I remember the moment
Just after college, I was working for my Sorority (Alpha Xi Delta) traveling around the U.S. for a little over a year. I was in a new place just about every 2-4 days, with only 2 short trips home during those 14 months. At the time it was fun to see so many new places. Towards the end, it felt grueling and I just wanted to be home. Once the assignment was complete and I returned back home for good, but I always felt this urge to travel. So, I would take a trip somewhere. The more I would travel, the worse it would become. I was bitten by the travel bug!
Since then, life has been full of adventure and travel. You see, I was lucky enough to marry a wonderful man, whom also had been bitten by that travel bug. Prior to our having kids, we were fortunate enough to travel quite a bit (25+ countries each). After having our kids, travel did slow down a bit, but never left us. We have been exposing the kids, little by little, with hopes they too get that travel bug bite and have a desire to see the world. We also wanted to be sure they had a passion for nature and water activities, as we do.
Back to the Here and Now
The other night we were watching some silly British game show on TV, just before bed. There was a jackpot of about £15,000 and I overheard the kids trying to figure out how much would that be in U.S. Dollars (about $24,183). I was thrilled they were doing the math, but the conversation that came next will stick with me forever.
Conversation:
| Anya: | "Mom, if you won all of that money, what would you do with it?" | |
| Me: | "Hmm, I am not sure. I would have to put it into savings and think about the best thing to do. What would you do?" | |
| Anya: | (Sitting perched up high in her chair, with a smile from ear to ear) "Well, I would put it towards rent so we could live in Spain longer OR maybe we could just travel around the world." | |
| Me: | "Anya, that sounds like a wonderful thing to do with the money. That is what I will do too." Big hugs! |
Another Travel Bug Bite
I was just jumping for joy inside, as I knew there was another Travel Bug Bite in our family. You see, our daughter is the one who really didn’t want to move to Spain. A year ago, she said she was NOT going to go. We did our scoping visit last March and following that she was at least willing to give it a try. Now to hear that she wants to stay longer! Oh, I am thrilled.
I continued the conversation asking her why and reminded her that she didn’t want to come in the first place. She acknowledged her resistance and then commented that she didn’t know what she was missing. She loves that we can hear people speaking French, German, Spanish plus more every day. She loves that we have time as a family to go explore and see how things are made. She really likes that we learn so much about different cultures and how to figure out different money. (What! She likes learning?)
Just so you know, our son is also loving this and wishes to continue as well! He said he is going to start an on-line business or write an e-book, so we can travel longer. 🙂 We said, he can do that if he chooses, but any money he makes goes to college. We (the parents) will figure out how to fund things for longer.
It is a good feeling when we see the kids realizing, in their own time, what we intended.
Do you remember when the Travel Bug bit you?