The summer travel season has officially begun! I don’t know about you, but I always get slightly nostalgic at this time for my family vacations of summer’s past. The Brown’s were road-trippers and the good, old-fashioned, all-American road trip is a part of my intrinsic wheel house like no other travel experience. Once a summer we would load up in our Pontiac station wagon – my sisters Kirstin and Katy as well as Gidget, our beloved Doberman Pinser rescue, who still had her floppy ears and tail. My mom would pack the cooler and we would drive 8 hours to Pennsylvania to see the relatives filling up on bologna and cheese sandwiches and Juicy Juice. We would play games like “Punch Buggy” and “I Spy” and annoy our father with our small-girl bladders and their constant demands. It was bliss. And even though I now fly mostly first class and stay in beautiful hotels around the world, one of my favorite memories is the excitement of pulling up to a Motor Lodge with a “Color TV” sign out front. If the hotel also by chance had a kidney shaped pool-well my sisters and I might as well have been staying at the Taj Mahal.
I bring up my own childhood experiences because I recently moderated a panel discussion on the state of the American family. A child psychologist talked about how vital summer vacations are for making memories; and that memories alone are the building blocks that help children form a stronger bond with their parents, grandparents and siblings. It’s where time isn’t as structured, where ice cream is for dinner and they see their parents behave like kids themselves. Even though it has been a long time that any of us have been children, I find that a summer vacation definitely gives me the light-hearted feeling of being a kid again. A kid with my own money who doesn’t have to share her candy with her sisters, that is.
Now summer has a new wonderful memory for me and that is it’s my Anniversary with HSN. It was a year ago that I first went on-air to introduce my first-ever line of luggage. I wanted to design luggage that was not only resilient and put ease back into travel, but that was so beautiful it would inspire you to get out there and go! We introduced colors that didn’t exist in a world dominated by black luggage. Sapphire blue, Emerald green, Ruby red, lilac and even yellow! It’s luggage that sets you apart and puts a smile on your face. It’s also luggage that just can’t possibly sit in your closet for long. It needs to get out there, to discover and see the world and help you make wonderful and lasting memories. Thank you so much for making my memories of my first year at HSN a very special one.
Now, last one in the pool is a rotten egg!
Sam
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