53 www. ReadMPM. com | www.MountPl easantMagaz i ne. com | www. ShemCreekRes taurant s . com When my mom asked me to accompany her and her partner Steve on a trip last fall to notch her 50th and final U.S. state, I was grateful and excited that she offered to share this major life milestone with me. After all, it was my mom and dad who instilled in me a love of travel at an early age. Some of my fondest early memories stem from a cross-country road trip our family took to California when I was 7 and my brother Alastair was 10, when we spent the entire summer in Palo Alto while our parents, both history professors at the College of Charleston, researched at Stanford University. On the drive out West we witnessed landmarks like the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and visited breathtaking bucket list marvels like the Grand Canyon. Bryce Canyon, Zion and Petrified Forest are just a few of the other national parks we experienced. A seed was planted that would germinate and grow into full-blown wanderlust, watered and nurtured by subsequent family vacations to Ireland and New England. In 2004, my mom initiated an annual holiday tradition that involved taking an international excursion to a different location each year. Typically, the day after Christmas we would fly out to a new destination and stay through New Year’s Day. The first year it was London, the next Edinburgh, Scotland, followed by Ireland (on two nonconsecutive occasions), Czech Republic, Spain, Costa Rica, France and Belize. Friends and other family members Fifty’s Nifty Experiencing a remarkable travel milestone with Mom BY COL I N MCCANDLESS Photos prov i ded by Co l i n McCand l es s .
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