The insatiable desire to explore new places, to meet new people, to try new foods, to challenge myself in new situations has been a part of me for as long as I can remember. My parents grew up in small coal-mining town in Western Pennsylvania, from solidly middle class families. “Vacation” was an hour-long day trip to the nearby lake. But, my mom’s dad Ralph served in WWII in Europe and I believe it was the stories of his travels during the war that encouraged 3 of my mom’s 7 siblings to live abroad in their 20s and early 30s. I was 7 when my aunt Mary Ann wrote me from Paris that she had lived there long enough to start actually dreaming in French…her stories of life in France created an early impression. My uncle Ronnie worked in Saudi Arabia and explored the Middle East for years. My uncle Jim traveled around the world, stopping to live in Germany and in New Zealand, taking odd jobs to earn enough to get to his next destination. So yes, from a young age, I had examples of relatives close to me who were adventuring around the world and this was inspiring.
When I was 12, I took my much-anticipated first trip overseas with my mom, my best friend Charlotte and her mom. We went to London for a week and all the expectations I had built in my mind were met…even the ice cream from a street vendor tasted better than home! We boated on the Thames, climbed the stairs in the Tower of London, did high tea at the Ritz.
My next trip was with my family to Germany, right after the Berlin Wall came down. My brother and I saw history unfolding first hand. We went into East Berlin where residents had turned their homes into mini museums showing life in the DDR. We heard the stories of those who had died attempting to cross the border and we bought pieces of the wall to remember those lives.
And, when I graduated from college, and started making my own money with control of my own free time, I funneled much of it to travel. I lived in Chicago for 8 years and took full advantage of the city’s proximity to Europe and the ability to fly there relatively cheaply on United Airline’s super saver flights. My co-worker Allison and I would search European saver flights for long weekend travel. We would pick one city, research it and come up with our own 3-4 “perfect days” of exploring, eating, drinking and touring. We lacked time and money to spend much more than 3-4 days, so our goal was efficiency with flexibility. Once we’d explored London, Rome, Barcelona, etc in this manner in our early 20s and started making a bit more money, we expanded to Hong Kong, mainland China, Dubai and others further abroad.
In the meantime, my parents also started traveling more. My dad was diagnosed with and beat stage 3b colon cancer in 1999 and decided not to wait until “retirement” to explore the places he’d always wanted to see. I joined my parents on their trips to South Africa; to Lima, Cusco and Machu Picchu, Peru; and to Australia. I don’t regret one dollar spent or one minute away. Our adventures are some of the best memories I have of my dad. When he passed away of a second cancer, leukemia, in 2012, through the sadness, there was a gratitude to that first cancer…for reminding us that tomorrow isn’t guaranteed and for pushing us to see the world together, to savor the moments and be grateful for each other. My mom and I traveled to New Zealand early in 2013 to scatter some of my dad’s ashes there…the one place he didn’t live to see. As I bungee jumped off the Kawarau Bridge, I thought of my dad and felt him there with me, soaring into the sky.
After my dad died, I felt groundless for months, I needed to pour myself into something other than just work. A friend connected me to a project that would include travel and take me out of my comfort zone. Just what I needed. By the end of 2014, I had traveled to Singapore 4 times and to Indonesia and Nepal, all to help produce a documentary on the human trafficking of young girls from Nepal to cities in India. I still had my “day job”…my company was understanding, flexible and supportive of the work. I emerged from the process a better and more whole person than when I started it.
In 2013, I met my now husband, conveniently at a bar about 10 miles from my house in Southern California, through mutual friends. He is originally from South Korea and just before our December 2014 wedding, we headed to Seoul with his parents to meet his two sisters who now live there, go to the DMZ to learn about the history and to explore. We decided early on that since we can, we will instill a love for travel in our children.
Which brings me to today, in this pandemic riddled world we are living in, we are trying to get our daughters out exploring wherever and whenever we can. We figuratively, and they literally, “don’t sit still.” My biggest fear in starting a family was actually that I would no longer be able to just pick up and go…spend New Year’s in Vienna, ski in Japan, etc. We aren’t there yet by any means! But, we are purposeful in exposing them to longer plane flights, different climates and activities, new people, new cultures. We want them to be citizens of the world, unafraid to explore, inquire and adventure.
This is the purpose of our blog: to inspire others families to travel and make the memories, don’t sit still! Life is short and tomorrow isn’t guaranteed. Work will be there…whatever it takes, whatever time you can grab, just go!
We Don’t Sit Still 