San Antonio was a place of first for me. It was the destination of my first plane ride. Continental Airlines flight from Cleveland, Ohio to San Antonio, Texas. I was Air Force bound. It was also where I experienced my first divorce and one could say an ending that led to a new beginning. It will always hold a special place in my heart of fond memories, bonds established and where I realized my dream of visiting places out side of the USA.
Let me give a little back story. Picture it is the early 80’s a promising young graduate yearning to break the mode of expectations of the only way to success was to go to college, get a degree. My head was saying those expectations were logical, but my heart was saying something that didn’t seem logical… Military is your ticket to freedom. I followed my head and had a year full of experiences that I will not forget. I decided I would not go back and found myself before the end of that next year on my first rapid transit ride to the airport to board my first plane ride to San Antonio Texas.
I spent a considerable amount of time in Texas. After six weeks of training in San Antonio I embarked to my training station in Wichita Falls where I realized another dream of participating in a military style drill team. I’m not just talking about marching but also with a weapon, not as impressive as the Marines, but a first nonetheless. It was here where I was going to realize another dream of visiting a foreign land. I was bound for Okinawa, Japan, a tropical Island located in the East China Sea between Taiwan and Japan’s mainland by way of Oklahoma. Two years later I would be back in San Antonio for what I thought would be the start of a life of more adventures. I left San Antonio in hopes that it would be for a short time but it would be some 38 years, 2 marriages, 2 divorces, back to the where my heart was truly broken to make peace with to experience the beauty offered by the beauty that I remembered that San Antonio had to offer.
In those 38 years that it took me to get back to San Antonio I have visited 10 countries and 42 states within the US and I am here to tell you that although I would recommend getting to know people, cultures and the diversity from those outside of the United States. These things can all be found here in the US most can be reached by car, some by train, bus or plane and is just as awe inspiring.
TIP: I am fortunate to be able to work from anywhere within the US. In the past year alone I have visited Illinois, Missouri, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Arizona, Florida, South Carolina. Some for a few months, some for a few weeks. There is a service called Landing that offers furnished apartments in several of the states mentioned. Check them out.. If you register and book your first reservation using this link you can get 250.00 discount on your first standard booking.