Places

On the hallway wall of my parents house was a framed map of the world. I used to pull a number of chairs from the dining room and line them up in the hall pretending it was an airplane. I’d look at the map and let my imagination determine my destination. Heaven forbid if I had any cousins or friends over because they’d have to accompany me on whatever journey lie ahead. I’d be the fake pilot. Obviously. Maybe this is how you spent your 20’s too (see, it’s funny because it was really in the elementary school days; old enough read but still young enough to imagine. A truly magical time.)

As is the same today, I knew very little of the big wide world. To get the best fake trips, I’d have to fly my vinyl covered chair to places that I’d heard something about, or places that could be found in the first few letters of. The alphabet.

Also the same as today, I liked to flex my curiosity muscle. I’m not sure which came first, the curiosity or the encyclopedias, but since it was WAY pre-google, they were my source for imagination fascination fuel. The Funk and Wagnall encyclopedias came from Safeway, but they were a limited time deal. As a result, all my “travel” and school projects landed somewhere in the zone of A-D. It was plenty of material.

I thank my ‘rents for instilling a sense of adventure and excitement about seeing new places. I knew how to pretend plane because I’d been to Dad’s home state of Minnesota. I was also prepared to play “gallery visits” from all the art we’d seen, but oddly I didn’t play that. Did you guys know that there are art galleries in Disneyland?! If you’re wondering who would look at them, it’s artists, and their less enthused children.

Seeing new places changes perspectives. For me, it’s creates a greater sense of community and understanding of humanity. It also builds confidence. When you survive the night in the sketchy hotel, you can feel a sense of accomplishment. And just the wonder of seeing new things; different mountains, landscapes that looks like a looney tunes cartoon, 1,300 foot tall smoke stacks, so many things that you’d have never known about had you chosen to be still and not adventure. There’s a great big world out there. No need to just treasure the parts you see every day.

The fake flights in the Amen Lane house hallway no longer happen. Which is good enough since the in flight meal service really sucked. But I do still look at maps and think about places I want to see. Luckily there’s Daniel. Chasing him around the country gives me a chance to see stuff. It also makes me feel good that he’s comfortable checking out new places too.

Passion for new experiences is such a wonderful gift for a parent to give their children. You parents who sign up for the long drives, the million potty stops, the battery of questions; you are the true MVPs!

Thanks for reading!