How I Caught the Travel Bug.

 

In the late 60's, my brother Mike and his wife took jobs teaching children of ex-pats at the American School in Tehran, Iran. I was around 11 years old at the time. Mike and Kathy wrote to my parents often, detailing their weekday lives at the American School and their weekend lives traveling around the region; skiing in the Alps, shopping in Beirut, Lebanon (then known as the Paris of the Middle East), sightseeing in Italy, and more. Traveling was in Mike's blood and Kathy had been a flight attendant with Pan Am before they married. 

The letters they wrote are what gave me The Wanderlust. I would run to the mailbox each day to see if there was a letter from Iran, or a postcard from Europe. I devoured every word and dreamed of a life where I would live overseas and explore the world. 

Now, fifty-seven years later, my dreams realized, Scott and I are in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia visiting a friend at the American School in Riyadh. Our friend, Yusuf, is the chief Trustee of the school and our visit to Saudi Arabia coincided with his annual board meeting. I told him about my brother Mike and how he had taught at the American School in Tehran in the late 60's and into the 70's. "I would have loved to be in Tehran in the early 70's," said Yusuf.  

"Based on my brother's letters, me too," I said. 

Yusuf arranged a tour of the school and for us to stay at the mostly ex-pat compound located adjacent to the grounds.  The compound, the school, the staff, the teachers (mostly from overseas), were impressive. Everywhere I looked was opportunity. There were two large and bright libraries, an innovation and design center with resources for robot building and the like, playgrounds, soccer pitches, lap pool, basketball courts, gym, and more. I pictured Mike in a similar setting in Tehran teaching class and coaching football after school. I remembered my dad sending football uniforms to the school because none were available there at the time. 

Mike had cancer in his 60's and has been gone since 2007. I miss him so. But walking around the American school in Riyadh, I felt him just a few steps ahead of me, greeting students at they made their way between classes; "Nice shoes. Too cool for school," he'd say with a chuckle. Or, "Practice is at 3:00. Suit up and show up," or other unnecessary, but necessary, remarks to create connection with a student-- "I see you. You can do it," whatever "it" was. Mike was a superb mentor and teacher. Great dad too, as you might imagine. 

It felt like a full circle moment. Mike was the one to inspire me and encourage me to see the world. Each time Scott and I returned from a trip, he was always the first to say, "How was it? Tell me all about it!" 

So, Mikey, it is because of you that I am in Saudi Arabia at an American School like the one from which you wrote life-changing letters home. It's also because of you that when, forty-nine years ago on our first date, I asked Scott , "What do you want to be when you grow up?" he responded, "I want to travel the world." I couldn't be more grateful.