A Glance Into My Childhood
When I say the travel life chose me, I really mean it. Before I had the chance to turn a month old, I had already set off to visit my family in the motherland, Spain. Fast forward to my earliest memories, hopping on a plane soon became a normal part of my life. Growing up with a mother who worked for TWA, traveling was ironically the easiest and spontaneous thing for us to do.
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You Mean Not Everyone Does This?!?!
I first realized this lifestyle wasn’t an average one when I was in 8th grade. Totally in normal conversation with someone from my class in the cafeteria, I abruptly cut him off when I was notified my mom had arrived to pick me up.
“Sorry, I gotta go! My mom is here!”
“Why are you getting picked up early?"
With a naïve response, I said “I’m going to the airport.”
“Why?”
“I’m going to London for the weekend, see ya!”
His face was surprised, confused, and not sure if he should believe me or not. And this was the very beginning, when I began to wonder why I received questionable responses from people. Fast forward, stories like this were something that me, my sister, and mom would laugh about, except that one time in 4th grade I told my teacher that my mom worked the night shift but failed to mention her occupation haha! Oh boy! My mom was embarrassed when I innocently told her that one when I got home. That same year a girl in my Elementary class went home and told her mother I was going to ‘chicken’. Her perplexed and very curious mother dialed our landline to get the story straight… the next thing I hear is my mom uncontrollably laughing saying “Oh no no no! We’re going to Turkey to visit my husband’s family!” (By the way — my dad’s an Armenian immigrant from Istanbul).
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My favorite story that my little sister shared is when she was in Middle School and the teacher was opening up the Monday morning lesson with good news. She raised her hand between student replies of “I got a GameBoy!” and “I had a sleepover!” to share that she went sledding in the Swiss Alps. Could you believe that her teacher really thought she was lying because she was in school that previous Friday! Yup, one random Friday afternoon when I was in 9th or 10th grade I got off the bus, and before I could walk into the house my mom in a craze opens the front door and shouts…
“QUICK! GET READY! WE’RE GOING TO SWITZERLAND! We’re leaving in 30 minutes!”
Little Sister: “Mommy what’s Switzerland?”
Ma: “Nevermind! I’ll explain on the way there, it’s going to be very cold! Hotel has a pool bring a bathing suit!”
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Throughout The Years
Traveling has been a huge part of my life in building a connection with family and my raw rooted culture. Having parents who are both immigrants, can naturally leave you feeling disconnected from your family abroad. Fortunately, nearly every year we traveled to Istanbul and Spain to see both sets of grandparents, visit elderly relatives, and hung out with family and friends we’ve made in our homes abroad. As a result, we were raised within our culture, the sound of our language, community, and friendships within it. This lifestyle wouldn’t have been possible without my mothers traveling benefits and for that, I am forever grateful.
