This is dedicated to my sister Michele Catarina Tracy Chavarriaga for her birthday
Gritting your teeth while sitting in the car during a long road trip, you would yell, “déjame en paz!” This was normal for you when we were young since I was usually the annoying one trying to bother you. You couldn’t sit still, loved shaking and moving in your seat…which we would find out was because you were holding your pee because Papi would get mad at us if we needed to use the restroom too many times.
We would play the road trip game “I spy with my little eye”, and sing “Cielito Lindo” or “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” in order to avoid annoying our parents with the constant restless question of “Are we there yet?” We would listen to Carlos Vives, Gypsy Kings, Gloria Estefan, Maná, all kinds of Classical music, and much more on the vehicle’s stereo system.
Despite all of the fights, the long drives, and the cranky attitudes, one of the best parts of growing up was traveling with my hermanita. There isn’t anyone else that has experienced the world almost the exact same way as me growing up. We both had the privilege of having humble parents that valued experiences and education rather than material things. I am so grateful for them.
Our trips were either to the park in our community, or to go visit familia in South America. We also moved all over the USA, lived in northern México, and visited our family in Colombia together. Every family trip was made together up until our college years. We were quite literally THE traveling hermanas.
Following are some of our most fond memorias I have explorando with you
Where visiting our Colombian family every couple of years was always a big deal:
Living in Texas for almost 7 years meant exploring the U.S. Southwest:
Living in México for 2 years meant exploring a lot of this gorgeous country and receiving lots of visitors:
Moving up North to Michigan meant traveling became less frequent, but the few trips we did take became more extreme:
Moving away from home means meeting up to explore together:
Michele, I truly hope we never stop adventuring together. When and where will our next trip together be? TE AMO MUCHO!
Anyone else LOVE traveling with their sister or siblings? Send us stories, photos, comments, etc!
