Tarkblog

One lesson I have learned from my grandparents is that travel is very important.

My grandmother and grandfather were world travelers. I cannot think of a country they have not visited, aside from some rogue nations where travel is difficult to come by. They loved visiting new cultures, meeting new people. They were very active in a group called People to People. They hosted foreign exchange students.

Long before I was born, they found a great love for Mexico. When I was younger, we used to visit them. They settled in a small town of Ajijic (located in the middle of the #13). For many years they would stay at a long term hotel/apartment rental place. Eventually they would rent houses from other people who they knew in the area. And about 10 years ago they bought their own house. It was their pride and joy.

(Sorry that I’m using past tense here, but it’s just how the story is coming out).

Now, I’ve been to Mexico probably a total of 10 times. Sometimes it was just for a few days. Other times it was for a couple of weeks. It was educational allright. Boring at times. But I found a love for fresh baked bread, the beech, the food, and the sights and smells.

And that has driven me to explore many other places around the world. It made me rethink all of the places I’ve been. I don’t list a place if it was just driving through or an airline layover. I only mention it if it was someplace I’ve been, stayed, and enjoyed.

* Disneyworld, multiple times (obvious if you know me, I suppose)
* Sarasota FL - one year my grandparents went here instead of Mexico, and I tagged along for a few weeks
* Pensacola FL - Week long trip with my dad
* Wisconsin Dells, WI - two separate, week long trips. Interesting place to visit.
* Baltimore/Washington DC - two separate long weekend trips..once by car and the other by plane
* New York City - long weekend trip
* Niagara Falls - long weekend trip by car
* Mexico numerous times by both car (from Indiana) and plane
* Las Vegas, 2 times, 3rd upcoming. Previous trip included helicopter tour of grand canyon.
* 2 week long road trip through the west, including places like Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore, The Badlands, and the Montana area.
* South Padre Island, TX - weeklong vacation over Christmas
* Tokyo/Narita, Japan - 4 day business trip, but spent time seeing the sights
* Lake Cumberland/Jamestown KY - houseboating multiple trips
* Chicago, IL - multiple weekend trips
* St Louis, MO - multiple weekend trips
* Nashville, TN - long weekend trip

* Places within close proximity I’ve been to many times: Indianapolis, Louisville KY, Cincinnati OH.

Obviously my driving trips out west, to Mexico, and to DC include many exciting places along the way where I briskly moved through but didn’t spent much time.

I feel like I’m well traveled. Certainly, I’m not overtraveled like most independent consultants or business folk. I like that I get to genuinely enjoy when I do travel from home.

Of places I still want to go: the pacific northwest, new england, and some travel in Europe.

Upcoming: Vegas in November, Disneyworld late 2k7, and ?. We’ve talked about a trip to Ireland next summer. We’ll see if we pull it off.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 17th, 2006 at 6:00 pm and is filed under Random Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.