I want to travel and be the next Marco Polo.
On a serious note, do I really want to? As I turn 32 this year, I’ve barely scratched the surface of visiting every state in the country, and the only time I have left the U.S. was to go to Iceland. More on that as you keep reading.
The phrase “quality over quantity” I’ve recently applied to my travels. While it would be nice to have as many vacations as possible in one lifetime, the experiences and memories made last longer if there’s not as many of them.
One of the earliest “quality” trips I can remember was with my mom, dad and 12-year-old brother in June 1998. We rented a minivan in Illinois and drove to Florida … a rare time where we didn’t fly.
Getting into the Orlando area, we stayed at the Disney All-Star Sports Resort’s Hoops Hotel. As mentioned before in a previous column, I love basketball, so 5-year-old me was amazed to see large hoops decorate the balconies.
Walt Disney World and Universal Studios were our main visits. Honestly, most of the experience was a blur, and that’s to be expected when visiting at such a young age. Definitely want to come back here some day, though.
One thing I’ll always remember clearly at Universal — thanks to a photo album from the entire trip in my possession — was visiting Nickelodeon Studios. The facility opened in 1990 before later closing in 2005 and was where the network filmed many of its shows throughout the decade.
Tours were given through the studio that would last about 40 minutes. When I went on it, a viewing area provided a glimpse of game show “Figure It Out” between tapings on the soundstages. Then, the guide took us to the “gak kitchen” to see how that awesome green slime was made. It concluded in Game Lab, where we could watch tests of potential activities for upcoming Nickelodeon programming.
Lewis Marien, 16, poses July 14, 2008, next to a display advertising “Avenue Q” outside of the John Golden Theatre in New York. Seeing the musical was a highlight of his first trip to the Big Apple.
Another “quality” vacation was New York City in July 2008. This time, it was just me and the parents going together (my brother, now a young adult, already left the nest to study at Berklee College of Music in Boston), with flying as the only option.
The first Big Apple trip was as good as advertised in movies and TV shows. Staying in Midtown, we were close to all the touristy things. We also did a ferry to Staten Island, so I could at least have one photo of the Statue of Liberty in my collection. We explored Chinatown a little bit, too.
However, the biggest highlight was getting to see one of the finest works ever, “Avenue Q,” at the John Golden Theatre. The premise of the 2004 Tony award-winning musical features a mix of puppetry and live action, à la Sesame Street. While the latter is cheerful and family-friendly, “Q” takes a 180-degree turn, touching on the subjects of LGBTQ+ identity, addictions and schadenfreude. But it also has moments where it hits hard, especially about going back to college; the lyric “I wish I had taken more pictures” is so deep.
Lewis Marien takes a selfie May 26, 2016, at the Blue Lagoon in Grindavík, Iceland. It’s the only time, so far, he has ventured out of the United States.
Iceland in May 2016 was as “quality” as it gets … the reason why I got a passport. Although, the only time it’s been used so far.
Once there, I had to get used to the sunrise and sunset, as there are more daylight hours than night. We stayed in Reykjavík, although we enjoyed traveling all around the surroundings. Geothermal spa Blue Lagoon in Grindavík, is highly recommended. A day-long bus tour took us from place to place, as we explored a national park, dairy farm, waterfalls and geysers.
The big moment during this entire process was seeing my brother get married at a Lutheran parish church.
Lewis Marien photographs the volcano outside of The Mirage in Las Vegas on Dec. 22, 2019.
Last but not least, a “quality” excursion was Las Vegas in December 2019. This one’s special because we were wanting to get together for a holiday-themed gathering, and it now included the sister-in-law’s side of family. With our home base at The Mirage, our first night on the town was venturing to The Linq Promenade for live entertainment. Then, we went back to the Mirage for the volcano show and some gambling. While we did a lot of things together, including the Cirque du Soleil show “Love” set to music by The Beatles, my only individual activity was seeing the Vegas Golden Knights face the Colorado Avalanche at T-Mobile Arena. Although I am no fan of either, it was great to check off my list an NHL game.
Can’t wait to have more “quality” adventures, whenever those will be.
