I was thinking the other day about the very first time I travelled abroad and wondered if it might make an interesting thread for these doldrum days of HP.
I'll kick off: My first trip out of the country was when I was 13 and went to stay with my French penfriend in Chambery in France. I was very excited but also really scared as it was my first flight too. I flew from Heathrow to Geneva and had to get a train from the airport to the city to wait for Cathy and her mother. Luckily a kind English woman took me into the station cafe for breakfast but then she had to go and I was all alone, wondering whether I was waiting in the right place. After what seemed like ages, they turned up and all was well. I had a great three weeks, punctuated by a few spells of homesickness.
A couple of things stand out in my memory: firstly, I knew from my reading that everyone in France ate loads of garlic. I was determined that I wasn't going to eat any - not that I even knew what it looked like!:rolleyes: - and told them so right away. Secondly, at home I was still in ankle socks (well, this was 1963!) but had bought some stockings and a suspender belt (no tights then) to be more grown up. I can remember being absolutely gobsmacked that both Cathy and her mother were barelegged! It had truly never occurred to me that it was possible to go around without even socks or stockings - how strange! Their flat was in the centre of Chambery, a lovely town in Savoie and I was amazed to see the neighbour women popping out to the local shops in the morning in their dressing gowns!
Amazingly, Cathy and I are still in touch. One of her sons works in London and I see her and her husband from time to time when they come over to visit him. From that first nerve ridden journey grew a total love of travel and discovering new places. My only regret now is that there's so much of the world I haven't yet seen - and so little time left to see it in!
So where did you go on your first trip abroad and what were your impressions when you got there?
xxx
I too had my first trip abroad when I was about 13, my grandpa was a tour guide taking a party of people to Austria and luckily for me he took me too - under the supervision of my Aunt.
We went to a small village called Lermoos in the Austrian Tyrol. My impressions of that trip are still with me - the awesome scenery and the view of the Zugspitze mountain from the pension that we stayed in - the beautiful turquoise, emerald green of the lakes, and the fairy tale castle at Neuschwanstein.
It was a wonderful experience, learning bits of the German language, tasting different foods - I particularly liked the apple juice I remember and enjoyed the evening entertainment - the word holiday romance comes to mind too as I enjoyed the attention I received from the son of the proprietor.
I only have one regret about the holiday, as I was a teenager and not a very good companion for my aunt, preferring the company of a young Scottish girl who was also on the trip.
My grandpa didn't get paid for one of his trips, may be this was the one and he was paid in kind by being given an oil painting of the Tyrol. I have inherited this artwork and every time I look at it I think of the happy days I had there.
Luv Binah
x
I think I was about 12/13 when I went on my first trip abroad with my parents and godparents. We went to Estartit on the Costa Brava and this was in the days before the Costas were all high rise, bingo and fish and chips. It was actually a very pretty little port then. We flew down on a turbo prop job (bit like Indiana Jones:o) which seemed to take ages to get to Perpignan and then took the coach down to the resort.
I remember thinking how exotic and "foreign" everything was, dark haired waiters (who I must have thought looked like film stars) and getting spanish tummy on some fairly innocuous food.
I remember not wanting to come back to boring England and I have not gone back to that resort since but it must have started off the travel bug.
Love
My first trip overseas was to the UK in 1993 when I was 21. We're all on British passports as my Dad is British. We travelled 12000 kms by plane from South Africa (around a 12hr journey). We were amazed by London - shopping in Oxford Street, Hyde Park, Covent Garden, travelling on the tube. We travelled to the Lake District and stayed in a B&B in Windermere, then Cambridge, Dorset (where my Dads family come from), Bournemouth, Oxford (Blenheim Palace), Wiltshire (to see family) and a trip to the Lizard in Cornwall. I just loved everything about England, how green it was and the rolling hills and sheep, the history, magestic castles and the posh accents.
So much so that I travelled to the UK in 1995 and lived in Cambridge for 9 months. Since then I have lived in Australia, travelled round Europe, Canada, Ireland and most of the UK and Africa.
Would love to see the USA someday.
Now been living in the UK for 10 years and once baby is big enough we will take him travelling with us.
My first trip was at the age of 8 or 10 and we flew to the south of France to visit some friends of my parents. I can still remember how excited I was and how I loved the experience of being in a different country for a couple of days.
I simply love to travel now and try to do it as often as possible!