We all have that moment or experience that sparked our wanderlust and gave us the travel bug. Mine was a trip to Germany while in high school.
Not only did my high school trip to Germany as an exchange student spark my wanderlust, it shaped my view of traveling.
I was 16 and in the 11th grade. One of the languages teachers, Gisela (I went to the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and we were on a first-name basis with our teachers), who was from Germany, came up with the exchange program between our school and one with which she had an affiliation in, Garching, Germany, a small town outside of Munich. I wasn’t currently taking her class but when I saw the post on the bulletin board, I wanted to go on the trip. To sign up, you also had to take her class to learn the basics of German. So, I signed up for her class and for the exchange program.
Upon registering, I was matched with a student. I would first go to Germany and live with her family for two months, and she would then come live with me for two months. Her name was Alexandra, Sandy for short.
Her mother spoke very little English, her father was actually Italian and could only speak German & Italian, her little brother who was two years old spoke toddler and Sandy could speak English very well, which I appreciated because my German was a crash course.
Living with my German family gave me a more cultural sense of travel versus a touristy one. I really got to see how people lived, the culture of their neighborhood like going to the grocery store, going to school, hanging out with friends, going to the movies, the local restaurants, etc.
Each day, Sandy and I would ride our bikes to school. After school, we would go to the bier (German spelling) garden with her friends or the group of exchange students. Yes, the bier garden. The legal age of drinking is 16 in Germany. I gained a lot of weight because of the bier garden, drinking Weiss (White) bier, and eating gigantic freshly cooked pretzels with a tube of cheese or mustard.
Hanging out sometimes meant, as they called it, “grilling out”. An area we went to was along the river that was lined with rocks along the bank. We sat on the rocks and enjoyed food, bier, and each other’s company. We had potatoes, brats, and chicken that we grilled over an open fire we built on the rocks. We placed the crate of bier in the rolling river to keep it cool. We went to local pubs, the opera and so many other things that weren’t on the tour map. We actually only went on two tourist excursions, Neuschwanstein Castle and Aldstat (Old town) Munich and the central Marienplatz square to see the popular glockenspiel show (the clock chimes).
This is the way I like to travel, to curate itineraries for clients and why my radio show is called Traveling Culturati. I like to get up close and personal with the destination and more importantly, the people. I wanna know where they live and how they live. Of course, seeing landmarks and tourist attractions are on the itinerary as well but the culture is the soul of the destination. What is the cuisine of the locals, what are the local hangouts, the music, the art, the traditions, etc?
I am so grateful for that experience, the wanderlust it gave me, and the view of the world of travel I have and share today.
Until next time,
