Me, circa 1970’s. Mom with me on the left and Judy on the right. Then Grandma.

She sold everything we had over the course of a few months. Well, we still had clothes to wear, a few books, a terrarium I seem to remember. There were many discussions with Grandma during this time, some more heated than others, but not unusual, and I didn’t get the context (at the time). I don’t remember feeling or being worried. Life as I knew it kept going – school, swim practice, temple, playing in the neighborhood. The loss of “stuff” was not alarming.

One day she returned home with a brand new Volkswagen Combi Van – orange with the pop up top and stick shift. WHAATTT??? It was exciting but why do we need this? Where are we going?

In the Summer of 1973 with the new van and clearly a different point of view, Mom said,

Girls, there is more to life than Shaker Heights Ohio and we are going to find it.

There were three of us, Mom, me, 13, about to enter middle school and my sister two years younger. We were divorced in 1968 – a different time for a woman to leave her breadwinning but cheating husband.

Mom insisted, 

I refuse to raise two young women in a home where I am not respected and cheated on. You girls will learn how to support yourselves. Never rely on a man to ‘take care of you’. You can be and do anything you set your mind to.

More discussions with Grandma, who did not want to understand Mom’s point of view. I remember it was hard for Mom to find an apartment as a divorced woman with two girls, 8 and 6, along with our cat, Thomas. Grandma reluctantly co-signed a lease so we had a roof over our head. The cat went to a new family. Mom had to make the choice - two girls or the cat - the landlord wouldn’t tolerate both.

Mom planned to be a teacher, get married, and have two children. The teaching schedule aligned so she could be home when we were. She rarely worked summers when we were younger, but received her pay year round. She scheduled our summers to include museum visits, summer sports and school, crafts, volunteering and reading a book a week.  I don’t know how she did it on a Cleveland public school teacher’s salary.

Prior to whatever Mom was planning, our family travel included day trips to the beach at Presque Isle in Erie, Pennsylvania and airline trips each summer and fall to see our father for two weeks each, per our divorce agreement.

I think Mom had been preparing for this trip since the divorce. Looking back, she was fearless at 36, leaving Cleveland with her two girls to drive around the United States.

In 1973, my wanderlust was born.

More on the trip later….. how it changed me and gave me Mom’s fearlessness to be a a solo traveler today.

Thanks for reading. Subscribe to receive blog updates to your inbox.

Please leave a comment below.

• What was your first travel experience?

• What are your future travel plans?