My Best 2009 Travel Experience

When Chris Gray Faust, former travel editor at USA TODAY, asked at her blog for best travel experiences of 2009, I spun through all of my travels to see which one came back as ‘the best.’

But I found that it was not one particular trip that was ‘the best,’ but rather it was realizing that my love of travel has been inherited by my kids. Among several trips taken in 2009, my son enjoyed his first solo international trip and my daughter and I had a couple of trip for just us girls.

I don’t have to ask these kids twice if they want to go somewhere. They’re just limited by being able to get off of work and, of course, having the funds to pay for their travels. Even with my hotel and airline awards, the other elements of travel still cost money.

As for my husband, he continues to endure my many weeks away from home as I traveled extensively in 2009 (I was on the road for all or part of 49 weeks). We did manage to make time for a few great vacations. Our norm, due to my business travel, is to each fly in from different cities and to also go our separate ways when our trip ends . . . our version of “kiss-n-fly.” He was also able to travel with me to several conferences and was happy to reach Delta’s Medallion status this year so that we both now have a chance at being upgraded.

I have traveled for business for 24 years and am very glad to see that my being on the road during all their years did not turn my children, or my husband, off to the wonderful experience of travel. I see my life portrayed in the ‘Up in the Air’ movie with the road warrior life, but unlike George Clooney’s role, I am very lucky to have great relationships with my entire family and we all love to travel and be together.

So thanks, Chris, for posing this question. This realization of how much my kids love to travel has chipped away at the guilt I carry over traveling so much during their lives, and also has me looking forward to experiencing more travel through their eyes in 2010.