The World
A mother picking up her child from a playdate once said to me, “I just came across your website and didn’t know you had a long career on television or traveled anywhere. And here I thought you were some Fairfield County shut-in Mom because you’re always with the kids and bake & craft and they come back home with cookies & stuff.”
I seriously had no comeback.
I just politely ushered her and her sweet daughter out the door, brownies & artwork in hand. It’s important to note here that this woman is an executive whose nanny usually picks up the little girl who’s been coming over for years. The Mom blurted her judgmental comment of which she certainly knew nothing about…ah, yes, one should never assume.
True, I’ve had an 
illustrious career distinguished by multiple journalism awards, blah, blah, blah. But being a mother has
been & always will be my most important job. And true, I don’t send kids back home with their homemade goodies on a paper plate saying, “Susie was such a good girl and did you know I’ve been to more than 60 countries over 150 times on 5 continents? Have a nice night.”
What riled me was that any Mom would think any other Mom was a “shut-in” just because she liked being home with the kids. All the kids, their friends and friends of their friends. Yeah, I like that! I like being home with my family & my pets. I’ve been fortunate enough to choose to stay home because I wish to. I’m grateful for it. I like that I only have to go to the radio station once a week & can write from home when the kids are in school. I don’t mind if a Mom works in an office, works from home, doesn’t have a job or doesn’t choose to keep working. Moms should not judge one another, they should support each other & their choices.
That night, memories of my travels flitted through my mind… trains, ships & air on countless flights & logging tens of thousands of miles sailing through the Adriatic Sea, Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea, Pacific Ocean, Andaman Sea, Denmark Strait, Red Sea, English Channel, Sea of Marmara, East & South China Seas, Gulf of Alaska, Mediterranean Sea, Gulf of Aden, Suez Canal, Sea of Crete, Ionian Sea, Atlantic Ocean, Baltic Sea, crossing the International Date Line via ship, learning preventive pirate safety measures through the Suez Canal, and giving a big thumbs up to our US Air Force pilots during a fly-by over our vessel in the Red Sea. Enjoying cool places like Malaysia, Egypt, China, Russia, India, Japan, Ireland, Turkey, Venezuela, Scotland, the Philippines, Germany, former Yugoslavia, Taiwan, England, Mexico, Hong Kong, Denmark, Spain, Guatemala, Sweden, islands throughout the Caribbean, and most of our own beautiful States from the top of the Haleakala Volcano in Hawaii to the bottom of the Grand Canyon in Arizona, to snowy Killington Peak in Vermont and sunny San Diego, California & most everything in between.
Coming from a large multicultural family, I eagerly welcome different traditions, different people, different views, and my travel experiences are packed with wonderful memories & world lessons … with a handful I’d like to forget. Sure, those are the best stories but for another time…
I’ve been a dinner guest at Parliament, a special guest at a Royal wedding, and a Thanksgiving guest in Turkey. I’ve enjoyed divine spa treatments on the beaches of Malaysia and wretched at the sight of travel friends drinking snake blood in Taiwan for a dare. Ewww! (Yes, they became very ill!)
I’ve been to Tianamen Square before the ’89 crisis, to Berlin before the wall came down, to Sarajevo before the war, and to Cancun before President Reagan attended an economic summit there making that once-quiet getaway in Mexico a carousing hub for partying tourists.
I’ve been stuck at the top of a pyramid in Chichen Itza & stuck in a remote beach bathroom in the dark in Marbella Costa del Sol when the door handle broke…and so did the light!
I’ve kissed the great-great-great-great-great…on-and-on direct descendant of Christopher Columbus, a duke, and a well-known European prince who kisses like a lizard. Yuck! Traveling can be good and not so good!
I purchased my 1st major piece of jewelry in Hong Kong along with 100 rolls of film. Yup, took a lot of pictures then, too! I’ve been traveling to Europe & around the world since I was just a few weeks old. So let’s take a little photo journey throughout the years: GERMANY with Mom
GIBRALTAR BARBADOS
MALAYSIA – apparently I liked stripes!
BERLIN WALL
JAPAN
INDIA
Stark contrasts in India, just a walk away
Beautiful Taj Mahal mausoleum on the Yamuna River, commissioned 1632. Sweet monkey.
And below is the Red Fort, Palace of the Mughal Emperors, AGRA, INDIA
Great Wall of CHINA – Odd that we don’t notice these things when we’re younger but why am I standing over that mountainous edge just for a photo!?
Autumnal view through the Wall’s window, Graffiti on the Wall, and LOOK at those STEEP steps!!
LONDON Summer Ball
HONG KONG BOMBAY
CALIFORNIA
TAIWAN
Kinsale, County Cork, IRELAND
PHILIPPINES DUBROVNIK, YUGOSLAVIA (former)
ST. MAARTEN ROYAL THEATRE LONDON
SOUTH CHINA SEA
SPAIN
SEVILLA CADIZ
The GREAT EGYPTIAN PYRAMIDS at sunset…breathtaking
GREAT SPHINX OF GIZA, sitting on the steps in a PALACE IN EGYPT
BEIJING UNIVERSITY
MONTREAL
St. Basil’s Cathedral. MOSCOW, RUSSIA 
ST. PHILIP, ATLANTIC COAST
I was able to photograph the bride during their ceremony at CHIANG KAI-SHEK’s MEMORIAL
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA PENANG
BARBADOS
SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN
TURKEY
HUALIEN
JAMAICA
OSAKA Great Pyramid – oldest of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World
GOETEBERG, SWEDEN
Beer from vending in KOBE….and 26 years later with my Hello Kitty backpack in SCOTLAND
CHICAGO
My Dad getting us on the helicopter to see the Haleakala Volcano in HAWAII & later the waterfalls
KYOTO
TAROKO GORGE, TAIWAN LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND
ISTANBUL
Getting stuck at the top of the CHICHEN ITZA Pyramid in MEXICO. Daddy saved me! And we left the arena immediately in tears in VENEZUELA!
PUERTO VALLARTA TIANANMEN SQUARE
MARBELLA, COSTA del SOL
TURKS & CAICOS
CARIBBEAN ISLANDS (my Mom snapped these shots)
Attended Trinity College, DUBLIN, IRELAND… And visiting a hilltop monument in Ireland
ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, Archipelago, Pacific Ocean
KIEL with my Granddad
NARA, JAPAN
MT. KILLINGTON, VERMONT THE GRAND CANYON
BERLIN
ASCOT, EAST BERKSHIRE, UK
ROYAL ASCOT
GUATEMALA DENMARK
BRANDENBURG GATE, EAST/WEST GERMANY age 9
DALLAS
LLANFAIRPWLLGWYNGYLLGOGERYCHWYRNDROBWLLLLANTYSILIOGOGOGOCH, WALES Longest town name in the world!! This is the train station.
LANCASHIRE, ENGLAND
AMISH COUNTRY, PENNSYLVANIA
MARBELLA A. EINSTEIN MEMORIAL, WASHINGTON, D.C.
NEWPORT, R.I. ILLINOIS
WALES
IOWA KEY WEST
TEXAS
SOUTHEAST ASIA
ADIRONDACK MOUNTAINS OUTER BANKS, NORTH CAROLINA
6 bucks for this hostel in EAST ASIA
ENGLAND IRELAND
KREMLIN, MOSCOW ADRIATIC SEA SUEZ CANAL
SULTANAHMET CAMII Blue Mosque, circa 1609
GUINNESS BOOK OF RECORDS, NYC PARK CITY, UTAH
If you know me, I’ve been snapping photos of kids or with kids for over 3 decades.
Look at these precious children from SARAJEVO & CHINA, simply beautiful!!!
MONGOLIAN barbecue in ASIA MILLENNIUM in EUROPE
NEW LONDON County
NEW YORK CITY ANDALUSIA
WESTERN ASIA with my Mom when I was 5. EAST GERMANY when I was 9.
MAUI
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC SNOWBIRD, UTAH BERMUDA
DUSSELDORF, GERMANY for GRAND DEPART of TOUR de FRANCE
More CARIBBEAN Island pics with Mom eons ago
BEAR MOUNTAIN MEDITERRANEAN SEA CATSKILLS
BERLIN Zoo BALTIMORE, MARYLAND
SOUTH AMERICA NEW JERSEY
GREENWICH Polo
BALTIC SEA BAY OF KIEL
ARABIAN SEA ATLANTIC OCEAN
FLORIDA
Flying to MARTHA’S VINEYARD – our 9-year-old daughter co-pilots 🙂
DUTCH WONDERLAND
MEDITERRANEAN
VALLEY FORGE
VICTORIA & AUSTIN, TEXAS
WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Reagan’s Procession
NEAR EAST around age 5
THE PENNINES
LABOE MALAGA
CHEYENNE SPRING, COLORADO CANCUN
HAMBURG HADRIAN’S WALL built by the Romans 122 A.D.
TURKS & CAICOS GRACE BAY LANCASHIRE, UK
NEVADA
CORPUS CHRISTI LIME ROCK KIEL-WIK
CONNECTICUT PHILADELPHIA
INDIAN OCEAN NYC
VALLARTA return THE HAMPTONS SAN DIEGO
SUEZ CANAL, built circa 1860 YORK, ENGLAND
THE EVERGLADES Elvis’ home, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
NEW HAMPSHIRE SNOWBIRD in UTAH
Photo taken from our towel on a Caribbean beach, eeek
Chillin’ in OCHO RIOS
Old Capitol Building, WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA ILLINOIS
SCANDINAVIA SAN ANTONIO
THE KEYS, PROVIDENCIALES, KOBE & THE BAHAMAS
The Bright Spot – Home Sweet Home ~ As I’ve stated many times on-air, online and in person, my very favorite place to be in the whole world is home with my family & furbabies, feet up in my little white socks, a pony tail, Greek salad & a good family movie.
There are loads more places & photos, but this pictorial refutation has clearly served its purpose. The real point here is don’t judge people especially if you’ve never gotten to know their background. As my friend, Sara, so succinctly put it regarding the woman’s comment – “Honestly, some nerve!!” We laugh because, seriously, one can only chuckle at the mother’s unapprised statement at this point.
Let me just say to that mother who assumed I was a “shut-in” because I like to craft with the kids & make their day magical – there is no greater job than raising the next generation of kindly world citizens, travelers & defenders of Earth & her gifts. That’s my gift back to this planet that’s been a joy to traverse, study, explore & relish!!
Wet Pay
Soaked, but not forgotten, each foot was paid “Wet Pay” for standing in snow for hours.
The thought fondly came to me as I looked out the window now and saw snow on our roof, flurries blowing
 in the wind. I remembered the April Fool’s Blizzard of ’97 when a Nor’easter blasted through New England dumping nearly 3 feet of heavy snow. 
  Not many took it seriously because of the April 1st date, but if you lived through it, that storm became definitely one to remember!
Especially for me. I had been cast as an extra in Steven Spielberg’s upcoming film Amistad (DreamWorks SKG), a true story of mutiny and justice in 1839. Filming had just moved from nearby New Haven, Connecticut to Newport, Rhode Island and I was excited to be a part of an epic film starring Djimon Hounsou, Anthony Hopkins, Morgan Freeman & Matthew McConaughey. 
As I packed my car to leave, the snow just started to move in. My Dad said, “What on Earth would make you drive in this blizzard? I cannot understand this entertainment industry pull.” In the words of Ethel Merman, “There’s no people like show people,” honestly, there’s just no explaining us. My father knew I was a determined free spirit, just like him, and when I had a desire, nothing was going to stop me from doing it.
My parents never stopped us from pursuing anything. My travels around the globe on a ship, climbing the Great Wall of China or the pyramids of Egypt, soaking in the romantic history of the Taj Mahal, flying off to Europe a week after graduation for my 1st job, or saying “yes” to my beloved after 4 days in his presence. So really, how’s a blizzard going to stop me??
It didn’t. I hopped in my car and set off for Rhode Island. The 2.5 hour trip took nearly 7 hours.
  
A little slide off the interstate didn’t deter me; 3 cute officers pushed me back on the highway, later requesting an autographed Miss Connecticut photo each (it was on my licence plate).
   
I had 5 hours sleep and reported for wardrobe at 4:30am. Excited and ready to go, after hair & makeup, I found myself standing in snow for hours…with joy! Even the newspaper photo caption under my picture says, “Undaunted.” Yup.
 
 Changing the face of Newport (above)
  
         (above right)  The photo from the Miss America parade that got me the job with Amistad
Interestingly, the entire earlier part of the movie’s outdoor scenes that had been filmed in previous weeks did so with NO snow. So the outdoor snowy scene that took days to film had to be edited out. But the memories are incredible as are the people I met throughout the experience.
The Bright SpotTMÂ – Remember, if there’s something you really want to do, nothing can stop you. And just imagine the amazing people you’ll meet!
