Travel memories - worth their weight in gold.

[Andona]

Special day today. Exactly a year ago today we were in the crowd watching the sun rise at the Dawn Service at Villers Bretonneux in France. That is a memory that DS and DH and I will treasure for our whole lives.

Our house need painting,my carpet is really, really tired and the retaining wall on the side of the house is a mess...but I'd still rather spend my money on travel.

Am I stupid? I hope not! What is your unforgettable memory? What is falling apart at your house because you'd rather rather make another memory?

Andona

 

[alicia1506]

andona -- what a beautiful memory for you and your family.

i remember the look on my partner's face when he saw mickey for the first time, the look on my sister's face the first time she saw wizarding world of harry potter, which had been her dream for years.

this is just the start of our travel journey -- we have put off purchasing our house and will rent for the next several years still so that we can travel now and make our dreams of seeing far horizons a reality

we need a car, a new lounge, a new fridge etc. those kind of upgrades would be nice. but we want to travel

 

[Andona]

Alicia, I'm sure you will remember that look on your partner's face LONG after you've forgotten any lounge or fridge.

Andona

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Andona - I really want to have your experience. I'm tentatively hoping for April 2014.

This is a great thread idea.

Walking into Disneyland for the first time, wow what a dream come true that was.

Watching Wishes Fireworks from the Tomorrowland Balcony at the Wishes Dessert party - best fireworks ever.

Times Square for the first time - Sensory overload, wow.

Watching my kids dance on the "big piano" at Fao Schwarz

Amazing experiences.

 

[aussietravellers]

I think my best travel memory was my son walking for the first time.

We were in Zermatt in Switzerland, he had not shown any interest in walking prior and we were down at the snow park behind our hotel one afternoon and he had a little toboggan and he was standing holding on to it and just turned around, with his arms (for balance I guess) in the air and walked over to me! It was amazing! From that moment, he was walking everywhere, he just sort of took off. It was the cutest most exciting thing

 

[OzCath]

We bought a small house and have quite a manageable mortgage as we wanted to be able to travel and enjoy life. Our house is not flash or fancy, but it's a nice home. We could have paid our mortgage down by quite a bit, but Disneyland keeps calling! The mortgage can wait!

I will never forget walking through the gates of disneyland and mickey was standing at the top of main street, the look on my 2 year old's face was priceless. Little things like that you never forget.

 

[BecBennett]

Isn't it amazing how many of our unforgetable memories are created by Disney?

One of my most memorable moments was the 1st time DH and I went to DLR together. We were on POTC where the boat takes you "outside" between the Pearl and Tortuga. He saw the "clouds" rolling across the "sky" and in the blink of an eye he just got why Disney meant so much to me. That moment really stuck, and because of it we've been able to create so many more.

Things I've given up have been pretty selfish. We could have gotten married here so all of our families could go, but chose to get married at WDW so we would have more amazing memories to tell.

 

[Andona]

Andona - I really want to have your experience. I'm tentatively hoping for April 2014.

I can't recommend it enough. It was such an amazing experience to be in a field so far from home and surrounded by thousands of our fellow countrymen. We'd been touring around Europe for 3 weeks so it was lovely to walk into our Amien hotel to be met by a blast of Aussie voices - they had taken over the bar

Walking into Disneyland for the first time, wow what a dream come true that was.

I share that one with you,totally . I remember I cried.

I think my best travel memory was my son walking for the first time.

We were in Zermatt in Switzerland

Aussie, that is a wonderful memory. You will NEVER forget your sons first steps! I'm ashamed to admit I can only barely remember my eldest first steps. The other two...not at all!

I will never forget walking through the gates of disneyland and mickey was standing at the top of main street, the look on my 2 year old's face was priceless. Little things like that you never forget.

Cath, did you get a photo? Your 2 year old may even remember it too in years to come. Some of those momentous things from our very early life stay with us, I think.

Isn't it amazing how many of our unforgetable memories are created by Disney?

Things I've given up have been pretty selfish. We could have gotten married here so all of our families could go, but chose to get married at WDW so we would have more amazing memories to tell.

That is so romantic! I can't imagine a more beautiful setting for a wedding

 

[Aust]

My oldest daughter is now in the 10 year old 'tween' phase and thinks she's about 25 and has such an attitude, so I really love the memory of her at DL at 6 meeting her favourite princess Snow White and being completely speechless, still innocent and believing in everything.

Also I remember back to when I was a kid and I watched the Wonderful World of Disney every week, and I especially loved the episodes showing Disneyland, and I always wanted to go, it took me until I was 33 but I got there in the end!

We have thought about getting a bigger mortgage, doing a big extension or buying a bigger house blah blah blah but we always come back to the choice of staying in our current house and going on trips instead. And it makes me feel a bit closer to my dad who died almost 17 years ago, he loved travelling and planning trips so I must have got that from him.

 

[ame]

Oh I have so many...

When my DS1 was 10 and the look of amazement when he came out of the subway and we were in New York City.

When we walked into Disneyland Main Street for the first time *wow*. It was two weeks before Christmas.

The pure delight when my kids went zorbing in Rotorua.

The squeals of delight I get from my DD all day when we were at Disneyland. Everything was thrilling with her. A special encounter with Snow White's step mother.

Seeing my two big boys (12 and 13) sitting on a chairlift at Mt Seymour near Vancouver with massive grins ont heir faces after going down the moutain together (after 3 days oflessons).

The first time I took all the kids to the snow 5 years ago at Perisher. And catching snowflakes on our tongue.

The Polar Express on Christmas Eve near the Grand Canyon. A real steam train, a blizzard the day before and three kids that still believed made it magical.

Watching the Nutcracker ballet in Seattle with my daughter and her delighted face throughout it all.

Corrupting my 18 year old niece at The Book of Mormon on Broadway.

The pure joy as my 9yo DS got to meet a Beluga Whale at Vancouver Aquarium.

I could go on all day....

A few years ago we moved away from Sydney and bought a house so we could *live the dream*. We sold it within 9 months and moved back. This is our dream, travelling and sharing these experiences with our children. For too soon they'll be gone and it won't matter what couch we had or if we didn't get takeaway. What will matter is these amazing memories and awesome times we've had together.

 

[battymum]

I guess I didnt really get that feeling at the time - I was so busy worrying if everyone else was having their moment, (and taking their photo - next time I would like to leave the camera behind )

But after we were back and DH says "It wasnt really the holiday I would have planned, but when we first went to MK and we were in Main Street, the sun was setting, and the castle was up ahead, I thought, "this is what Walt imagined""


Oh and when my kids still say randomly six months later - "that was an awesome holiday Mum!"