When Did You First Fall in Love with Travel?

[SarahS]

Where were you when you first fell in love with travel? Check out other readers' stories and share your own here!

Related Story
12 Spots to Fall in Love with Travel

[jocap]

On a school trip to Stratford on Avon....we were sleeping under canvas in the middle of a field, without any basic amenities. Our headmaster knew that children of the war years, who'd been brought up with little food and no opportunities for travel, needed to get out and experience different places, so he set up many opportunities, including cycling trips to the Netherlands; exchanges with French children, and endless camping and Youth Hostelling holidays. I would be about 11 or 12 when we arrived in Stratford, and my greatest memory is of Shakespeare's mother's house at Wilmcot. It was an Elizabethan, half timbered, thatched cottage. On returning home, we all realised there was a similar house in our area...run down, let out to tenants by the council, and due to be demolished. This house was saved, partly by the headmaster and staff.
From then on, I made certain of joining anything which offered opportunity to travel, and shortly afterwards I was on a school trip to see a women's hockey match at Wembley. The biggest thrill was coming out of a Tube station, and seeing Big Ben immediately in front of me.
I quaked in my little laced-up shoes.....
Jo.

[soliteyah]

Love your story, Jo!

For me, it was the first time I left the U.S., on a junior year abroad in Glasgow. I backpacked all over Europe and totally got hooked.

[eddy70]

As i was a kid, my parents love traveling so they used to take me everywhere

[jocap]

[QUOTE=eddy70;101328]As i was a kid, my parents love traveling so they used to take me everywhere[/QUOTE
That's good, Eddy....it really does broaden the mind, and perhaps makes you grateful for what you have- or just long for more travel!
My parents, born during WW1, never went far afield, and their annual summer holiday would be spent at the coast, 60 or 70 miles away- in the company of other people from the same area, as mines and factories would close down for a fortnight, so it was a little like being at home! When I was little, very few people travelled abroad....perhaps only 10% had passports. Schools changed that, after WW2, as it was seen as a peaceful move to travel to nearby countries- schools could obtain group passports then- and cheap flights to Spain and- the then- Yugoslavia came in. Now, I should imagine that it's more like 10% of people who DON'T have passports.....and certainly feelings towards "foreigners" have improved enormously. I should rate travel to other countries as one of the most important aspects of education today....our local school is taking many children to work with deprived people in 2 areas of Africa this summer....vital, I think!

[kiwi4ever]

When I was six years old, my mother read to me 'Heidi' - the story of a Swiss girl. I fell in love with that country and always planned on going there, half a world away, when I grew up. Fifteen years later my dream came true when I found a job there stayed for over three years. It is still one of my favourite countries.

[jocap]

When I was six years old, my mother read to me 'Heidi' - the story of a Swiss girl. I fell in love with that country and always planned on going there, half a world away, when I grew up. Fifteen years later my dream came true when I found a job there stayed for over three years. It is still one of my favourite countries.

That's a lovely story of a dream fulfilled- thanks!

[soliteyah]

Heidi! Wow, I remember that book -- I read it as a kid too. Loved it. Still haven't made it to Switzerland though, curses...