I think this blog post could be more aptly titled “My Family is Awesome,” because they are the reason I have the travel bug. My parents came from half a world away in Vietnam to meet each other and start a family in Washington, D.C., and they’ve passed it on to my siblings and me. I was born with it.
From the time I was old enough to talk and walk, my mom made sure I knew that the world was a much bigger place than my safe bubble of Bethesda. And that there was so much to see, hear and smell. There was no food too exotic and no such thing as a picky eater. If she gave me eel to eat, I ate it. Fifty-eight years into it, she still needs to see what the rest of the world holds.
My dad was — and still is — documenting every moment of every trip. While my siblings and I moaned in embarrassment every time my dad posed us for a picture, I am forever grateful. The latest technology has allowed me to look back through my life and re-live it through pictures and video. And if you know me, you know a camera is never far from my side.
My brothers and sisters are my partners in crime. We have circled the globe together. If they have the vacation time, any city, state, or country I throw out there, they’re in. We have spent 12-hour plane rides together, five-hour ferry rides, and countless car trips. And we haven’t killed each other yet.
Chau Hoang is part of the well-oiled machine that is production management at Travel Channel.