations in San Francisco. There were no suitable computer installations in that part of the country yet. It was many years ago. As I drove on the crowded freeway, pointing out the sights, the row-houses climbing hill after hill, exclaiming over the rolling hill beauty of San Francisco, I saw one of my Hero’s was crying. I thought this may be exotic and inspiring, but is it that overwhelming? Then came his comment, “Just think, these poor people have to live in these crowded conditions!†===== Can you imagine what a little travel would do for him? A couple of years earlier he had won a paid trip to Europe, but turned it down, because what could be better than Tennessee.
One of my earliest memories of growing up in Michigan is of my parents taking me to the local “Ethnic Festival” one summer. I remember tasting kebabs and baklava and other foods for the very first time that day, being entranced by the flags of Lebanon and Greece, and dancing in a circle to exotic-sounding music. While my family never traveled internationally (except to neighboring Canada), my parents did the best they could to expose me to other cultures. We always had good atlases around the house, which I would pour over in detail, wondering what sorghum and zinc were and why so many faraway countries seemed to import and export so much of them. In school I had a wonderful teacher in fourth grade who assigned each child to choose one foreign country and write a report on how holidays are celebrated there. Each student had to read his or her report out loud to the class. I think I learned more in school that day than the entire rest of the year. I was hooked. Shortly thereafter I wrote to the United Nations with a lot of questions, and some kind employee sent me a huge manila envelope full of brochures and pamphlets and reports about the U.N.’s work in various countries around the world — I was in heaven. My favorite TV show growing up was called “Big Blue Marble” — I think it was on PBS at 7AM on Saturday mornings. (I still remember the theme song: “The earth’s a big blue marble when you see it from out there.”) The show depicted children’s lives in various countries around the world, a different country every week, like a mini-documentary. I was fascinated, and remember being impressed to see that little kids in Africa were herding goats (suddenly making my bed didn’t seem like such a big chore). At the end of the show one week they posted an address to which you could send away for a pen pal. I was assigned a girl my age in Napier, New Zealand — and we exchanged blue “air mail” letters regularly until we both went off to college and lost touch.
How appropriate to read this today – my husband and I are leaving on Tuesday from Seattle with his 75 year old mother to meet my 86 year old mother in LA and fly together to Munich (First class on BA – thank goodness for airmiles!.) We will see Garmisch and Berchtesgaden (and all the surrounding wonders), the Romantisches Strassse, and on to Paris for 5 days. What is significant is that my mother (and late father) have travelled the world – several trips shared either with my brother and me or my children and me – my husband’s mother has just gotten her first passport! The trip was inspired because my mother-in-law learned French in high school and always dreamed of going to Paris. My husband realized that it’s now or never and regardless of the depressed economy, etc. we needed to make this happen. Both my husband and I have travelled a bit and have learned that there are just some things in life learned only by experiences outside our borders…This will most likely be our mom’s last big trip (they are for various reasons getting less able to travel) but what memories we will make! We are ever so grateful!
My mother and her parents introduced me to travel. The first time I went to Girl Scout camp my mother went to Europe. She worked a part time job to pay for her hobby. The generosity of her parents paid for my first trip with a high school band to Spain 8 years later. My grandfather LOVED to travel. Just prior to his death he made his last trip to his beloved England. He was 85! And now my mother and I often travel together. Croatia last year, Jamaica at Christmas and Provence next Spring. But at almost 72 my mother is still going strong. She leaves this afternoon for a tour of Ireland. In the past few years since retiring she has done Peru, Egypt, Belize and several other places!
After many years of prodding I’ve finally talked my Dad in to returning to Germany. He served there in the U.S. Army from ’58-’60 with a somewhat better known G.I. named Presley. (He insists every time someone wanted to take his picture Elvis got in the way.) I was also fortunate to be stationed there from ’85-’88 in the Air Force. I have returned many times since both on official and leisure travel. I’ve travelled there with my wife and our children twice. I’ve travelled there with friends. I’ve had my 1st beer there and seen my first green scenery after months in the sand. Those have all been joyful experiences. What I haven’t done is travel there with the man who sounded so excited when I called him from Keesler AFB, Mississippi in 1985 to tell him I had orders to Germany. I was young and did not appreciate his enthusiasm at the time. What I thought of as an assignment he knew would be an adventure. Your Germany videos played a major part in stoking his travel fires again Rick and for that I am grateful. So on a brisk October evening in Rothenburg after we finish the Night Watchman’s tour we’ll adjourn to the Alt Fränkische Weinstube and raise a glass to you and the travel you inspired. I hope someday to thank you in person.
aside from travelling and reading, evenings after dinner, we’d play with the globe. we’d take turns spinning the globe and quizzing each other about locations – the more difficult to pronounce, the better. since we’re true americans, we’d also have the TV going at the same time, usually turned to some silly sitcom.
I think that having a pen pal is a wonderful way of introducing kids to other cultures. I had a french pen pal in high school and after five years of corresponding, she came to visit me in Texas. Not only did that visit educate me on other people’s cultures and customs, it opened up a world to my mother, who to this day, has never been on an airplane. It also inspired her to write a story for the local paper about the experience. After a few years, Valerie and I lost touch, but with the internet, I was able to reconnect with her and I visited her home near Paris ninteen years after she visited me. It was as if we had been in touch all along. Now she plans to send her daughter here next summer, to improve her english, which will be a great experience for my children.