Cassandra and my upbringing were quite different as far as traveling was concerned. Cassandra, having a military father, moved quite often as a child. These moves were over multiple states, if not, multiple continents! I, however, grew up in the same house, my grandparents house originally, my entire life. Even with these differences, we both came around to falling in love with travel.
Cassandra’s Early Experiences
Cassandra was born on an Army base in Germany and moved to the US as a toddler. Even after arriving, her family continued to move around the country due to her father’s service and eventually career opportunities. In fact, she attended our different schools in second grade alone! These experiences helped her become comfortable with travel at an early age.
When Cassandra was in high school, she had the opportunity to travel internationally as a teen missionary. Cassandra’s family was heavily involved in the church. This particular church sponsored trips for the youth members. Through the organization Teen Mania, she spent a summer in Thailand with a group of students from around the country. Throughout her trip, she interacted with the locals as they spread the word to Thai students and their families. This experience opened her eyes to different cultures and she knew she was falling in love with travel.
Mike’s Background
I, on the other hand, stayed in one town my entire life until college. Most of my travels kept me within Pennsylvania except few a few trips out into the Mid-Atlantic area. It wasn’t until after college that my world started to open up a bit. I went to visit my older brother in California. As my vacation was coming to an end I was sad to leave. My brother mentioned he had room in his home if I was interested in moving out. Although the decision was not easy, I eventually chose to pack up my belongings in a U-Haul and head out west!
A Chance Encounter
While out west, fate stepped in and Cassandra and I met for the first time. We ended up working at the same restaurant and quickly became friends. It just so happened that these two East Coasters happened to move out west to live with their older brothers. Not only that, each of us were friendly with the other’s brothers even before we became close. At this time we both loved traveling, but I was not nearly as adventurous as Cassandra was.
The Trip That Changed Our Lives
Cassandra and I eventually got married after several moves across the country. Shortly after the wedding Cassandra mentioned about going to Europe as a delayed honeymoon. I was adamant about not wanting to go on this trip. Phrases such as “It’s a waste of money”, “We can’t afford it”, and “There is plenty to see in the US” were said by me over and over. However, Cassandra remained focused and explained all the great things we could see and do and I begrudgingly agreed to go. Even though I accepted my fate, I was not excited for the trip. We planned for a year and after our flights were booked, the hotels were reserved, and our Eurorail passes were in hand I did start to feel a little better shortly before we were scheduled to fly out.
The turning point for me is when we arrived in London and set out to sight see in order to combat our jet lag. Cassandra and I hopped on a bus and headed into town. When it was time to get off at our stop and as we exited, I was treated to something I had only seen in movies and on TV. Across the River Thames stood the iconic Big Ben and British Parliament building! At that moment it was clear that I was falling in love with travel and wanted to see the entire world! This was just the first of many adventures on our trip that solidified our love of travel and made us more determined to explore the world.
If you love to travel or are interested in learning ways to make travel more accessible to you, check out our podcast or our other blog posts. Thank you so much for visiting and we hope you come back again!
