In the first year of my marriage, some 30+ years ago, we decided that we would travel. We were dirt poor, but even though we couldn’t afford it, we made the choice to travel regularly. It was a wise choice.
Mary Ann had a history of travel with her mother, and as a child, I remember regular vacations. I don’t know if they happened every year, but I have memories of Colorado, Yellowstone, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon. Travel was natural.
So, even with budgets of $60 dollars, and travel ranges possible only because of gas prices in the 20-cent range, we took trips from the beginning. We traveled, not waiting for the day when we could afford it, because “We might not be able to when we’re older.”
We slept in the tents, or the back of the station wagon. When we bought a van, I got one bare and hand built a little RV — bed, table, and ‘bathroom’ on the inside. When we moved to a pickup, we bought a pickup camper and took it all the way to Alaska.
The kids grew up with travel, and they liked it, up until the difficult teenage years made the camper too small. But even then we traveled. We started annual ski trips which continue in a fashion to this day. Debra took the opportunity to visit Europe in highschool, and Mary Ann and I followed a few years later.
As the opportunity arose, we bought our RV and started putting on some serious mileage. Africa is also on our radar.
Only in the late 90’s did I begin writing up travel blogs, and I found that many people were interested in them. Most of those have been added to the archives on this site.
It has all been worth it. I don’t regret a single trip. The kids have gotten an education they couldn’t have gotten any other way. Many times, school book learning prompted their comment, “I’ve been there.”
So, my advice is plain. “Travel now, you might not have the opportunity later.”
All of the travel blog entries in my archives have been indexed now, and I’ve added the link to the side bar where you can find the index:
Travel Blogs:
St Louis Flood July 17, 1993
Family Hawaii Trip
Galveston Seaweed Landfall
Marfa Texas 2000
Road trip to Chicago for Worldcon and Back through Yellowstone
Flight back from Montreal
Europe 2002
Boston Worldcon, Driving around New England, and RV travel to St. Louis.
RV travel from St. Louis to Michigan to South Dakota and Colorado
Great Sand Dunes NP, California to Malibu, then to Death Valley
Tucson Arizona and Bosque Del Apache NWR in New Mexico
West Texas, Tucson, Sedona, Death Valley, and on to Malibu.
San Francisco, and then I-10 back towards Texas.
Research trip in the jeep through NM, Colorado, WY, Utah.
Crossing California, the LA conference and back to Roswell.
RV to St. Louis
Tanglewood and Breckenridge
Breckenridge, Rocky Mt. NP, and Denver.
Peter and I have taken a similar stance on travel. We would rather eat beans and rice if it means we get to spend a week or two that year visiting some place we haven’t been. And it doesn’t matter if we "can not afford it". Somehow, everything works out. This year we were able to see Hawaii, and I went to Australia with my best friend from college. Be sure and have Australia on your list of places to see. It was so awsome (and so was Hawaii, but I see you have been there). Pictures and comments of both are on our website.
When daughter Debra was off in Malibu at college, we made several California trips a year. Now my son Thomas, who works for a world wide accounting firm KPMG, has spoken about the idea of taking a posting in the Australian branch. I’m all for the idea. Then we would have to make the visit.