When I was a kid, my family didn’t get to travel, so I’d spread one of my grandmother’s patchwork quilts under the fig trees in our backyard, lie down and stare at the sky.
I envisioned myself on adventures in New York City, Barcelona, Paris, Greece, Morocco — places I read about in my mother’s romance novels and in the National Geographic magazines she bought from our local newsstand.
A dreamer herself, my mother would carefully tear out the magazine’s maps and tape them to the fading floral wallpaperin her bedroom, inviting us to explore these paper depictions of the world with our fingers and eyes. One day, I will go there.
PHOTO COURTESY CASSANDRA LANE
As an adult, I’ve gotten to travel a bit and enjoy taking my curious son along to explore, but what I never imagined I’d wish is that I could go back and visit the world of my childhood. Of course, I can always return to that town (DeRidder, La.) for a visit, but the tin- roofed house on Elm Street that held our dreams, hopes and wishes has long been torn down. The fig and plum trees are gone. The rose bushes: vanished. Those old maps have returned, I imagine, back to the soil from which the trees that made them sprouted.
One of my favorite aspects of my job here at L.A. Parent is that we cover travel — family excursions, solo journeys, couple and friend voyages. We travel to expand our understanding of people, place and history. What is just as essential is acknowledging that, wherever we go, we are bringing our foundation — our childhood dreams, accomplishments, wisdom, assumptions and limitations — with us. To travel is to navigate this two-way relationship. Whether we are visitors or the ones being visited, we are simultaneously students and teachers.
My son reminded me of this while I was on a work trip in Mexico recently. As we FaceTimed, I showed him the ocean from my spot on the hotel balcony. “No fair,” he said. “You should’ve taken me with you.”
“But you would’ve missed four days of school,” I said.
“Travel is the best kind of education,” he shot back.
Every other month, you’ll find at least one travel-related story in our magazine (and many more on LAParent.com) —and sometimes my son gets to help us tell the story.
This issue is dedicated mostly to travel. Come along for Margot Black’s exploration into the Fiji islands with her family and Shelley Gaske’s expert guide on how to get your play on in Portland, Ore. Along the way, you’ll find my familyflying in the air over the Santa Ynez Valley, Lynell George’s up-close look at a destination close to home and Digital Editor Nina Harada’s bountiful roundup of local fun. And to keep it real, Creative Director Elena Epstein interviews a local pediatrician for tips on keeping the family healthy while on vacay.
Bon voyage!