At least I think there’s where my wanderlust all began . . .
More years ago than I care to remember, I was standing among my childhood friends a week before Halloween. Mrs. Banner, our elderly neighbor, had asked us to come over because she had a surprise for us. As she led us up the creaking stairs into her attic, we were wide-eyed with curiosity. What would we discover?
Across the room in the farthest corner stood a dusty, dilapadated suitcase. Mrs. Banner picked it up, placed it on a chair, and said, “Go ahead. Open it.” I don’t remember who of us unlatched the fastening, but I do recall an overpowering smell of moth balls as we all joined in to open the suitcase.
At first we were puzzled. “What’s this?” we asked her. “Why, that’s a pith helmet, of course!” When we still looked confused, she elaborated. “Big game hunters wear pith helmets when they go on safaris in Africa, looking for animals like elephants and jaguars.” “And what about this?” we asked as we continued pulling out more clothing pieces. “Well, this is part of a kimono that women wear in Japan. And this one I’m sure you know. It’s a witch hat. But not just any witch hat. Oh, no. This one will take you on a broom around the world in one night – but only on Halloween, of course.”
Was that the moment my wanderlust took flight? I wonder. All I know is that Mrs. Banner had given us a priceless gift – the gift of imagination and its power to lead us beyond the border of our tiny town into a world of daring adventure. The pith helmet may be long gone, but my lust for travel goes on.
What about you Wanderboomers? Can you remember when your wanderlust began? Share your story with us here.
Have a Happy Halloween! Boo!
How wonderful! I love this story because it is the kind of thing I love to do, (with parents permission of course), to ‘involve’ myself with children and teens in a positive way and help them think outside the box (literally!) As parents we readily acknowledge it takes a village to raise a child and the gifts that school teachers, neighbours, youth leaders and Sunday School teachers bring are immeasurable.
Thanks, Elizabeth! I loved Mrs. Banner. I don’t even know if she had her own children, but she was like a grandmother to all of us kids in the neighborhood. For sure, it does take a village to raise a child.
What a great story. Everyone should have a Mrs. Banner in their lives. I cannot recall when mine started but I have a feeling it happened in the movies. Movies like Gigi, Roman Holiday, Casablanca and Around the World in 80 Days. Seeing these films made me pine for adventures of my own. I’m certainly not the world traveler you are, but there are many places I’d like to still see.
Thanks for the memories!
My wanderlust began as soon as I could read. I would devour all the books I could find. I would imagine walking across the country like the the pioneers, visits to exotic lands, discovering lost tribes and having adventures untold. Once I went through the few books in the school library I resorted to raiding my grandmother’s attic. It was overflowing with pocketbooks. The attic had lots of places to hide and
trunks to explore, too. I dreamed away many a summer there. Thank you for sparking those forgotten memories. Lovely story.
You’re welcome, Monica. Ah, but I know you area traveler, too! I remember watching Around the World in 80 Days and the rest of the movies you mentioned when I was a kid. No doubt they had an impact on my present-day wanderlust. Thanks for commenting ~
Thanks so much, Vicki! Yes, I can identify with book lust, too. I loved the Little House on the Prairie series and I do remember a series called, We Were There, where the narrator explored historical events in exotic lands. You grandmother’s attic sounds like it was the perfect place to plant the seeds of your own wanderlust. Thanks for stopping by ~
i’m fortunate to have family in japan so I traveled there to visit when I was a child. It’s was so foreign to anything I knew but I loved going there – the food, the smells, the sights, the rice paddies, and my family. Plus all the road trips they took me on – it’s no wonder that I love to travel.
Ooo, I would love to go to Japan! How lucky you are to have family there to greet you . . . What wonderful childhood memories! Thanks for stopping by ~
Great question. My lust for adventure developed as a child growing up in Holland, reading foreign children’s books translated into Dutch. About kids living in the mountains, or on islands and in all sorts of fascinating places that were very different from my flat, non-tropical Holland. By the time I was 12 I had started a scrap book with pictures of exotic places that I had cut from magazines. I even wrote to travel agencies for material!
Well, I ended up living in some exotic countries, in Asia, in Africa and the Middle East. Now I live in Moldova, Eastern Europe, not very exotic, but it’s not Holland!
Thanks for sharing your early travel memories with us, Karen! I agree – you have lived in some pretty exotic places since leaving Holland. I love that you even wrote to travel agencies for material at the age of 12 ~
Books and tv fantasy: Kon Tiki, Lost in Space, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I wanted to travel far (even out of this world!)sometimes to explore and discover but other times to be someplace and someone other than who I was. That’s the power of imagination and the Mrs. Banners in our lives.
Oh, yeah, Beth – I loved Lost in Space! No doubt TV played a big part in my wanderlust fantasies. Thanks for commenting ~
My wanderlust started with reading THE GOOD EARTH and other
Pearl S. Buck novels, the TARZAN series by Edgar Rice Burroughs, even
a first edition of HIAWATHA by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. These
were all located on a glassed-in back porch that served as a library/
reading room/guest bedroom on my grandparents’ West Texas ranch.
I love your story. I was so young when I uttered my first expression of wanderlust that I didn’t even remember it. My older sister tells me that she caught me in our father’s den one day looking at his globe of the world. Apparently I told her that one day I would visit all the pink countries. Pink was my favorite color and Canada was pink–I’m guessing that’s why I decided on that color. I can’t have been more than five years old as that the age my father left us. My sister recounted this story to me only a year or so before passing away making me treasure it even more.
I was born in America, but grew up listening to my parents talk about far away places, beginning with Poland, their homeland, and places that they’d lived during the war: Siberia, Persia, Turkey, India, Mexico, the Yucatan. Some days, life growing up on the North side of Chicago seemed relatively boring, so after watching a Shirley Temple movie that took place in India, I asked, with childlike wonder why they didn’t stay in the land of Gunga Din, the land of tigers and elephants, and flowing outfits… Same questions after I saw watched AliBaba, with a magic carpet ride in mind. She gently explained that what I saw was only in the movies, that poverty in these countries was something unimaginable and that I should thank God, that I lived in the U.S., a land of opportunity and freedom. I credit destiny to a career in the film business. One of my first was as an interpreter on the first film shot in Poland since the war. I’ve ridden elephants in Thailand, countless times, and wrestled with monkeys in the Monkey Forest in Ubud, Bali. I am fascinated with Cuba, and hope to hear the music live, in the next few months. I long to experience the cradle of civilization in Turkey, Morocco calls out to me, as does a camel in Egypt. After seeing Slum Dog Millionaire, and hearing so much about Medical Tourism there, India is bound to be in my future
I’ve skied the Alps, and know London and Paris enough to know that I could live there easily. It’s been more than ten years ago that I had a fantastic journey through Ireland,(times were on the upswing…) I have family in Wales, so I plan to visit again for walks and talks, this spring/summer and especially visit the coast. One of these days, I’ll take a cruise to: Scotland, and Iceland, Sweden and Norway. Partake of a puff in Amsterdam (before I’m too old..). If it sounds like I’m armchair traveling, it’s because I’ve just applied for the renewal of my passport. Strange how tied-down I feel, like my wings have been cut. At the moment, I can only imagine how wonderful to be, as Willie Nelson so aptly put it, “On the road again..”
What a wonderful memory to have of visiting your grandparents, Suanne. It sounds like such a magical place – the perfect setting to inspire your wanderlust. Thanks for commenting ~
Thanks, Doris! I love your story, too. I’d say choosing all the pink countries on a globe is as good a reason as any in choosing which places to visit! I’m so glad your sister was able to share her priceless memory with you ~
Oh, you have it (i.e. travel lust) bad, Krystina – and with good reason! I marvel at what it must have been like for you to be raised on stories of faraway places through your parents’ eyes. After visiting Disneyland, my friend’s toddler asked why they couldn’t live there all the time. You’re having such incredible travel experiences! So glad to hear you’ve just renewed your passport :-). Thanks so much for sharing your memories with us ~
Hi there! Gosh, I got lost in my story. Feel free to cut me off at the the of the first prg. “Land of opportunity and freedom.”
Thank God he created editors and thank you for not allowing me to make a fool of my self! I;-) Krystina
When young I loved to flip through encyclopedias and study our twirling globe to learn about other places. I devoured National Geographic magazines. I was obsessed with stories of King Arthur and Great Britain when a little older and wanted so badly to go to that mythical land of castles, kings, and ancient history. My husband and I did a honeymoon on the cheap to there and Wales. Walking through the castle ruins everywhere, I could feel my wanderlust growing. Ever since that trip we have made travel a priority in our marriage. We’re not extreme adventurists, but we do like to experience the unfamiliar.
Hi, Julie ~ Yes, I think the National Geographic magazines were responsible for inspiring wanderlust in many of us! I always wanted a magic carpet that would fly me to exotic lands. How wonderful that you and your husband knew early on that travel would be an important priority in your marriage. Thanks for stopping by ~
Nancy, your reminiscence about Mrs. Banner reminded me of one of my wanderlust inspirational equivalents, my globe-trotting first-grade teacher, Mrs. Strauss. She trekked to all 7 continents and whenever she went to a new spot, always brought back a trinket for her 24+ students. What a lady!
Lucky us to have had Mrs. Banner and Mrs. Strauss in our lives, Tricia. Australia and Antarctica are still on my bucket list! Thanks for commenting ~
I was born in India, last of generations who served, worked, lived and died in India from Scotland. I grew up there and travelled widely within the country as a child but then had to travel alone back and forth to UK for boarding school once 11…a lonely business which made one grow up rather fast…but it gave the grit for the rest of life and I love travelling and seeing and feeling new places. My great love is India to which I return annually for weeks at a time and am invited to do all sorts of lovely things about which I write.
Hi, Aline ~ You’ve mentioned two countries I would love to visit: Scotland and India! I can’t imagine what it must have been like for you to travel back and forth alone to the UK for boarding school at the tender age of 11. But I’m happy that the experience provided you with a lifelong thirst for travel and a love of India. Thanks for visiting my site ~
Hi, Krystina ~ I could edit your comment, of course, but I was fascinated by your world travels and suspect my other readers would be, too! So I’ve left your original comment here intact :-).
Great blog post! My wanderlust was sparked by a teenage arctic exchange program. It really opened my eyes to other cultures and gave me a bad case of itchy feet which I haven’t been able to cure to this day.
Wow – I’m impressed that you participated in a teenage arctic exchange program, Jennifer! That’s a new one on me. I know when I went on my first overseas adventure to Cairo, I never dreamed it would be the impetus for a lifetime of travel. Thanks for stopping by my blog ~
Preacher’s kid — My father was born under a wandering star, an itinerant preacher who moved his wife and four children about once every two years. When I left home for the first time at 18, I swore I would settle down, but didn’t for many years, the nomadic urge too deeply entrenched. I’ve lived in one place for the sake of my children, but the restlessness still abides. The road calls and I can, I answer. But, unlike my father, God is not my excuse. I travel for the joy of writing about what I see. I’ve been lucky enough to create a welcoming home filled with family and friends who encourage my wanderlust, and even join me now and then. It’s a soothing life.
Wow, Gail – that would do it . . . I’m happy for you that you’ve been able to create a lifestyle that gives you both roots and wings to fly around the world! Thanks for sharing your story here ~
I like to travel. I’ve been to many wonderful places and to not so many wonderful ones. But I have to say that I like being in my home the best. I’m a real homebody and I’m happiest when I’m puttering at home.
When I do travel, I usually take great care in making a nest whereever I’ve landed. Bring a tablecloth and flowers camping; arrange the furniture just so in the hotel room; and always make the bed even on the morning we’re leaving!
Making a house a home is truly an adventure for me.
Lovely, Kathryn! I appreciate your reminder that we can create our own sense of home whether traveling or not, and that for some of us, home itself is an adventure. Thanks for your comments.