First Travel Memory: Road Trip!
DIY Mouthwash: No More Dragon Breath
April 29, 2016
Focused Meditation
June 7, 2016
For as far back as I can remember, our family would typically take one big road trip every summer for our annual family reunion. Most years we traveled down south to places like Arkansas, Mississippi, or Georgia…but occasionally we would hit up the west coast and even made it all the way up to Niagara Falls one year.
Amidst all those family reunion trips; however, my very first travel memory isn’t that of a reunion…it’s actually of a road trip down south to take my sister back to school. By the time I was born, my oldest sister was already a teenager (and before you jump to any conclusions, NO I wasn’t an accident…it’s just that greatness takes time so my parents needed years of practice to perfect the baby-making technique before they could introduce me to the world). My first few years flew by and, before I knew it, by the time I was a wee lad of maybe just 5 or 6, my sister was already living on her own as college student at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Road Trip
Being the youngest, and the only son, some people may say I was a tad bit mischievous and had the habit of doing whatever I wanted. Those same individuals may even go as far as to say that I was an outright terror, a spoiled little brat, a demon-child, and probably a host of other creative expressions.
Check out those cheeks…such a sweet, innocent boy
Well, the truth of the matter is, maybe they weren’t too far off because I did get a thrill in seeing just how much I could get away with and I tended to really pushed those buttons during travel. So one particular summer while making the long journey from Gary, Indiana down to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, after being cooped up in the car for what seemed like forever, I was running on a thousand miles per hour once we finally reached our destination and I was able to exit the vehicle. As soon as the door popped open:
I jumped around.
Ran.
And laughed as if I didn’t have a care in the world.
“Eddie, stay close.” my mom or dad said, only prompting me to run further off in the distance of the campus.
Sometimes it pays to listen
Seeing that the trip came just after finishing my first summer of Tee Ball, I was particularly fond of grass. While running recklessly around the campus I reminisced on my baseball memories–that summer I had played infield for Tom & Jerry (yes, that was really our team name) and our uniform colors were my favorites, green and yellow. But more than the team name, and more than the colors…I remember the grass. The feel of it. The look. The smell that the fresh cut grass poured out into the air. As I slipped further and further into the moment, I heard one last yell from my sister…
“Stay away from the treeeeeeeees…” she screamed which, naturally seeming like a challenge, resulted in me sticking out my tongue and immediately running over to the nearest tree to hug it as tightly as I could.
Well…in case you’re wondering where my first travel memory ends…it ended right there at that tree! Allegedly, my act of defiance resulted in my body becoming covered by fire ants, a trip to the emergency room, and a fear of trees for years to come.
What’s your first travel memory?
45 Comments
I am not sure if I still remember my first travel memory but you have one good memory here. It’s really nice to know that even though you are the only son, you have sibs to call on whenever you need them. Only if I have siblings too, that would surely make my life complete. But nonetheless, I have my son, though. So it’s okay. Most probably, my son’s first travel is what I can share then. hehehe
That would be pretty cool for you to share your son’s first travel. Year’s later he will most definitely appreciate it.
Mr. Green,
I sympathize with your parents. It must have been quite shocking to have you. I am so sorry they had to go through such a horrific experience. HE HE HE. Kidding aside, justice has been served. Those ants who terrorized you? They are all dead!
What an engaging story! Loved the quote about ‘greatness taking time’. I wish we could find and use old family photos as creatively as you have done in this post. Sadly, many are lost to time. What a great way to remember your first travel memory though. Thanks for sharing
Thanks…I’m actually really looking forward to going through and salvaging any old photos I have remaining when I visit family this next month!
Hahaha.. Your parents needed to prefect the baby making techniques before bringing you in. That just made my day.
Beautiful photos.
I can’t recal my first trip clearly because I think I was too young.
Cool memory. My first travel was also for a family reunion. I was three (maybe) that time when we visited my mother’s hometown and was a challenge as we grew up in an urban area and we spent for a week without proper electricity and shops are kilometers away. Definitely memorable.
Sounds like a fun childhood adventure!
What a nice story! I love the way you write and your photos are so cute! “Tom & Jerry” was one of my favorites cartoon (together with “Duck Tales”) so I really like your team name, great idea! I think Yalta, Crimea was my first trip with my family. We came to see our relatives (they live there). We had an amazing time, lot of fun and laughs!
Duck Tales was my absolute favorite…I can still sing the entire theme song!
I love this post! You begin with wonderful road trips and finish the post with suprise ending, bitten by ants. By the way, now I know the reason why I also came to the world so late after my oldest sibling reach her 20’s..LOL.
🙂
Cute story! I enjoyed reading about the beginning of your life. I laughed at the “greatness takes time” part! Haha!
Taking your sister to school… Sounds like you had some fun. 🙂
Thanks…what started out as a routine trip back to school for my sis, definitely turned into an adventure!
I’ve always wanted to take a road trip with my friends, not sure If I could survive one with my family lol.
Back in the day I was all about the family road trips but, you’re right, if I had to do it now it would be a struggle for survival!
So real photos – loved the! Well my first trip was after my finals in school with my boyfriend ! We traveled for ten days and I wish I could experience something like that again.
You know, I’ve found that traveling with a partner can really make or break a relationship…I’m glad you have good memories from your experience 🙂
This was such a fun read! I didn’t expected for the story to end like that, I have to be honest. My first travel memories are related to my grandparents. They used to take me with them to the thermal waters resort. I remember doing so many silly things there, including stepping on the electric hot plate which almost ended up in the emergency room.
I love your descriptions. I miss taking trips with my family! I think Yellowstone might have been my first big trip.
That sounds like an awesome destination for a first trip…I haven’t been there yet but it’s definitely high on my list of places to go.
I like how personal you are in this post, sharing with us your memories. I’d love reading more stories of your family’s road trips. Also, “Tom & Jerry” such a cool name ! It was one of my favorite cartoons, I’ve seen every single episodes on Cartoon Network !
Ironically, my team was so terrible that season…it resulted in me never actually being a fan of the cartoon Tow & Jerry! 😛
This isn’t my first travel memory but probably one of the ones that sticks out the most. Every year we went to my grandmothers family reunion in Tennessee. Usually it was the whole family going together but for some reason this year my grandmother and I were going down solo. If I remember correctly we went early and made some extra stops. There was this little truck stop we ALWAYS went to called Sammie’s. They had the best country ham and biscuits EVER. I fell asleep on the way down and my grandmother passed it!!! The look of guilt on her face when I woke up and asked her how far away from Sammie’s we were is something I can still see in my mind today some 20+ years later LOL
Needless to say it never happened again! I stayed awake every year after that!
Haha…I bet you had Sammie’s on your mind during every meal at that reunion!
LOL we made my mother stop on her way down and bring me some!
Lovely read and I just love love this comment “it’s just that greatness takes time so my parents needed years of practice to perfect the baby-making technique before they could introduce me to the world” This can be a great quote in itself.
Ah and I love road trips too as you can see when I speak of a few road trip tips at http://roadtrip.iamvagabond.com
Thanks, no matter how much planning is done…road trips are always a good adventure.
Holy cow poor you, I am not surprised that you are now scared of trees, I would be too being attacked by ants is not a nice feeling!
Don’t worry, I’ve finally gotten over that fear 🙂
Loved this! It made me really start to think about traveling with my family to visit my cousins other family members! Im sorry you got eaten up by fire ants! One bite is bad enough!
From the fights to the fun times…traveling with family is always great 🙂
My first travel memory is going to the seaside with my whole family and walking down some really gross slime-covered steps barefoot with my great-grandmother. It felt disgusting! Apparently, I had lost one shoe but I don’t remember how.
Rosie | http://www.rosieromance.com
Looks like we both had some pretty rough first travel memories!
I loved travelling and recently due to accessibility i have taken to frequent travelling. And i completely understand that with travel a lot of memories get attached that can be recounted numerous times in our lives henceforth.
I completely agree…Sometimes I don’t even take pictures while travelling, instead choosing to capture the moment forever in my memory.
Retro pics! I like it 🙂 I feel like traveling now, I should do it more often but sadly there is no money to do it.
You made me nostalgic about my fun trips with siblings and cousins. The earliest road trip that I can recall was to Kasauli in Indian Himalayas. Such a pristine beauty it is. Since then it has been an all time favourite hideaway with my family.
There’s something about those early family vacations that just make the experience so much more memorable.
Awwwh what a lovely read!! The way you wrote this conjoured up really great imagery! And how great is that old photo of you!!!
Thank you…before I could even walk I was already quite the poser!
Cute photos, there’s something wonderful in looking over old photos! Treasures to have! I feel for you with the fire ant incident oh my goodness I wouldn’t wish it on my arch nemesis!
One of the things I’m really looking forward to this summer is unearthing some old photos that have been stuck in storage for years 🙂
What a lovely siblings !:) and cutest team name kk . My first trip was we were battled with the winds and waves on the sea . Since then,water is the only thing that scares me .
Well the best way to conquer your fear is to face it…just make sure you don’t jump in an ocean full of sharks! 🙂