Growing up in a very small town in New Hampshire, we didn’t travel much. We had a few family vacations but I definitely wouldn’t have called us a family that traveled. In all honesty, I really don’t know that we knew what we were missing.
There must have been some drive to explore the world in me somewhere though. Once I graduated high school I attended college on campus in the northern part of NH. Only a couple hours from home but my first solo adventure.
After graduating college I accepted a job working at UT Arlington in Texas! Let the adventures begin! I would have an annual trip or two to conferences. I got to visit Canada for the first time this way with 2 back-to-back trips to Vancouver.
I encouraged and persuaded my family to come to visit a few times over the years. I was even able to talk my best friend Chris into allowing his kids (essentially my niece and nephew) Sam and Finn to come to visit us a few times over the years to open their eyes to the larger world. Most notably, we arranged for them to come to attend an Anime convention in Dallas when they were young teens. We got them their own room at the convention center so they could do whatever they wanted 24/7. We stayed at another hotel a few miles away and checked in on them from time to time.
Where things really picked up steam was in 2005/2006 when I decided to surprise my mother with a mother & son trip to New York City for the first time. She read so much about the world and about famous historical figures, I thought ‘how could she not love seeing some of these places in real life!?!’ Nervous to drive into NYC that first year we stayed in New Jersey, took the hotel shuttle to a bus stop, and rode the bus to the central station in the city. After our dinner and play, we took the bus back and had to grab a cab to the hotel since the shuttle was no longer running. Every year since we have driven directly into the heart of Manhattan!
I met my wife Mindy at the end of 2005. She watched my dog that first year I went to NYC with Mom and has joined us every trip since!
Prior to the holidays that year, I was looking for tickets to Germany. My close friend Kim and her husband Aaron were stationed in Germany for 3 years. I had a standing invitation to visit and thought how if I didn’t take this opportunity I was destined to make excuses for not traveling internationally for years to come.
I found tickets to Frankfurt for under $400 round trip. My friend Ray grew up in Germany and had family there and wanted a ticket at that price too. I also assumed that if Mindy and I got along well she “might” want to go? I purchased her a ticket to thinking that at worst I was out another $500. Luckily she said yes and the rest is history!
I love the feeling of being lost in a new place. In my mind, it is a fleeting period of time and I enjoy the feeling while it lasts. Before long you start to get oriented and you replace that feeling with a love of the familiarity you have for this new amazing place. I also really enjoy the planning and researching that goes into each trip. I’m pretty much the navigator and designated driver wherever we go which I enjoy anyway. I also like to put together fun brochures and agendas for the family to help stoke the excitement for our trips!
