Where have you traveled? **edit- May 29th Post**

Though I definitely did not realize it at the time, I was very blessed when I was growing up.  We were a military family and moved around quite a bit and then when I was married, my husband also did a short stint in the military.  From the time I was 7 until Josh was 6 months old I lived in:  Indiana, Texas, Florida, Missouri, The Philippines, Illinois, Massachusetts and Turkey.

Of course, the fun part is getting there.  We traveled all over the the country by car.  That explains my love of road trips.  My folks always built in time to actually see the sights as we traveled.  We saw all the big things that you would expect as we made our way from one base to another (such as the Grand Canyon as we drove from Missouri to California to catch our flights to the Philippines) and as we traveled overseas we got to stop in Hawaii, on Guam, in Germany and such.  When we were living overseas, we made it a point to see the country as well.  When we were in the Philippines we saw the Thousand Islands (where the next SURVIVOR is set!), we swam with our swim team at Subic Bay, and I got to take a week-long field trip through villages of all size  to the Banaue Rice Terraces.    

How neat is that to see when you are in middle school?  

In Turkey, we lived off base, on the economy in Adana, for a year.  We traveled to the city to shop, camped and swam in the Med, participated in the feast before Ramadan at a Turkish friend's home in a nearby town and made a point to travel locally.  

In the states- always- my parents made it a point to see our local "sights".  We did all of the tourist things like Disney, the Alamo, the San Antonio Riverwalk, Cape Cod, ALL of the Revolutionary War sights in New England and more.  Some we loved (Old North Church, Concord, MA- I wanted to get married on the bridge there) some we referred to as "Forced family fun" (camping in Vermont)  but in retrospect- we know how fortunate that we were.  Even as adults we spent weekends from NY to Montreal and traveled between New England and the Midwest, up and down the east coast and to Vegas and California and back.

The thing that has brought home to us how lucky we are the most is staying put in one location- especially now that we are away from military bases.  We lived in Massachusetts from 1988 until 2007 and now in Southern Indiana from 2007 to present.  In MA- we still saw our friends who were "brats" with us so a bit of that vagabond life was still there.  More and more over the years we have met people who have rarely traveled out of their own area and can't imagine leaving their state!  Heck- we live on the border of Louisville and spend a LOT of time there and there are folks that we know that just can't fathom why we even want to cross that bridge into Kentucky.  I cannot imagine being so insulated.  It would make me feel itchy!

 I hope that my child also knows how blessed he is as well.  Though we planted ourselves in MA when he was still a baby, my folks did not retire until 2001.  Every summer from the time he was a year old until he was in his late teens, Josh traveled to where they were stationed and spent a month with them.  He saw more of the country than his father has; even "moving" with his grandparents as they changed bases from Las Vegas, Nevada to Norfolk, VA one summer.  He has seen all of the tourist attractions (and far more amusement parks than any child should) and state parks, beaches on both coasts and everything in between.  It was an amazing opportunity, and I hope that he treasures it now that he is an adult.  

In closing I must say- if you have not traveled outside your area, your state, your region and you have the opportunity to do so, take it.  It's a big, beautiful world out there and it is made to be enjoyed.