Growing up with the privilege of having two travel-minded parents could perhaps be one of the most influential factors of my childhood. And, to be honest, my adulthood. Through travel, I have learned that learning never ends, which has in turn awakened my insatiable thirst for knowledge.
My travels as a child were always educational, although not always intentionally. The amount of information one takes in subconsciously while visiting a new place is staggering. Sure, my parents always tried to make sure learning was occurring by organizing tours with locals and visiting important world heritage sites and national parks, but sometimes the best moments of learning came in the long car rides with a chronically carsick little sister or the canceled flight after you’ve already taxied to the runway, twice.
Travel provides these opportunities to bring out the best and worst in an individual, making a “family vacation” fertile ground for a National Lampoon-style disaster. But my biggest take-away from years of family adventures (and some misadventures) is that these shared experiences are the best teacher possible for learning the nature of human relationships.