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I look at this topic from a somwhat different perspective. I think it all begins with the parents. I was fortunate to have parents who loved travel and of course that rubbed off on me bigtime.
While I agree, parents do help influence their children, I guess I was the exception. My family never really traveled when I was growing up, except going to the shore every summer (New Jersey and Maryland) and some day trips to Philly and NYC. They never encouraged my fascination with maps and geography, I just did it all on my own.
My mom never flew until she was in her late 50's (she'll be 71 in December), then you have her son, me, who's been to all seven continents, and lived on two on them by the time I was 35!
While I agree, parents do help influence their children, I guess I was the exception. My family never really traveled when I was growing up, except going to the shore every summer (New Jersey and Maryland) and some day trips to Philly and NYC. They never encouraged my fascination with maps and geography, I just did it all on my own.
My mom never flew until she was in her late 50's (she'll be 71 in December), then you have her son, me, who's been to all seven continents, and lived on two on them by the time I was 35!
Good for you! Yes, there are exceptions to the rule when it comes to these type of situations. Perhaps there is indeed some innate draw to travel/geography afterall. I guess my point is it seems to be diminishing among the younger generation and that is too bad. But your example leaves me hopeful. As one gets older you realize there is so much to learn and explore about our world. This is certainly more important than the latest video game, but it is a hard sell today.
I look at this topic from a somwhat different perspective. I think it all begins with the parents. I was fortunate to have parents who loved travel and of course that rubbed off on me bigtime. We took trips all over the US and Canada by plane, train and automobile, to coin a phrase. But the end result is I am pretty darn good at geography because of it. Today, whenever there is a news event where something of important happens, I immediately go to my US Atlas and look it up because I am CURIOUS exactly where this occurred. This is something that is not innate, but something that was made important by my parents.
Of course it is a different era today. Geography is hardly taught in the schools, and there are too many distractions for today's kids and teens. Video games and the Iphone are mostly to blame, followed closely by Facebook and other social media platforms. Parents may still be able to do what mine did, but it is perhaps more difficult today.
I guess I'm the exception to the rule because I'm on my phone praticality 24/7 but still am facenated with what the rest of the world has to offer. Granted I am 22 which is still young but I pretty much grown up with videogames, social media and cellphones. Technology didn't ruin my intrest in Geography but enhanced it. I remember as a teen watching the accent tag videos on YouTube and reading threads on city data (didn't join till recently tho). I never really had a social life in high school so Geography was always my escapism. Nobody in my family was interested in Geography, but my interest came from just having family members in different states and having teachers and classmates from different parts of the country. I remember when me my cousins visited Chicago they thought Chicago was a state and Illinois was the city, and I'm like "really have you guys ever looked at the map". Having an intrest in Geography comes in handy when traveling because you'll be aware of culture shock.
I guess I'm the exception to the rule because I'm on my phone praticality 24/7 but still am facenated with what the rest of the world has to offer. Granted I am 22 which is still young but I pretty much grown up with videogames, social media and cellphones. Technology didn't ruin my intrest in Geography but enhanced it. I remember as a teen watching the accent tag videos on YouTube and reading threads on city data (didn't join till recently tho). I never really had a social life in high school so Geography was always my escapism. Nobody in my family was interested in Geography, but my interest came from just having family members in different states and having teachers and classmates from different parts of the country. I remember when me my cousins visited Chicago they thought Chicago was a state and Illinois was the city, and I'm like "really have you guys ever looked at the map". Having an intrest in Geography comes in handy when traveling because you'll be aware of culture shock.
OK, you guys are proving me wrong...but believe me that actually makes me happy at the end of the day! More power to 'ya. Geography is indeed very cool.
While I agree, parents do help influence their children, I guess I was the exception. My family never really traveled when I was growing up, except going to the shore every summer (New Jersey and Maryland) and some day trips to Philly and NYC. They never encouraged my fascination with maps and geography, I just did it all on my own.
My mom never flew until she was in her late 50's (she'll be 71 in December), then you have her son, me, who's been to all seven continents, and lived on two on them by the time I was 35!
It's kinda simlar with me. My family never'd really traveled outside the East Coast. None of my family was as intrested in Geography as I am. I pretty much learn everything on my own. One thing about America that's most intresting is that most Americans don't leave their home state. Even middle class Americans hardly go on vacation. I know plenty of people who never traveled more 2 hours outside of their home town.
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Originally Posted by cjseliga
While I agree, parents do help influence their children, I guess I was the exception. My family never really traveled when I was growing up, except going to the shore every summer (New Jersey and Maryland) and some day trips to Philly and NYC. They never encouraged my fascination with maps and geography, I just did it all on my own.
My mom never flew until she was in her late 50's (she'll be 71 in December), then you have her son, me, who's been to all seven continents, and lived on two on them by the time I was 35!
It's kinda simlar with me. My family never'd really traveled outside the East Coast. None of my family was as intrested in Geography as I am. I pretty much learn everything on my own. One thing about America that's most intresting is that most Americans don't leave their home state. Even middle class Americans hardly go on vacation. I know plenty of people who never traveled more 2 hours outside of their home town.
My Dad was in the Navy (enlisted) during the Vietnam War and saw the world for 4 years on an aircraft carrier. My Mom never really traveled when she grew up, and has never lived anywhere outside NEPA (Northeastern PA).
There was a 5 year stretch where I lived in Arizona, Pennsylvania, Antarctica, Hawai'i (Big Island), Midway Atoll and North Carolina. I live in South Carolina now, and joke that in 2030, I want to be living on the Moon or Mars!
When I was a kid I convinced myself that I lived in a very boring place (St. Louis) so I was always interested in other places. My Aunt had National Geographic magazines going back to the 1930s so I would borrow one or two and then got my own subscription later. I loved the maps they would send and my bedroom wall was covered with maps. We had a shortwave radio band on an old Crosley radio so I could listen to other country's English language broadcasts -- Paris, Moscow, Cuba, and even VOA. I wrote letters to Paris and the Egypt Museum and they sent me stuff in return. I had a pen-pal in England. My parents would throw us in the car and take off on road trips but my Dad's philosophy was that if you couldn't see something from the highway it wasn't worth seeing so I only saw glimpses of some things -- teasers that made me want to find out more. We actually drove through Williamsburg somehow with the colonial-clad reenactors running to the side of the street as we went by. At age ten we went through New Mexico and I decided I would live there but couldn't convince the family to move. I finally got there and love it. My Dad also worked for a railroad and we occasionally got passes so I love train travel and I'll go anywhere on a train (Macchu Picchu, Prince Rupert, NYC, LA, Venice, anywhere). I took my family on road trips but stopped at almost every attraction. We retraced the Santa Fe and Oregon trails and walked through the wagon ruts along the way. It turned out that St. Louis wasn't nearly as boring as I thought and now that I live 1,000 miles away I appreciate it more.
When I was a kid I convinced myself that I lived in a very boring place (St. Louis) so I was always interested in other places. My Aunt had National Geographic magazines going back to the 1930s so I would borrow one or two and then got my own subscription later. I loved the maps they would send and my bedroom wall was covered with maps. We had a shortwave radio band on an old Crosley radio so I could listen to other country's English language broadcasts -- Paris, Moscow, Cuba, and even VOA. I wrote letters to Paris and the Egypt Museum and they sent me stuff in return. I had a pen-pal in England. My parents would throw us in the car and take off on road trips but my Dad's philosophy was that if you couldn't see something from the highway it wasn't worth seeing so I only saw glimpses of some things -- teasers that made me want to find out more. We actually drove through Williamsburg somehow with the colonial-clad reenactors running to the side of the street as we went by. At age ten we went through New Mexico and I decided I would live there but couldn't convince the family to move. I finally got there and love it. My Dad also worked for a railroad and we occasionally got passes so I love train travel and I'll go anywhere on a train (Macchu Picchu, Prince Rupert, NYC, LA, Venice, anywhere). I took my family on road trips but stopped at almost every attraction. We retraced the Santa Fe and Oregon trails and walked through the wagon ruts along the way. It turned out that St. Louis wasn't nearly as boring as I thought and now that I live 1,000 miles away I appreciate it more.
Great story. I truly believe as we get older we start to appreciate things we didn't when we were younger. This is a positive thing about aging. So something to look forward to for the younger users of this forum. And BTW, this forum is a great tool for learning geography. I would start with the General US forum, then go deeper with the State forums, and even individual city forums within the State forums. It is amazing how much good information is on this site!
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