I often wonder how my love of travel was developed. When I was younger than 8, I remember having a map of the United States on the wall near the foot of my bed and I memorized the capitals. I kept a record of which states I had visited- New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Pennsylvania... waiting to go further north, south or west.
I saved money from my first job and left for the grand tour of Europe. In the summer of 1965, Sue Lear Weisgrau and I spent 8 weeks and $5 a day seeing the highlights of major cities. We used a Europass on trains, stayed in pensions and had a fabulous time. We are celebrating the 50th anniversary of that trip this summer.
Single, I took a trip every summer- Mexico, London, Scotland. When we got married and had small children and big tuition bills, our travel stopped. We did save to take our children to Israel several times. Luckily, Norman loves travel as much as I do and, once he retired and then I did, we have been to all 7 continents, South America four times, Asian several times... always ready for the next journey.
Next up is a new twist... travel with my grandson to England. We are both Downton Abbey fans so that excursion was a must. Yaakov has an aunt and uncle outside London where we will stay for half the trip. The other half will be around Bath and the Cotswolds, with stops to Stonehenge, Oxford, Strafford on Avon, places I visited 50 years ago. Time for another visit, wouldn't you say?
We travel to feel ourselves fully in the world, to see the world in new ways, immersed in the experience of discovery. I am so happy to be sharing that discovery with my grandson.
