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Reflecting on a Parent’s Influence and the Origins of the Travel Bug
Passing the bug from one generation to the next
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration for me to say that my father has traveled the seven seas and has visited over a hundred countries. As a marine engineer, his job required him to sail for extended periods of time. He would write me a postcard from each port of call and sign it “Love, Papa.”
Perhaps that was the reason I aced every geography exam I took by the seventh grade. It helped that I had a good memory, but the postcards, as well as the landmarks, cities, capitals, and countries he visited, were etched in my mind as visual imprints. The summers I spent traveling with him on the ship with my mother and brother would be among some of my best childhood memories.
It was important to my father that we traveled widely and experienced different places and cultures. He was a patient teacher in explaining the laws of buoyancy and how ships stay afloat or the use of ballast tanks on container ships. As a child, I eagerly watched the containers being stacked (i.e., loaded) onto the ship or offloaded by the giant cranes in the different ports of call.
By the time I finished high school, I had traveled to over twenty countries by sea. Those summer trips were the only family vacations…