Welcome to the second of our series of My Home Pride stories. Each week we feature a guest writer who will tell us about somewhere special from their childhood, and why that memory is so dear to them.
The second author is travel agent and founder of Traveldudes, Melvin Boecher. Melvin has chosen to take us back into his early childhood – even before his first memory!
When Andy asked me if I would like to write an article for his blog, I directly was excited to do so. I also liked the idea to write about a place which meant a lot to me in my childhood. Then I sat down and thought about it a bit more and I had no clue what I could write about… Sure, I could write about so many other places which were really important to me in the last couple of years, but not of my childhood!
But I will stick to Andy’s challenge and I’ll write about a childhood experience, which I don’t even remember anymore! Sounds crazy? A bit perhaps, but it’s not.
It was 1981 and I was 4 years old. Just a year before my parents visited friends in Australia and discovered the country… without me! I stayed at home with my grandparents and I for sure had a good time, too. But I really missed my parents. I guess that was the first time I had wanderlust and itchy feet to discover the world without really knowing it. I’m lucky that my parents missed me, too. When they came back they regretted it, not to have taken me with them. I’m sure it’s not easy to travel with a small child, but when my parents won a small amount in the national lottery the year afterwards, the next trip was planned… with me!
So the flights were booked to Los Angeles and the small little traveldude, Melvin from Germany, went to discover his first unknown continent. My parents took me on a 6½ week road trip to many interesting destinations between the West and East Coast of the USA. So I’ve seen the Death Valley, the Grand Canyon, the Yosemite National Park, went all the way through Arizona to Texas. There I’ve seen the NASA museum with it’s rockets. I guess that was the moment, where I wanted to be an Astronaut when I would be older… We kept on with our road trip and we went all the way to Washington and New York.
My mum told me that I was always looking out of the window while driving and that I was really interested to discover that part of the world. My parents just made sure that our accommodations, where we stayed at, had a pool. That way I could have a swim in the evening, which I liked… I guess. Remember, at that time cars hadn’t any air-cons (or at least not our rental car) and it was so hot. For sure my parents couldn’t do all the things they would have done without a small child, like longer day tracks and other huge adventures. But they didn’t regret to take me along with them and I am really thankful to them, that they took me to my first road trip!
I am so sure that this, my first huge journey, definitely meant a lot for my following trips around the world. Otherwise, who knows if I would have become a travel agent. Would I have seen so many other fantastic cultures, sights and destinations in the world? I guess I also wouldn’t have started Traveldudes.org, a website For Travelers, By Travelers.
Yes, my first road trip… which I can’t remember anymore… means a lot to me!
Melvin loves to travel, to discover the world, to travel free and untroubled and still be informed like an insider. His motto: For Travellers, By Travellers!
Melvin did an apprenticeship to become a travel agent. But on his trips he learned that great travel tips from other travelers or locals always add something special to our travels. That was the inspiration for Traveldudes.
Traveldudes is a community of travelers whose aim is to assist fellow travelers on their adventures around the world and help enhance their travel experience.
Visit Traveldudes website here and follow Melvin on Twitter.
