Photo taken by Thirdeyemom, a survivor of a terrifying, isolating year of postpartum depression that caused her everything from severe insomnia, to anxiety and worry, to hallucinations. She used travel, writing, and photography, in addition to professional help and supportive family, to fight her way out of the darkness. See more of her inspiring story here.
About this photo:
When I first saw this week’s topic I could not think of a better picture or story for the meaning of journey than my trip to the start of the Annapurna Trail in Nepal. Not only was the trip itself a journey, but it was the journey that changed my life and brought me to start this blog. Perhaps I’m cheating by reposting this one again. Yet, it was one of my first posts when I first began my blog with no followers. I don’t even know if it has ever been truly read. So without further ado, here is that post titled “The Trials and Tribulations of Travel in a Third-World Country” which was posted back in February 2011, a few weeks after I started thirdeyemom.
Here is that journey.
Photo along the Annapurna Trail where we hiked over 100 miles, village to village, in rural, Himalayan Nepal. By far, the longest journey on foot I’ve ever done. A journey that changed my life.
Photo taken by Thirdeyemom, a survivor of severe postpartum depression. She used travel, writing, and photography, in addition to professional help, to fight her way out of the darkness. See more of her inspiring story here.
About this photo: Last November, my dad and I celebrated our milestone birthdays by hiking the Annapurna Trek in Nepal. We hiked 100 miles through some of the most sensational scenery I’ve ever experienced.
As many of you know, In January I attended the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life Summit along with 45 other fellow Americans, who will be working hard to raise awareness and funding to provide vaccines to impoverished nations around the world.
Since January, I have been steadily following all news vaccine-related and have been blown away by India’s quest to become a polio free nation. In one of the most populous nations in the world that has many places that are extremely difficult to reach, the massive effort to vaccinate India’s children and wipe the deadly polio virus away, has been a hair-raising feat.
Just to get a grip of what an enormous effort it was and continues to be to vaccinate India’s millions of children, here are some inspiring videos and articles discussing how it was done.
A YouTube video posted by the Gates foundation perfectly describes the unimaginable amount of work that was achieved:
India, a country of 1.2 billion people, had more cases of polio than any country in the world just two short years ago. It is now off the list of endemic polio countries, proving that polio eradication is possible. From the top ranks of the Indian government to the vaccinator who travels great lengths to immunize children, each person involved in making India polio-free is truly one in a million.
As someone who has traveled in India and her neighbor Nepal the thought of how this feat was accomplished still amazes and inspires me beyond belief. It is startling.
Here are some photos I’ve shared earlier in my blog about the trials and tribulations of transportation in rural Nepal and India.
In many rural, remote and/or mountainous parts, roads are simply washed away from landslides and never replaced such as the one above. Photo taken in rural Nepal.
Getting around can be a trying endeavor which requires patience and creativity. It can take double or triple the amount of time to reach rural, remote areas as it does at home in the US where we have excellent roads and manageable traffic.
In India there are many obstacles on the road that you would not expect such as cows, camels, over-crowded cars, trucks and buses. Here we were leaving Delhi and driving on the “highway” to Agra which is only about an hour and a half drive in normal conditions. It took us five hours there and six hours back. And this is in the city! Imagine how impossible it is to reach remote parts of India!
Here in Nepal, the only way to reach some cities is to walk as we are doing along with a monk and his friends. The altitude is high, the roads are difficult and it often takes days to reach some of these remote villages that are only accessible by foot.
These are just a few small examples of how incredibly difficult it is to reach places in India and Nepal. With India’s incredibly large population, the fact that millions of children in such an enormous country were immunized against polio is mind-boggling.
For further reading, the following two articles also illustrate the work that was involved in immunizing India’s children. An amazing accomplishment India!
The International Tribune: The heroes of India’s quest to wipe out polio. Published 2/8/12
BBC News: How India has had remarkable success in polio fight. Published 2/20/12.
Per BBC article:
India used to be the epicenter of polio. In 1985, there were an estimated 150,000 cases in India and as recently as 2009 there were 741, more than any other country in the world.
I also found these pictures from the BBC article which should remind us of how horribly debilitating this disease can be. (Photos credited to Getty Images).
If these pictures or video aren’t enough to inspire others to put an end to this terrible disease and help immunize the world’s children, I don’t know what else is.
Help give children around the world the shot at life they deserve. Join the movement! www.shotatlife.org.
Note from thirdeyemom: A lot of blogs I read participate in WordPress’ Weekly Photo Challenge and I’ve always found it cool. Thus this week I decided to give it a whirl and its got me searching my photos archives. Here goes nothing….hope you enjoy.
Photo taken in Manang Nepal in November 2010.
I thought about this week’s photo challenge and decided to look back at one of those moments in time while I was traveling. Traveling and exploring the world is how I prefer to indulge in life (I also love food, don’t get me wrong). This particular moment was during my trip along the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal. My father and I went at the end of November and were both blown away by the beauty and culture of the Nepal. It certainly is a sacred, magical place and the journey changed my life forever.
Probably one of the coolest cultural experiences of the entire trip was our visit to the Manang monastery. Due to Manang’s high altitude (11,483 feet), most trekking groups stop there for a day or two of acclimatization. An excellent acclimatization hike is to the famous Manang monastery, about another hour and a half straight up the mountain above Manang.
There, lives the magical, 95-year-old Monk and his daughter (who is 65) in a cave monastery. The highlight of the chest-pounding, barely-able-to-breathe hike up is to be blessed by the monk.
Upon entering the cave, you wait in line and when it is your turn, you receive a personal blessing from the Monk. He places a string necklace around your neck (or else for $7 you can upgrade to a beaded necklace), says some Buddhist prayers and well wishes (which of course you don’t understand) and then you leave to see the most magnificent, spiritual view of the entire trek to date: The incredible, mighty Himalayas in all their glory.
It is truly an amazing experience and although I would not call myself a religious person, I did not take those beads off until I landed safely at home in the States a week or so later. I still have those prayer beads up in my bedroom wrapped around a picture of my children.
For some reason, this moment has stuck with me all these months later and the memory of this “spiritual indulgence” will remain forever in my soul. Travel is a treasure.
I started my blog thirdeyemom back in February with modest expectations. I have always loved to write and I have been a wanderlust since birth. I wanted to share my experiences of seeing the world with others. I wanted to have some kind of voice besides my leather-bound journal.
I felt a little nervous about writing a blog. Many thoughts crossed my mind. What if no one ever read it? What if no one liked it? What if I was disappointed?
But excitement and anticipation took over all my doubts and I said “What the hell“, you only live once. By using a pen name, thirdeyemom, no one will even really know who I am! I can be somewhat anonymous. (Yeah…right).
Almost a year later, little did I know that not only would I have some people reading my blog, I’d have made several new blogging pals, started two other blogs on my own, and have shared my work on three other sites (World Mom’s Blog, Elephant Journal and Open Salon).
I haven’t made a dime with my work but that is not why I’m doing it. I have written over two hundred posts, have spent countless hours writing and uploading my photos, and have received nothing but mere satisfaction that I finally have my voice. An outlet.
Yet now I am excited that my blogging has lead to something new. I have been invited to attend the upcoming Shot@Life training and campaign to help raise awareness of providing necessary vaccinations across the globe. This never would have happened without my blog. So here’s to blogging!
My Article on Nepal and my latest venture with Shot@Life can be read today on World Mom’s Blog site. Click on link here to read: Social Good: How a trip to a third-world country changed my life.
And, if you want to learn more about Shot@Life before I start writing about it….here is a fantastic YouTube video that deeply touches the soul.
Click here to read the Shot@Life’s Press Release.
Today my first post ever was published on Elephant Journal. It is a cummulation of my story of how I became the thirdeyemom, why I started this blog, what inspired me to make a difference in my life and others and why I began fundraising for Nepal. The link to the original post is here: Nepal was utterly amazing. How it changed me forever.
I am also going to include a copy of the post here. My trip to Nepal and my recent efforts at fundraising have made a huge impact on my life. It is a way to change the dynamic of being a simple traveler to being a compassionate human being who gives back to the community visited. I strongly believe that travel is a gift. It is important to give in return. Without further delay, here is my story.
How Nepal Changed Me
By thirdeyemom
Nepal was utterly amazing. The trek was arduous, humbling and long. We hiked over 100 miles doing on average 4-8 hours of strenuous hiking a day at altitudes up to almost 18,000 feet. But what amazed me most was the magical culture and people that I found in Nepal.
“Coffee. Tea” the flight attendant asked wearily. “I’ll take a coffee with sugar, please” I responded half-awake yet with a smile. We were two hours short of our 15-hour non-stop flight from Chicago to Delhi and I could hardly believe we were almost there. I had seen the sun set and rise and set again all within that time and needless to say, my body was confused. I had no idea how I’d manage to go to bed that night. It was 8 PM in India but my body was still on Minneapolis time, a bright and early 8 AM. It was going to be interesting.
As we made our final descent through the thick, dark blanket of pollution that covered Delhi I couldn’t help but think about why I was here and where I was headed: To Nepal to hike the mighty Himalayas with my beloved dad. How on earth did I come so far with such a grandiose plan for a vacation? Even I, a stay-at-home mom of two young children, couldn’t believe it was real.
My father and I have been traveling partners all my life. What started out as numerous family vacations throughout my childhood lead to annual vacations with just my dad to destinations around the world. Over the past ten years, we hiked Machu Picchu in Peru, dived in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, hiked in Patagonia twice, played golf in Ireland, went skiing in Italy and France, and went on a safari in South Africa. My friends thought I was crazy. But I felt invigorated and alive.
Nepal was one of those elusive, mystical places in the back of our minds that we had dreamed of visiting one day. It had everything we wanted in a travel destination: Majestic scenery, world-class hiking, unbelievable mountains, and a diverse and fascinating culture. Yet it was impossibly far away and would require a fair amount of time to see. We also had no idea how safe or doable it was to hike. When thinking about Nepal, my mind easily crept to those crazy, over the top athletes who climb Mount Everest. I thought there was probably more tame hiking adventures but didn’t truly know. Thus as an actual travel destination, Nepal remained a very distant possibility. Perhaps someday we would go there.
Little did I know it would be sooner than I ever imagined. My dad and I had just returned from a spectacular hiking trip in Patagonia, Argentina where we had first caught wind of the real possibility of trekking the Himalayas in Nepal. During our trip to Patagonia, we had met an exciting couple from England who were in their sixties and had just completed the world-famous Annapurna trek the year before. My father and I listened in awe and fascination as they explained their trip and we were instantly hooked. It sounded like the trip of a lifetime that we could easily accomplish physically. Yet we just had to figure out how we could manage such a long trip. My children were only three and five years old and we would need at least two to three weeks. I wasn’t sure my mother or husband would be willing to babysit the children for that long. Thus once again, the thought of going to Nepal was placed on the back burner.
Almost like a sign of fate, my dad happened to see an article in the New York Times on March 10, 2010 called “Hiking the Annapurna Trek Before the Road Takes Over”. Basically what the article said was that this world-renowned hike was going to be ruined within a matter of years by the building of a dirty, dusty road that would tear through idyllic villages and pristine nature and open this once hidden, mystical land to jeep, car, and bus traffic. That was all we needed to hear and it was soon decided that the time to go was now. We gingerly presented our idea to both my husband and mom who surprisingly were in full support of our plan and gave us the green light to start planning. We were thrilled.
The New York Times article recommended two trekking companies. We sent query letters and received a reply almost immediately from Earthbound Expeditions, a locally owned and run outfitter in Nepal. We received a custom itinerary that perfectly met our needs and time constraints, and had amazingly prompt replies to all my crazy questions such as the safety records of internal flights in the mountains to the availability of calling home while on the trail. I was amazed and impressed by the high level of personal attention and service given by Earthbound’s owner, Rajan. This kind of service has long disappeared from most American travel companies. We booked the trip for the end of October 2010 for a 17-day journey that inspired and excited me beyond my expectations.
The desire to give something back
Before leaving for Nepal, I made a decision that I no longer wanted to be simply a tourist that visited a country, enriched myself in all its culture and beauty, and left nothing in return, no gift behind. My new way of thinking all began on a recent trip I made which was different from anything else I’d ever done: A volunteer trip to work in Costa Rica. Although I was only there for one week, the impact volunteering made on my life and the people I helped during that short time led me to believe strongly that we must give back. Travel is a gift and it is important to give in return.
I wracked my brain for different ways I could raise money. I knew that I wanted to donate money to a non-profit organization that focuses on education in Nepal. After reading several inspirational books on education in poverty-stricken lands, I knew that this was the area to attack. I searched Lonely Planet who has an excellent listing of non-profit organizations as well as volunteer opportunities, and found just the organization I was looking for: READ Nepal.
“READ Global pioneered the concept of sustainability as an international development organization dedicated to combining education and private enterprise to make rural communities viable places to learn, build, and prosper. READ partners with rural communities to create, sustain and grow projects in a manner that is politically and culturally appropriate. READ has helped establish forty nine Community Library and Resource Centers paired with for-profit enterprises throughout Nepal and India that serve over a half million people annually and has also recently opened up a center in Bhutan”.
Finding the right organization was the easy part. The hard part was figuring out how a stay-at-home mom could raise the money. I didn’t want to ask for donations from friends and families. Instead, I wanted to earn the money and somehow involve my children in the process so they could learn the importance of giving back.
That was where creative thinking came into play. It was summer in Minnesota, a time to be outdoors, out of our long winter’s hibernation, and back into the world again enjoying our 10,000+ lakes, beautiful parks and nature. Initially, I set a small goal of raising a couple hundred dollars for my cause. But as time went by, I realized it was possible to do more. I just had to be creative! I set my first goal at $500 and used traditional American-style activities to raise the money. In June, I ran a co-op “babysitting fundraiser” at my house on Friday mornings. Each Friday I babysat up to ten kids in exchange for a small donation. Although it was incredibly exhausting, it was a terrific success. In July, my children and I ran a car wash and lemonade stand to raise money for Read Nepal. Once again, I was pleasantly surprised by the generosity of my friends and neighbors who contributed donations. Finally, in early September my family and I held our first annual yard sale in the name of charity. Through these efforts, my initial goal of $500 suddenly amassed to $2,000 and I was ecstatic! The $2,000 raised was matched by my husband’s employer, bringing the total donation to READ Nepal up to $4,000. Just like that a small idea ended up being a big help. The funds were donated a week before I boarded the plane to Kathmandu.
READ Nepal was delighted with the donation and informed me that the money would be more than enough to open up an entire library and reading center in rural Nepal. They were beyond thrilled and continually showered me with compliments and called me “their little Angel”. I was so shocked to receive such immense gratitude for what I thought was a small amount in the grand scheme of things. Yet it made me realize how much ANYTHING can do to help, especially in this economic climate. It just goes to show how far your money can go in a third world country. The gift was given and I realized that it is the things you do for others in life that makes you feel the best.
We arrived at our hotel, thankfully without hitting someone or something in the chaotic lines that made up the roads and I took a deep breath and sigh of relief. I had heard that India was a little chaotic yet what I had just seen stirred up some serious culture shock in my normally open mind. That was when I met the owner of the hotel and he told me the most important thing I’d ever learned about traveling and culture shock: The importance of having and maintaining the third eye.
In the Hindu and Buddhist religions, the third eye is a symbol of enlightenment and wisdom and is commonly seen in Indian and East Asian countries represented by a dot, eye or mark on the forehead of deities or “enlightened beings”.
I received my third eye in a timely manner. Right after we entered the hotel, we were welcomed with a traditional marigold necklace and the third eye dotted on our foreheads to remind us that we needed to see India with an open mind. This idea stuck with me throughout the trip and was probably the best advice I could have ever received. It was so powerful that I decided that it would become the name for my new blog as it incorporated all my ideas about how I wanted to see the world and how I wanted to communicate my travel experiences with others. For travel is definitely an enormous learning adventure and when visiting other cultures, especially ones that are so incredibly different than your own, you must keep a third eye. Otherwise you would miss out on seeing what travel is really about: seeing and learning how other people around the world live, thinking about what you’ve learned, formatting opinions on it, and most importantly, sharing this knowledge with others. If you don’t have a third eye, what could you possibly learn?
The trip of a Lifetime
Nepal was utterly amazing. The trek was arduous, humbling and long. We hiked over 100 miles doing on average 4-8 hours of strenuous hiking a day at altitudes up to almost 18,000 feet. But what amazed me most was the magical culture and people that I found in Nepal. It is one of the world’s poorest countries in which over 80% of the population is rural and the majority of people survive on less than $2 a day, not even a cup of coffee in the US. Yet, the rich culture and traditions of the people rose above the impoverished conditions that most villagers live in.
After completing the trek, I realized why it is called one of the best treks in the world because no other trail has such magnificent scenery and fascinating culture. No other trek I’ve done has ever gone directly through villages and has allowed me to walk side by side villages doing their daily business. We passed goat herders, mule trains, men carrying 20 chickens on their backs in a wire cage doing his sales rounds, happy children dressed in their worn school uniforms, Buddhist temples, shrines and prayer wheels and prayer flags. It felt like being on another planet. And that is what brings me back to why Nepal changed my life.
It is possible to make a difference: Little things can have big results
As our jet plane took off for home and climbed five thousand, ten thousand and then eighteen thousand feet, I realized in awe that only a few days ago I had been at almost the same altitude as the plane. It was a wild thought; almost a little frightening.
As I looked down, I was finally was able to conceptualize how high 18,000 feet truly is. The buildings became smaller and smaller, the cars like ants lining the roads. The vastness of the green, voluptuous rice fields stacked one on top of the other, bursting in color and life. Then, for the last time, I saw the godlike, mighty Himalayas, strikingly beautiful, like a mirage of flying towers soaring upwards into the heavens of the sky. I found it hard to believe that I was really here and had really been there. It was all like a dream.
Nepal was one of those eye-opening moments in my life in which I realized not only how blessed we are to live in a free, prosperous country (where we have the pleasure of the “western toilet, clean streets without piles of garbage, education, opportunity and space), but how important it is for us as privileged people to give back. Visiting Nepal struck a chord in my heart and made me realize how impoverished these wonderfully, peaceful and loving villagers are. Over 80% of Nepalese live in rural areas that have little or no access to education. I believe strongly that education is the key to a better future and a better life. From that trip on, I was determined to change my life and figure out a way to keep giving back.
Almost as if an act of fate, I somehow or another found a way to follow my dreams and continue my work fundraising for education in Nepal. As we were leaving Kathmandu, Rajan, the owner of Earthbound Expeditions, our trekking company, gave me his card and mentioned some of the social work he is involved with in Nepal. On the back of the card was the small, grass-roots NGO called Hands in Nepal. As soon as I got home, I contacted them. It was the perfect fit and my charity work continued.
Over the last six months, I have raised money to help Hands in Nepal a small grass-roots organization created by a young American Danny Chaffin. Hands in Nepal’s mission is to create educational opportunities and community development programs in rural Nepal by building schools, donating educational supplies, teacher’s salaries, and student scholarships. I have done most of my fundraising work through the sale of beautiful, homemade Nepali goods such as pashmina scarves, yak-hair blankets, and purses and bags. Since May, I’ve sold over $4,000 of my Nepali wares and over half of that profit goes back to Hands in Nepal (after taking in account the cost of the products, shipping and customs). It has been a win-win opportunity as the sale of the products not only benefit Hands in Nepal but also the rural, poor Nepalese people who are making and supplies these little treasures for me to sell.
I have also used my second annual yard sale as a way to raise money for Hands in Nepal. After scraping together all my old clothing and miscellaneous items that we no longer need, I was able to raise $540 for Hands in Nepal.
A composition notebook and pencil for 540 children.
-or-
Two school workbooks and a composition notebook for 108 children.
-or-
A school uniform and backpack for 54 children.
-or-
Chalkboard and teacher supplies for 10 classrooms.
-or-
A book set for 27 classrooms.
-or-
Bench seating and work tables for 27 classrooms (approximately 40 children per room)
-or-
Almost enough for one teacher’s salary for an entire year.
-or-
A combination of some of the above items.
In a country where 82% live in rural communities and have little or no access to education, and the average daily salary is less than $2 a day, this small amount of money goes a long way in fighting poverty and helping educate Nepal’s future generation. With a literacy rate of barely over 50%, there is a long way to go. However, it is my belief that every effort, no matter how small, can help make the world a better place.
There is something so special and magical about giving back that just makes me feel complete and my hope is that I can eventually reach the $8,000 mark to build a new school in rural Nepal and have a lasting impact on an entire village and generation of people. It will take time of course to raise the money but with the help of my friends, family and children as well I plan to achieve it!
To learn more about Hands in Nepal, please visit: Hands In Nepal
To read more about my travels and work in Nepal, please visit: Third Eye Mom
Nicole is a stay-at-home mom who also happens to be an avid writer and traveler. She studied French and International Relations at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, lived in France, and has wandered to over 30 countries. She resides in Minneapolis, MN with her husband and two young children.
Nicole currently writes three blogs: thirdeyemom.com, thethirdeyeworld.com and diaryofahappymom.wordpress.com and is a frequent contributor to worldmomsblog.com.
Photo taken pre-party at my early 1900 house of my wares from Nepal.
Last night I had my last big fall fundraising event for Hands in Nepal. I held a wine and cheese party at my home where I displayed my latest collection of treasures from Nepal. With the help of my friends, we were able to fundraise over $300 last night. That money combined with the yard sale and a few other previous sales of Nepali goods brought the total raised over the last week to almost $1,000! Yeah!
Now of course for the product sales, we need to take out the cost of the goods as well as shipping and handling from Nepal to the States. This leaves over half of the amount raised as straight profit going directly to Hands in Nepal to help assist with building/maintaining schools in rural Nepal, teacher’s salaries, student’s supplies and scholarships. The donated money such as the $300 made from the yard sale will go 100% to Hands in Nepal.
Bottom line is that this is great news for the children of Nepal and I am so thrilled to be a part of it! Friends and family have asked me how long I’m going to fundraise for Hands in Nepal and quite frankly I’m not sure. I love it. It makes me feel good. And I still dream of earning the $6-8,000 to build a new school and go see it! Yes, I’m a dreamer but if you don’t dare to dream, then nothing will ever happen.
Stay tuned….Chicago is coming up tomorrow and I can’t wait to revisit all my old stomping grounds. I will take lots of pictures and be sure to follow up with some blogs. After that, I hope to write still about my previous trip to New Zealand, Ireland, Spain or other places. I truly enjoy writing about travel so hope you enjoy! Comments welcome!
Photo below of the goods being lined up, organized in brown paper bags at 7 am.
It is 8 o’clock and it feels like midnight. My body aches, I am tired as hell, and feel like I’ve been run over by a truck. I didn’t run the marathon. That was ten years ago. Nor did I hike in the mountains. That was last November in Nepal. Nope. I ran an all day long yard sale in honor of charity and I feel like I’ve been hit by a train. I am completely and utterly exhausted. And, worse I feel my age.
Some friends of mine checking out the goods…..
Yet, was I ready? Was it worth it? Was it a success? Yes to all three! It was a great day and I must say that nothing I do makes me feel better than giving back to those in need. Through the sale of my daughter’s clothing (0-4T and piles and piles of it!), loads of books, some of my clothing, and other miscellaneous things I was able to sell $420 worth of items to donate to Hands in Nepal! Furthermore, I had a little Nepali table nearby and sold $120 of scarves, pashminas, bags and blankets. Needless to say, it was a great day!
So, perhaps $540 sounds like nothing. Yet, it does make a difference. What does $540 do in Nepal? To give it some perspective this money can buy:
A composition notebook and pencil for 540 children.
-or-
Two school workbooks and a composition notebook for 108 children.
-or-
A school uniform and backpack for 54 children.
-or-
Chalkboard and teacher supplies for 10 classrooms.
-or-
A book set for 27 classrooms.
-or-
Bench seating and work tables for 27 classrooms (approximately 40 children per room)
-or-
Almost enough for one teacher’s salary for an entire year.
-or-
A combination of some of the above items.
In a country where 82% live in rural communities and have little or no access to education, this small amount of money goes a long way in fighting poverty and helping educate Nepal’s future generation. With a literacy rate of barely over 50%, there is a long way to go. However, it is my belief that every effort, no matter how small, can help make the world a better place.
So go for it! Carpe Diem. Make a difference!
Ever since I was a small girl, I had always traveled. Of course as a child it was not by choice but by destiny. I just so happened to have two young parents who loved to see the world and had eloped during the tender age of 23 and 25 to Europe to get married in the sixties.
Given my father’s love of travel, we traveled often throughout my childhood, spending our family vacations with the five of us (and sometimes our Red Irish Setter) squeezed into our diesel wood-paneled station wagon driving from Minnesota to such faraway places as Florida, Montana, Wyoming, California and not to mention our annual trips to Harlingen, Texas to visit our grandparents. These Texas trips often brought us in the family station wagon wandering into Mexico to several unusual spots where the Mexican children had never set eyes on a blond-hair, blue-eyed child. It was a strange experience for a six-year-old girl! The stark poverty of these towns built alongside the road, lined with shacks for homes, had a big impact on me and I’ll never forget it even thirty years later today.
So why do I travel? I’ve been asked by many. The answer quite simply is: For many reasons. It is in my blood. I’ve always traveled. I love to travel. I love to see the world. Plus I love to continually be challenged, mystified, bewitched, amazed and educated. Seeing the world is like having one big classroom right before your eyes and not only is it fun, it changes you. Each place I go, I learn something new either about the place, the culture, people or myself. It has especially become important to me as a stay-at-home mom as it is a way to maintain my identity.
Picture of my dad and I on top of the world at the highest point along the Annapurna Trek in Nepal in November 2010.
Over the years, after I went away to college in Wisconsin, moved to Chicago, got married and relocated to Minneapolis, another special joy to traveling has arrived: Family trips with either one or all of my family. I have gone on ski weekends to Utah and Colorado with my dad and brother, family get-togethers at my parents home in Tucson, drives to Mexico just the five of us, ski trips to Europe, and most recently, once a year trips with just me and my dad.
These family trips have been the highlight of my life and I feel so incredibly fortunate to have been able to continue to travel with my family into my adulthood. We are a very close-knit family and I believe a lot of it has to do with all the time we have spent together on the road. Traveling together forces you to share a one-bedroom hotel room, sit inside the car together for hours and get to truly know each other’s inner soul. Our family has so many shared memories of the experiences we’ve had along the way.
Now as a mother of two, I dearly hope to instill the same love and passion for traveling on my young children. They are used to their mom leaving once or twice a year on trips around the globe to places they have never heard of like Nepal, Argentina and Morocco. I have used these trips as opportunities to expand their horizons and teach them a little about the world. Furthermore it gives them special one-on-one time with my mother and husband, who watch them.
My children do travel frequently, however, most of our trips involve visiting family in Arizona, Virginia and Chicago. They haven’t been on any major trips….yet. But someday they will. I hope to bring them alongside me as I volunteer abroad or wonder in search of castles in Europe. I dream to make them citizens of the world who will give back and no more than their own backyard. I can hardly wait for the adventure to begin!
Photo of my son and daughter on a recent trip to Northern Minnesota.
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A lifetime in Travel:
A slice of 1970s Americana: Family trip to the North Shore, Lake Superior circa 1975
Loading up the good old family-mobile, our wood-paneled station wagon, for one of our many road trips:
Our first trip to Brainerd, the Chain of Lakes, circa 1975—photo of me as a four-year-old child ready to explore the world:
In the early days, most of our trips were done by car and then as we got older, we started to fly to our grandparents house in Harlingen, Texas each Christmas instead of drive. I’m sure a big part of it was the fact that my mom freaked us all out when she nearly crashed the car into the side of an overpass (not her fault as she hit a patch of black ice that was invisible, especially at two in the morning).
Although flying for a family of five was darn right expensive in the 80s, my parents chose it as our one luxury a year. Fortunate for us, the 80s were an era of mass over booking of flights which lead to lucrative and tempting opportunities to get “bumped” off the flight for a reward. One year, to our chagrin, our family of five got bumped consecutively for over 24 hours of American Airlines flights and spent the night in the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. Of course, all we did was fight non-stop yet every time the check-in agent asked for volunteers to be bumped, my parents raised their hands and literally jumped out of the seats at the chance. For each bump earned us $200-300 in airline vouchers per ticket, meaning a family of five could get an awful lot of money in free travel vouchers.
That year in 1984, we earned enough travel vouchers in bumps to bring the entire family to Europe the following summer. Thus, we took our first family trip to Europe, spending three full weeks hitting the major highlights such as Paris, the French Riviera, Rome, Venice and of course, Chamonix where my dad realized his love for my mom. I was at the impressionable age of 13, taking my first class of French, and becoming more and more interested in the world around me. At first sight, I was mesmerized. Paris blew me away. I made my decision right then and there, looking down the magnificent Champs-Élysées, that I would someday live in Paris and spend a semester studying abroad.
Meanwhile, our family trips continued throughout Spring, Summer and Christmas to different places around the US and even the Cayman Islands, Hawaii and St. Croix.
Photo of our view from our home away from home each Christmas in Key Largo, Florida (where we spent over five consecutive family vacations during the mid-80s).
My mother, sister and I in Acapulco, Mexico for Spring Break in March 1989 (check out the “big” 80s hair!):
My Dad, Sister and I visiting my uncle in Japan during the summer of 1991:
Eight years after my first trip to Europe, I spent a semester abroad in Paris during my junior year of college, worked as a fille au pair (aka nanny) for a French family in the small village of Les Angers, and spent the summer after graduating college in Marseille, France doing an internship. From that point on, I was obviously hooked and the travel bug grew and grew every year.
Photo of me when I was twenty-one living in Paris.
Me the summer of 1994 living in Marseille, France
In the Summer of 1995, I packed my bags and moved to Chicago to be closer to my boyfriend (now husband) who I also got hooked into traveling. We worked hard, saved every penny and did trips each year to France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and finally Greece for our honeymoon. He had never been abroad until he met me.
Although I was together with my husband, that did not stop me from traveling and spending time together with my family either at their homes or on vacation.
My sister and I doing what we love best….drinking and hot-tubing at my parents home in Tucson, Arizona where we now spend our holidays all together as an extended family.
My sister and I in Rocky Point, Mexico with our family in January 1995
Family ski trip to Les Deux Alps, France in March 1996.
My parents visiting me in Chicago in summer of 1996
My sister and I hiking in Tucson, Arizona in January 1996
Ski trip with my Dad and Brother to Salt Lake City, Utah in 1999
Photo of my sister and I in San Carlos, Mexico winter of 1999
Once I got married in the summer of 2000, my Dad and I began taking trips around the world together, something we’ve always wanted to do.
We went on our first trek together to Machu Picchu in Peru in November 2001.
Here is a picture of us in Ireland in 2002:
Our next trip together was to Australia after I was laid off from my job in January 2004 (unfortunately we have no photos together! My dad can be so stubborn):
In the Fall of 2004, I had my first child and stayed home for awhile. Yet a year later, on his first birthday my mom came to babysit him and off I went with my dad to South Africa (something I never thought I’d be able to do after surviving severe postpartum depression).
A trip together to South Africa in November 2005:
(A break was taken for the birth of my daughter in 2006—-wasn’t ready to leave a newborn!)
Here is a picture of my Dad and I on our trip to Argentina in 2007.
Here is a picture of my Dad and I on a trip to Iceland in 2008:
Here is a picture of my Dad and I on a trip again to Argentina, this time further south in 2009:
Here is a picture of the most recent trip I took with my Dad to the Himalayas in Nepal in November 2010.
Looking over these photos remind me of why I am the way I am and how I’ve become me. The thirdeyemom. I look forward to my next trip, Dad. See you in China!
Stay Posted…I will get back to Chile on the next post. I was writing this post for my other blog, The Diary of a Happy Mom, and felt it needed to be published on thirdeyemom as well since it tells you why I do what I do!
