A Legacy of Wander: A Global Collection

Wander Well- A Life Well Curated Travel Story

A Global Collection

I'm not sure when it all started, but for as far back as I can remember my dad collected globes. Not the kind with monetary value, or any one style in particular. Some were old and cracked with age. Others were shiny and bright. One would spin with gravity, a few chimed softly, and his most cherished ones were handmade by his grandkids out of paper mâché.

I never really knew why he collected them or what he saw in them. It's one of those things that you wonder about after someone is gone, those little things, like globes, that make you wish you asked the questions and listened to the stories a little more closely.

So, here I am.

Telling the stories.

Asking the questions out loud.

Sharing a little piece of it all so that maybe, someday. my kids and grandkids will have a little less to wonder about.

For much of my childhood, travel wasn't really part of our life. We stayed close to home, content with small town life, weekend getaways, and visits to my grandparents who lived three hours away. Our first real road trip came when I was 14 years old. My dad had a work trip in Washington DC. He would drive his work truck and my mom, me, my sister and my brother would follow behind him in our family car. Now as a mom myself I can only imagine how anxious my mom must have felt driving three kids to the nation's capital of all places. We made memories on that trip that we still laugh about today. Like getting hopelessly lost in downtown D.C. and my dad insisting, loop after loop, "I'm not lost." (If you know you know.)

On a side note, but very connected to why I love to travel today:

This trip was not only my first time on a true vacation, but it was also my first time seeing the ocean, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. I can still hear the waves and feel the warmth of the sun. On that quiet summer afternoon, I found a lifelong love for travel, and to this day, I find my heart is most at peace when I am sitting by the ocean.

But that is a story for another post.

I think my dad always had an adventurous spirit. Maybe the world had been tugging at him quietly, all along, waiting for his time when he could explore the world that he could see spinning around on his globes. In 2008, my dad retired. I remember him telling us that he was going to make sure that his grandkids got to see as much of the world as he could share with them. It wouldn't be a whirlwind tour that he wanted, he was looking for meaningful travel, the memory making kind, the kind that you don't forget. He made it his mission to give the gift of wander. And that's how we found ourselves, passports in hand, on our first international trip, headed to Mexico. It wasn't just an adventure; it was a beginning.

Every road trip, every passport stamp, every mountain view, and ocean mist continues what he started. A quiet reminder that there is a world to discover, and always someone to share it with it. I will always be grateful for the stories we have, the memories we made and "A Global Collection" that he left us, but most of all I am thankful that he passed on to us, the desire to Wander Well.

Wander Well, Wherever You Go

We don't just travel to see new places. We travel to make connections, with people, with places, with our soul. Traveling gives us the space to remember who we are outside of our normal routines and our everyday lives. I hope this post invites you to look at the "globe" a little differently today.

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If this post spoke to you, you might love my printable travel memory maps, or complete Travel Planner, created to honor the journeys we've taken and the people that we shared it with.

Download Wander Well Travel Planner Complete Bundle Here

Download Wander Well USA Map Here

Download Wander Well USA Map with Labels Here

May wherever you go, wherever life takes you, however far you wander, may you always Wander Well.