How I came to this desire for travel
A dear friend once went over my astrological chart with me explaining all my planets and houses, and finding that I have a sagitarrius rising, asked "do you love to travel? Do you often feel the need to flee?" Now this woman knew me better than most and knew the answer to this question, really, without asking! If you are reading this first installment of our up and coming travel blog, you also can surmise the answer-a resounding yes!
The stars are not alone in their blame tho, my stepfather, a wonderful man and influence in my life, watered, fed and cared for this part of me-gave it shape and the knowledge that the world was an amazing place to see. This was a man who went to Soviet Russia in 1963 for a math meeting, a place at that time many Americans would not have ventured to. His pictures from that trip are amazing and will be interspersed in many of my stories. As I grew up we saw the world, he would do math research in cool places and we would get to go along! We lived in England, Germany, Australia, and traveled to Japan and California, Indiana where he was from, and I loved every minute of it.
In Germany as a young girl we lived in a home that also housed a retired circus horse named Vodka-this was one of the few times I heard my super sober dad ever utter that word! He was a staunch methodist who NEVER drank! Vodka also fostered my childhood fantasies of running off with the circus, he would let himself out of the gate each day and demand lunch if his person was slow in delivering it! They would perform tricks for us too! A beloved photo of Vodka and his trainer wearing his fez hangs in my office.
In England I went to a one room school house, and would walk home and get half penny candies on the way home from school. At 5 this was a wonderful adventure! I also once didn't come home till after dark because I was exploring with my "older friend" who was the ripe old age of 7! My mom was less than happy, I truly had no idea why! I knew I was safe? (After I became a mom, I did actually understand her point!)
In Japan we visited temples and met deer who bowed on command, we ate delicious food, and spent time with my friend who I had met in America while her dad was researching. I still long to go back there, and will one day soon.
Australia has been a big part in my life too, like a favorite restaurant I keep returning. When I was 11 we lived there for a year, in the capital city of Canberra. My dad made sure we visited so many places while we were there, I am very grateful for these experiences. Holding koalas and petting kangaroos at national parks is definitely a highlight in any life! My daughter now lives there with her husband, the land down under called to her in high school and when she returned she vowed to live there, and she has now for over a decade. I completely get it-I miss her terribly, but we do have a great place to visit and we always have fun when we get together!
My husband and I have traveled a bunch in our 6 years of marriage, and our plan is to go fully nomadic by the year 2020 and plan to keep this blog updated with our journeys and photos....come along...and share your stories with us!
