I have always had a pent-up desire to see the world going back to the time when I saw my first movie “travelogue” at the tender age of 10 years old.
The huge silver screen flashed full color, motion picture images of the mighty Amazon River, and the adventurer who gave first-person narration left an indelible impression on a wide-eyed youngster who grew up in the cornfields of Central Illinois.
You must remember that this was the early 1960s and Disney’s “Wonderful World of Color” was the only color television program available.
Travel documentaries were few and far between, and when the Rotary Club brought their travelogues to town each winter, I looked forward to seeing another part of the planet.
Of course, life got in the way of my travels as I went away to college — 1973 graduate of Illinois Valley Central High School and 1977 graduate of Southern Illinois University-Carbondale with a degree in Radio/TV — and then operated my own successful business until the turn of the new millennium when it suddenly dawned on me.
I was 45 years old and had always promised myself I would travel before I became too old to experience everything I wanted to see and do in the world.
Was this just another middle-age crisis, or did I really have a passion for travel?
My old college roommate had invited me to Scotland in 1999 to visit him as he worked on a movie there and Pandora’s box was opened.
I jumped at the opportunity and will never forget the excitement of hopping across the pond and departing in London for the train ride to Edinburgh.
Once there, I discovered the pleasures of mixing with another culture, making new friends and celebrating what the French aptly call “joie de vivre.”
There is nothing like travel to open one’s eyes to the delightful differences in traditions, food and languages that make us all unique.
When I retired and sold my business in 2002, I decided to finally see the world and I did so zestfully with vim and vigor.
I first took a cruise along Alaska’s Inside Passage, then took my dream trip to Australia to visit my friends from Caterpillar who had been transferred to Melbourne the year before.
I hopped across the Pacific to New Zealand, and in the next three years visited Costa Rica and Peru, traveled to Kenya for a photo safari and even attended my Scottish friend’s daughter’s wedding in the Greek Isles.
I pledged to visit all 50 U.S. states by my 50th birthday in 2005 and did so, with my final four states coming into view as I followed the Lewis and Clark Trail on the bicentennial of their epic journey.
I had a friend in travel radio who suggested I apply as a tour director with a company in St. Louis who offered motorcoach trips for mature travelers.
I was hired as a part-time tour director and enjoyed every minute of showing people the beauty of this great big planet we occupy.
I considered it a privilege to share with others the joys of travel.
Unfortunately, there were still not enough days being offered me, so I chose to further my career by attending the ITMI Certification program in San Francisco.
Chillicothe, Ill. —
