Who Remembers Their First Overseas Trip....

[jsattapr2]

I recall my first trip outside the US! I was seven years old and as part of my reward for being such a good student in the 1st Grade, my Mother and Father took me to a Club Med La Carvellea French West Indian Island in the Caribbean. I still have vivid memories today and that was many years and many, many foreign trips passed. I think my parents just wanted to get away from their normal routines and go some place a "little exciting" by their standards....which probably equated to going topless in public for the first time for my Mom and I do recall my Dad at least exposing his buns [probably nothing more].



For me, it was like nothing I had ever done; my longest airplane rides, people who spoke a different language [we spoke no French nor any other language other than English] and all sorts of strange foods, I had never seen nor tasted previously. Different communal entertainment nightly and people from all over the world who came together to have a good time.



Club Med had a Kids Camp, which I totally loved and cried when I finally had to say goodbye to all of my new friends. The Kids Camp was great for my folks as well, since they felt comfortable leaving me in the care of the staff while they did all of those "adult" activities. In retrospect, I think "adult" activities was getting me out of their hair for hours and hours at a time.



I've never been back to a Club Med and actually have no interest inreturning today. However, I am so veryappreciative of that first foreign experience, since it ignited a life long interest in foreign travel I still enjoy today.



Do other community have similar experiences they would care to share?


Message Edited by jsattapr2 on 04-28-2008 11:12 AM

[matthewlawrence26]

Hello,

The first time I was able to go overseas was back in 3rd grade. My parents took me to Disneyland in Japan. The trip was kind of memorable since I got lost for an hour before my parents found me.




Message Edited by matthewlawrence26 on 06-02-2008 03:59 AM

[bonniejoy03]

I had been to the Caribbean a few times with my parents in my youth. The more exotic location was visiting Venezuela though. I remember getting my passport to visit my old boyfriend in London. I had a passport and my parents did not have one. On our trip to Aruba, I had read howclose it was to Venezuela. I did a lot of research and found a little company that could take me. Well, I didn't realize my parents had done the same research AND had gotten passports! Imagine my surprise and shock when I booked the trip and found out my parents were going with me! We had a great time but I thought I would be exploring on my own. It was so interesting to be in a foreign countrty without a lot of other toursits at the time.I think that trip sparked my love for Central and South America!

[CMDAVILACLI]

My first trip overseas wasn't until I was in college. In the mid 70's I applied to Redding University in England, was accepted and spent an entire year there studying Linguistics. My parents were in Italy at the time and were going to be home the day before I left for college, but there was some sort of airline strike so they were not able to get home before I left. I had a friend take me to the airport and put me on the plane in Los Angeles. I arrived in London to find out that the friend who I was going to stay with for the first week before I headed up to Redding was suddenly called away on a business trip. So he had his downstairs "flat" neighbor take care of me. It turned out that "John" the neighbor was a great guy and we had a blast for a week. In fact, he remained friends with me and my family for many, many years.



Before I could start my program at Redding, I had to register with the Thames Valley police, get finger printed and photographed and was then issued a green card so I could study for the year. It was a bit tricky because I only had a one way ticket and about $100.00 to my name. ( I still needed to set up my banking so I could transfer my college tuition from the States to England).



I spent the year studying (okay, barely studying), traveling all through England and the continent, meeting wonderful people, enjoying all sorts of amazing sites and new foods. Back then, often times when people found out that I was from the USA, and California in particular, they asked me if I had ever seen Indians (native americans). I found this very odd, coming from Los Angeles! I loved every minute of my year abroad and did not want to come home. In fact, my father kept sending me telexes (yes, that's how long ago it was) threatening me with life and limb to get back home for my senior year of college).I had been gone 15 months by then and really wasthinking about staying in England.... butI finally showed up (flew standby home for $100.00 - you could do that back then), the day before my senior year of college started!!!



Since then, I've had the travel bug.... and I try to get back to England every couple of years!



cmdavilacli

[travel2fun]

js2, this is a very good question. I am going to have to take a few days and ponder it before coming up with my correct answer. I'll be back!

[omegaet]

js2....good question....as a child of about 6 or 7 my folkswent on a road trip which includedseeing Niagara Falls. Of course, we drove over to the Canadian side, which constituted my first trip "outside" the US. My first "overseas" trip was a couple of years later when my folks decided to take the famous and historic Chalks Airlines from Miami over to the Bahamas.



A very exciting adventure for a young personto take off and land on water.

[claassenam]

Okay, I'll bite...

I was born in Ft. McMurray, Alberta Canada - way up north! So my first international trips began when I was 6 weeks old, and my parents would fly me down to Florida a couple times a year to visit Grandma (and get out of the cold)! We moved back to the US when I was 3 and I later became a US citizen, so my international travels during toddlerhood ..were rather short-lived.

My first real "overseas" trip was a trip to London with my mother and younger sister when I was 9 years old. Mom planned out an amazing, child-friendly trip: I remember hot chocolate every time we woke up at 3 AM with jet lag, trips to Madame Tussaud's, rubbing the gravestones at Westminster Abbey, viewing some fabulous doll house in one of the castles, visiting a 7 story toy store, eating at a restaurant where they made pancakes 2 feet in diameter, etc. etc.

What I remember the most was the scariest experience of my young life. One day en route to some tourist attraction we went down to the underground. My sister and I boarded the train and watched as the doors closed right before Mom could board. I will never forget the look on her face through the glass as she realized that my sister and I were stuck on the train, helpless, with no idea of where to go or what to do. At the age of nine I had never been on my own much less in a different country and so I instantly panicked - my sister and I both began crying hysterically, much to the entertainment of all the jaded people on board. Thankfully, a sweet elderly woman named Gloria, a former nanny, took control for us. She led us off the train at the next stop and contacted the station agent to help out. It turns out that in the meantime my mother had been throwing a fit of her own, threatening US military force to her own station agent if they didn't help locate her lost children. (I'm sure the British agent loved that, typical American) Needless to say, the entire experience lasted no more than 20 minutes. Station agents communicated, my mother made it to the next stop, and all were reunited. Shaken, but happy. We took Gloria to tea to thank her for her kind help and ended up keeping in touch with her via Christmas cards over the next several years.

Despite that glitch, we had a great and memorable first international trip of childhood. I hope I will have the time and means to do many such trips with my future children as they make amazing memories and create a more open mind. Of course, I will always try to have a plan in case such an emergency occurs!




Message Edited by claassenam on 05-06-2008 01:41 PM

[nomadbea]

I was a little girl of seven or eight back then, when my parents and me went to the Carribean. It was my first time going somewhere with a different language, and I had a great time! I couldn't stop talking about it! It sparked my love of traveling to islands and beaches.

[waveringhobbit]

It was a trip to South East Asia. My friend and I explore the countries as a last trip together before her wedding. :P

[travel2fun]

js2, finally spoke with my Mother and confirmed the information. I was 10 or 11 and we rented a private villa in Jamaica for two weeksabout mid point between Mo'bay and Ocho Rios. The place was not on the beach, but we had access to a private beach club only a few miles from the villa. The villa came with a staff of three or four, including a cook. She took me and my Motherto the local markets every couple of days and we would shop for provisions, just like the locals (no tourists, as I recall). That was great fun for me, as I developed interests in cooking at an early ago. She also permitted me to assist her in the kitchenin preparing meals almost daily (we must have looked like one of those Jamaica tourism ads that run on TV from time to time). The gardner/driver would take us on tours to see local sights and meet some of his friends. This was a great adventure for me, being in a foreign country, hearing people speak with a totally different accent and being a different color from almost everyone I saw and interacted with during the entire two weeks. This was a wonderful experience and something I really appreciate my parents allowing me to do at such a young age.