How I Became a
World Traveler
I loved it when my family went to “Kristal” in Memphis to
pick up a family pack of Kristals. It’s a small square burger much like “White
Castle” burgers. Then we would go to the airport to watch all the planes that
were coming and going and eat our burgers. We parked alongside one of the
larger runways, just off of Airways Boulevard, past Winchester near Grovehaven
Drive. It wasn’t an official parking spot but it was graveled and everyone
seemed to do it. I was only about 5 or 6 years old at the time. You could see
planes from all over the world taking off and landing just yards away at
Memphis International Airport from that vantage point. You could see such
iconic airplanes as the Lockheed Constellation, the historic DC-3, DC-4’s, Lockheed
Electras and the first truly luxury passenger jet, the Boing 707. You rarely
see these kind of planes anymore except in a museum, and that’s another reason
for my travels. I remember also doing this when I was a teenager walking all
the way from my house across the interstate and sitting on a picnic table that
someone had put there. I would sit for hours and just watch the huge jets
taking off and landing. You could see planes from all over the world coming to Memphis
bringing people back from their exotic adventures from faraway lands. Guess
it’s the mystery and the history of the journey, as well as the places you go
to. My Uncle and Aunt would bring over slides of their trips from the places
that I had read about and they would tell me about the people, the food and the
history. This is when I first laid eyes on the people of the Hawaiian islands.
The Kodak Hula Show was the best and most elaborate free Hula Show put on by
the Kodak film company in Kapiolani Park in Waikiki. The performers weren’t
just professional dancers in the sense that they were native Hawaiian men and
women that loved to share their culture in the dance, music and song of the
islands known as Hawaii. Unfortunately, the Kodak Hula Show is no longer being
performed. At Airways Junior High
School, I was not the stellar student in most of my classes. I didn’t even like
school much, however, my history and geography classes were the best! Our
teachers did their best to unlock our minds to what had gone on before us. They
made us memorize dates and things, but when I read the history books, they made
me want to be the explorer. I tried to imagine what it would be like to sail on
an ocean voyage to the New World in small sail powered vessels, braving the harsh
waves and weather of the Atlantic Ocean in the 15th century.
Sometimes I think the journey is more exciting than the destination. Walking
the streets of Paris, France seems to be a throwback to the days that I walked
the streets of Memphis, TN without a care in the world for my safety and all of
the amazing new and wondrous sights that awaited around the next corner, the
Louvre, the Eifel Tower and Notre Dame Cathedral. Walking on the left bank as
so many of the masters of art and
literature had done before me. I would
imagine as we walked the streets of London and passed by 221B Baker Street that
I was Sherlock Holmes searching for Jack the Ripper. The game’s afoot. I could
just imagine the ghost of Ann Boleyn walking the grounds of the Tower of
London. Seeing the bar wenches serving pints to the locals in a London public
house. I always wanted to experience the land where my family was from, the
British Isles. You know if you really want to get bitten by the travel bug,
take a trip to Egypt. Just imagine the pharaohs ruling over their people, the
Pyramids and the Sphinx coming to life before your eyes, the archaeologists
trying to unearth the next great find in the Valley of the Kings, cruising up
the Nile as if we were on Cleopatra’s barge, back to the reality of Cairo of
today and Egypt and its people. It's not
that I always had traveling on my mind but I was a day dreamer. I was “Walter Mitty”
in my mind in all of the imagined adventures of travelling the world. I
remember Elvis once made a speech where he spoke about the fact that he read
the comic book and he became a hero of that comic book. I was very much like
the young Elvis in that way. I could watch a movie like Charlie Chan and become
the “number one son” desperately wanting to help his father solve the murder or
become Dr. Watson with Sherlock Holmes trying to solve the case. Istanbul is
the gateway to the Orient with the city of spies and mystery and wonder and
something totally exotic as in Ian Fleming’s “From Russia with Love” with me as
James Bond 007. But in all of this, there were the surroundings, the sets, the
places, the cities and the countries where it was happening. I always thought that I would never ever have
the ability to do any traveling but, when I met my wonderful wife at the Gates
of Graceland, I found a kindred soul who also had the wanderlust of the world
in her heart, so with her help, we set out on the journeys of the “UK Adventures”(Ursula
& Keith). We have travelled to exotic islands, island nations, German
Romantic Roads, rivers toward medieval destinations, gateways to the Orient and,
last but not least, the cradle of civilization. Most people say they never have
the money to travel. What most people spend for a trip to Walt Disney World or
a couple of trips to Myrtle Beach and all of the money wasted on cigarettes,
and other vices could absolutely finance any trip to Europe, Africa or Asia. I
don't mean to say that you have to struggle to have these trips but, for some
of us, these will be a trip of only once in a lifetime. What would life be if
you don't follow your dreams.
I want to just take a minute to thank a newly found friend
from The “Disney Nerds Podcast” and the “Disney Nerds” Facebook page and the
owner and administrator of Once Upon A Time Travel. I personally and my wife
both have used Once Upon A Time Travel and found it to be more than adequate
for our needs, whether you're taking a trip to Walt Disney World for which
Jimmy Horne is especially suited or any other Disney destination or cruise. He
also can help you with any travel plans anywhere in the world. You know as well
as I do, it's always nice to work with someone just like yourself who knows and
understands what you want and need. I highly recommend Once Upon A Time Travel.
They are a NO FEE agency. I will put in a link for you. https://www.facebook.com/onceuponatimetravelllc
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