Travels ‘til Old

I started traveling when I was a child. My father was an auctioneer so he took me with him when he went to visit farmers in the SE area of Minnesota where we lived.

When I was 11 my dad and I took a trip to Texas to visit his relatives. He gave me a map when we got in the car and said ok get us there. I did. We saw a lot..tornados in Oklahoma, northers in Texas. We ate tacos and tamales which I had never had before. We went to Austin Texas, the capitol. My dad told me climb to the top of the capitol building. I thought I would die! But it gave me a sense of what it was like to see new things and meet new people and eat new foods. I was hooked

I did not travel much after that. We had little money and none for seeing things outside our everyday trips. That was true in high school and college. However, one summer in college I took a job in Maryland and worked, badly, as a waitress in Ocean City on the ocean. I loved it. The interesting people, the new foods the new climate. I felt this was a good life. Soon after this trip I married, finished college and had a baby. My travel days were limited. Again, little money. However, in graduate school I got a job that took me across Minnesota visiting families who had had babies in the University of Minnesota hospital. I took my young children with me and we went across the state. We visited the ore mines, the hockey had of fame and many native reservations. I enjoyed those trips as did my children.

That continued for several years. Again, not much travel except for family vacations up north with our family and sometimes other families. I enjoyed every day to get away.

I started working for the state in 1973. I was hired for a very little salary. I think my boss felt guilty. He made sure that I went to many conferences across the country. I saw San Francisco, New Orleans Washington DC It was a marvel. I love d every minute of seeing and mixing with new people in new places. I was appointed to several national committees with travel to more cities.

When I was 50 I was invited to a conference in Germany. It was the first time I had been overseas. My husband and I had friends and relatives in Germany, but I had never been there. That, too, was an eye opener. What an experience. Not only did I learn about people, customs, and criminal justice practices in a foreign country, but I got to eat new foods and wine. An eye opener.

Later my husband and I traveled to Great Britain and Germany to visit family and friends. Again, the experience was addicting. I wanted to travel more and more. I became aware how much alike people are all over the world. Children are pretty much the same everywhere.

In my mid fifties, my grade school friends and I reconnected. We met in Minnesota. There were eighteen of us in high school and grade school and many of us still communicated. Fifteen came to Minnesota. The women lived in states all over the country. We decided then then that we would visit each others homes every year or so and so we did. We went to Marthas Vineyard, California, Massachusetts Texas Arizona, New Jersey. What fun we had laughing and giggling like we had as girls. The trips lasted for about fifteen years and some are still ongoing. Nine of us took a trip to Italy. OAT put together a tour for just us supplemented with two other couples and another woman. We worried about how our rowdy behavior would ruin their trip, but it turned out well and we had a great time. That trip is when I first became aware that traveling while older can be a problem. Are the streets too wobbly, is the water okay, is it safe, can I walk all those distances. These issues paled in comparison to the wonderful things I learned and experienced. We still travel, some of us.

For many years I went to the US OPEN with a friend from New Jersey. We met right before Labor Day at her home and took the train to the City, saw plays and ate at great restaurants. Travel then was pretty easy. Had to look for steep stairs and crowded stations and hidden signs, but we made it not worse for wear.

About this time I started taking my grandchildren on trips. It started with my oldest grandson. He was about four when my husband and I took him to New York to visit my husband’s sister and to see his cousins who were about the same age. That was when kids could travel for free with adults. Long ago .

Earlier we took our children to visit my husband’s parents in New York City when they were teenagers. Our oldest daughter got off the subway early. We were panicked. But she knew to get off and take a train back. I guess that was when I knew that there are some things that you just have to depend on the goodness of others and wish for the best. Someone had told her what to do and she did it. The NYC subway people were very helpful and patient with an anxious midwestern mom, but our daughter did not panic and we got her back safely.

Later I took four of my grandchildren, brothers and sisters and we went somewhere in the US for a long weekend or sometimes a week. The mode of transportation varied. In Minnesota we drove. We went to the iron mines, to hot rod races, hockey hall of fame. The first night out we spent in a hotel. None of them had been in a hotel before, so we ordered room service for breakfast. They ordered pancakes, eggs, bacon .all the good breakfast stuff. When it arrived they were appalled that the food was not like mom had made. Their first experience in seeing and experiencing new things. It was fun to watch and fun to give them the opportunity.

The five of use took a train to Chicago the summer the weather was in the low hundreds. I had planned for us to walk many places; but that was clearly not in the books. One of my grandsons had developed asthma and the with the heat and humidity he collapsed. I took the kids to Hard Rock Cafe where they bought goodies, we took a taxi to the hotel and spent the next few days in the room watching Jim Carrey movies. Argh. On later trips we went to Colorado, Montana, California, Washington DC where we had breakfast with Sen. Wellstone. My husband did not go on most of these trips. He did not like travel so was happy that I took them alone.

These children got older and had other plans for their summers. I then started taking the next group of grandchildren. They were not as compatible, so I often took then one at a time. I had a friend whose son lived in Japan. He wanted his mother to come visit his family. My friend asked me to go with her. One of my grandsons was just beginning to love Japanese games. I asked if he could come along, so he did at age nine. He was treated royally by my friend’s wife’s family and learned about the culture by being part of it. He and I and his uncle also went to New Zealand and he and I went to Australia. Great trips..not planned just get in a car and go. I was beginning to notice that travel was easier with a younger adult who could either drive the car, make the arrangements read the signs. Travel was still a joy but easier with another younger adult.

Three of us, two teenage grandchildren and I went on a west coast trip to look at colleges. The two had just got their drivers licenses so were very critical of my driving sending texts to their mothers about how awful I was. Oh well, we made it and my granddaughter was the very good navigator. Again, useful to have a younger companion.

One of my older grandchildren wanted to go to Europe, so we went to England and France. Again not with much planning.. It was great for me. She could read the signs, take my suitcase up and down the stairs and know which busses to take. Now, I could have done that but it would have taken me longer so it was worth it to have her along and she got to enjoy the scenes as much or more than I.

I also took a granddaughter to an OAT intergenerational trip. We went to Oxford to have a Harry Potter experience. It was great. We spent several days in London before we went to Oxford and took trains and subways and busses. She helped navigate the way. Again a useful young person. My husband and I had been there years before so I showed her all the places we had gone and shared that with her.

My friends and I still traveled, but now we are in out mid-seventies and needed to go slower. We usually gather in one of our cities, take a car and then the hostess gives us a tour. We have toured Texas, Arizona, the Grand Canyon, indigenous sites and beautiful scenery. There are usually four or five of us who do this.

My friend and I now go to tennis matches in California, Indian Wells. The US OPEN is too crowded and manic for us old ladies. At Indian Wells you stay in a motel, get driven to the stadium, find you place and stay for the day. We go to the final four days so we see the best tennis. Sometimes it is very hot, and that is hard for me, but the experience makes it worthwhile. No young people however.

My bridge group, also old ladies, goes to Florida in the winter. One of the ladies has a condo and we go to play bridge for about a week. We wade in the ocean, walk the beach, eat at local restaurants and play bridge all day, if we can. No young people here but we do ok. There is strength in numbers.

I also took three grandchildren to Orlando to see the Harry Potter exhibit when it first came out. One of these young people was in her mid -twenties and loved Harry Potter; the younger girls were eight and twelve. Perfect. We had fun was because the twenty- year-old could handle the logistics. All I had to do was pay the bills, enjoy the exhibits and sit out the rides that were too much for me. Good to have younger people around. We are going again there this year…me, two daughters, one daughter in law, three granddaughters, and three great grandchildren. I do not intend to go to the sites but sit in the pool and take care of whomever needs to take a time out or a nap. I will go to Harry Potter though. I thought that exhibit was great.

I am thinking of a trip to Germany this fall with a child of mine or alone. I have also been invited to go to Taiwan where I have a friend. That is a much more adventurous trip. We will see.

Over the years I have found travel to be exhilarating and rewarding. I am fortunate to be able to still do it and to afford the trip..and to take family with me as needed. Lucky old lady!