The Making of World Travelers

Dromomania: noun. A sudden uncontrollable impulse to wander or travel

We have the travel bug. We love to experience new cultures, dive into history and see majestic sights. It is a passion that we have shared for a long time. We want to tell you the story of how we tried to get our kids excited to explore the world — and show you some favorite pictures of their early travels.

Our interest in travel comes partially from Ashley living abroad for 3 years in her teens, from her brother living outside the US for the last decade, and from memorable childhood trips Jamie took to Egypt and Greece.

We have tried to get our kids interested in travel at an early age, and they have responded enthusiastically… with some glitches along the way.

We decided that 6 months was the perfect age to take Hugh to Cambodia (to visit his uncle Rud) -- tricky, but not as tricky as age 2, when he wouldn’t sit still in an airplane seat for more than 10 minutes.

Recently, Hazel and Ashley had a memorable 40 hour stay in the Zurich Airport -- not allowed to enter the country but also not able to leave -- when Jamie lost Hazel’s passport on the plane over from the USA. Lesson for the future: losing passports in one country or another is bad, but losing them in no country at all is a real mess!

Despite some crazy moments, we have found that the upsides of family travel are so large that it has always been irresistible to us. We strive to raise our children to be intellectually curious, and we feel there is nothing like seeing other countries to open up their minds.

The curriculum of our trip will focus on nature, history, and world cultures. We think the kids will learn more just by getting out of their comfort zone, trying new foods, and getting to know people who live on the other side of the world.

On our recent trip to Egypt, we loved seeing our kids make friends with an Egyptian family in Luxor. They exchanged toys and spent hours running in the halls of our hotel. Toward the end of the trip, the Egyptian boy, Yusuf, quietly told Ashley and Hazel, “You are so lucky to live in America… You have Elmer’s glue. It makes the best slime! Our glue does not work as well.”