Outside of the annual ski or beach vacation, neither one of us grew up really traveling much. My Dad traveled internationally fairly often for work and one of his trips to Italy lined up with my fall break from University. I tagged along and thus began my love affair with Italy, and by association travel. I was enamored with the food, the language, the architecture, the piazzas, and just how unique Milan was to anything I’d experienced before.
Stephen had gone on a couple of mission trips to Jamaica and Mexico in high school, but an impromptu chance to visit Paris and Switzerland peaked his appetite to explore more of Europe. He loved the history-stepped streets of Paris, was captivated by the art in the Musee d’Orsey, and was speechless at the sight of the Alps in Switzerland.
So we travel, because we’d glimpsed a sliver of something new and spectacular, because we’d been exposed to a world so different than our East Tennessee norm, and we were hungry to see more.
We travel to better understand other cultures, through their food, their history, their art and architecture, and most importantly their people.
We travel to connect, with ourselves in relation to this big world, with each-other in these unique experiences, and with other people in the midst of the adventure.
We travel because it’s a chance for change, because it’s exciting, and most of all, because we love it!!
Andiamo Wander 