I think I was born to travel. My first memories are of a trip to Canada when I was four years old. Travel in the 1950's by car was slow by todays standards. The 500 mile drive to Canada which we made every year took two days. The best part was getting to stay in a motel in Vermont. I have never lost the love of staying at a new place every year.

As a teen I took a class trip to Washington DC. This was my first stay in a high rise hotel. What a brave hotel to allow 200 16/17 year old girls to take over.

I do know that our school never stayed at this hotel again, could it have been something we did?

I initiated my children into traveling when they were very young. We took them up to the province of Quebec before they were two years old. In those days we camped in a tent or stayed at my Uncle's cottage. Later we added a camper and went on from Quebec to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. My two youngest still talk about their last trip to PEI with us when they were 15 and 16, after that they had jobs and we didn't travel as a family for many years.

My daughter chose a trip up the California coast as her High School graduation gift. We drove from San Diego to San Francisco in 10 days with stops in Anaheim, Santa Monica, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey and Berkley. While we enjoyed visiting the Missions, the Hearst Mansion, The Winchester House, Muir Woods and the Huntington Museum, our daughter enjoyed Disney and shopping. While we had different interest, traveling together was the common bond and The Great American Melodrama in Oceano which we all enjoyed.

We began traveling to Europe when our children were all grown. We have been to England about 20 times, also Ireland,Scotland, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Switzerland, and Austria. I have to admit that part of my choice of destination has to do with where my ancestors are from. I have incorporated genealogy into many of my trips.

Now we have a whole new generation to initiate into the love of travel. We began with your oldest grandson when he was four. You guessed it, we took him to Canada with us. At five it was Washington DC and he would tell anyone who listen that we made him look at "naked women and boring , boring art", his evaluation of the National Gallery. What he forgot to mention was how much he loved his first subway ride and the Air and Space Museum. He was very impressed that we were able to order a pizza from room service.

When we took him to London 7 years later he was much more open to enjoying art and history. He was enthralled by Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London and we had a hard time pulling him away from some exhibits at the British Museum. A child after my own heart he loved the Hard Rock Cafe!

More recently we have introduced all but the youngest of our grandchildren to Quebec City, each in their turn. We have done trips with multiple children to Philadelphia and Providence. There is something about seeing the wonder in a child's eyes when they see one of your old favorite places that is very satisfying. We also like to initiate them into different cuisines, Indian, tapas and the High Tea. We had High Tea on Cape Cod with all five of our grandsons whom we have dubbed the Houligans. It was amazing to see how well they behaved with tea and scones and tiny sandwiches.

As I look back on my 57 years I have to say that many of my happiest memories are centered around traveling. Our style has changed, these days we prefer B&B to camping but we have never lost the wanderlust that makes us go looking for new places to visit and share.

Learn more about this author, Belle Starr.
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