I always say I raised my 4 sons, partly in our home in Princeton, NJ and partly in our Ford van as we road-tripped to the 4 corners of the United States, Mexico and Canada.
These trips started as a way to connect with distant grandparents, but soon became a moving classroom, retracing the Oregon Trail and wondering why the bats circled their way out of Carlsbad Caverns. (Have you ever seen this? UTube below!)
Over time, though, these trips became an all-out quest for adventure-- camping with grizzly bears, swimming with manta rays, and using all forms of outdoor plumbing! (I raised sons, so we stuck to the noise-friendly, wide-open wilderness.)
As we motored along, the terrain of America rolled past us like a slow motion movie… green hills with Amish barns, to tabletop farms with geometrically-perfect rows of corn, up the abrupt Rockies, then back to the soft valleys and down to touch the Pacific.
As the van drove west, a collage of bumper stickers covered our Ford Van, and a lifetime of memories filled our family. The lore of these trips so deeply marked my kids, that at least one them wrote of it in his college essay:
“the doors to my youth are on my Ford Van”.
Someone asked me recently, “I bet you traveled all over when you were a kid”. But, actually, when I was a kid, I never traveled out of my cul-de-sac!
I got my first taste of travel in my 20’s…
I found myself in Tiananmen Square when martial law was declared in 1989 (My flowered Laura Ashley pants made for some interesting photos, amongst the black-clad, bicycling Chinese. Travel teaches many lessons!) I side-stepped cobra charmers in the souk of Marrakech, hiked up Arenal volcano, saw my first mummy at Pompeii, and rode the Orient Express into Budapest. I had the bug!
Through all these experiences-- rugged and urban, for young and old, at home and abroad -- I was touched by the magic of travel. And so it was, that Tough Love Travel was born.
It is my mission at Tough Love Travel to share this passion with you…
To create inspired adventure itineraries, which reveal the essence of a destination through culturally seasoned meals, offbeat lodging, and unique activities – Trips to fire your imagination, open your eyes, and bond your group or family. Welcome to the world of Tough Love Travel!
This month, Tough Love Travel will devote its blog to that storied family ritual, The Summer Road Trip.
But stay tuned in June, for All about South Africa!
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