Here we are in Yosemite National Park in 1990.
Hello from WhereToThisTime.com!
Welcome! I started this website as a tribute to my long-time friend, Margaret, who passed away in 2013 of breast cancer. We were college roommates at Immaculata College (now University). We met Sophomore year in 1984. She was a dietetics major I was a music education major. Through a mutual friend, we found out that we lived quite close to each other in Levittown, PA, and could share rides back and forth to school. We roomed together Junior and Senior years. We went on our first trip together with a group from college to London and Paris and the rest is history. We went on 10 major trips over the years when we were both single and had the time of our lives! We had the time of our lives! It's hard to believe that she is gone and that there is no one here on earth who shares all those memories of college and exploring the world. I had always imagined us in our 70s and 80s sitting on a porch somewhere reminiscing..." Remember when we rode those camels in Australia?
But that was not to be. Since I can't share those wonderful memories with her, I thought I would create this site. I wanted to put our stories out there in the universe for everyone who loves to travel. If you have ever lost a best friend, you know how hard it is. Everyone has their own way of dealing with such profound loss and I have found that this is mine. Instead of being sad, I want to celebrate all the wonderful times we had and the incredible once-in-a-lifetime experiences! It was a privilege knowing her, rooming with her, traveling with her.
The name of this website kind of came from a joke. Our parents and friends were so used to our always planning the next trip, the question was always, okay, where to this time? Those were the days when our biggest problem was figuring out where in the world we wanted to see next. There were so many wonderful places we got to see together and so many we still wanted to see. Hopefully through this site, I can give you some entertaining stories of where we've been and inspire you to travel as well.
As I was thinking of our trips and looking at our pictures, I realized how much the world has changed. Our peak travel was between 1985 and 1995. Those were the days when you took pictures with a camera that had film. We didn't have digital cameras and you had to snap pictures hoping that they weren't blurred, but you wouldn't know until you got home and had the film developed at the photo store. I remember we even put film in lead bags we bought to protect it from the airport x-ray machines so it wouldn't come out foggy. I had to scan all of the vacation pictures to use on this site since I couldn't just plug the camera into the computer, download everything, and share it on Facebook.
We actually sent paper postcards. There was no internet, Facebook, email, or Skype, to stay in touch with everyone back home and let them know what you were up to on your trip. I got my first home computer when we got home from Australia in 1995. It was a desktop Mac with a 250mb hard drive, the largest one they had at the time.
The only technology we had was an audio cassette player that we took everywhere. Everyone used to laugh, but Margaret and I would speak into it every night and tell everything that happened that day, where we visited, what we ate, our thoughts. And we also taped tours when were allowed. We didn't even get camcorders until our 1991 trip to Europe. But when I listen to those tapes now, I'm so grateful that I can hear Margaret's voice and her laughter about the funny things that happened. The idea was born when we went on our first trip to London and Paris and I would stay awake writing in a journal while Margaret was sleeping. LOL
It's fun to look back on those times. I can't believe half of the things we did. I wouldn't trade those experiences for anything. So my advice to you is if you've always wanted to travel, do it! If there's somewhere you've always wanted to visit, go! There's never a perfect time and never enough money. And maybe Margaret and I should've saved more, but then I would never have the memories I have now. You never know what's going to happen. After our trip to Australia, my Dad was diagnosed with cancer and that put an end to our travels. Margaret got married a couple of years later and then so did I. And that was that. But nothing can take away the memories of our great adventures together.
Maybe this website will bring back memories of your own or inspire you to pick a destination and go for it. There's a big, wide world out there, so many places to see, people to meet, cultures to learn. And there's nothing like sharing the journey with the love of your life or your best bud!
I'll leave you with the 10 Commandments of travel that was given to us by one of the Sisters on our trip to London and Paris.
