"A Family of VTers." ATXtraveler's Profile

Anna was born May 10th, at 9am weighing 6lbs, 7oz, and 19 inches long. More to come later, but here is a picture to get you started! Pictures of Anna

Anna now has also taken her first real road trip with us to New Orleans!

It has been quite a while since I have re-vamped my home page, so I thought I would start fresh and see where that gets me. My name is Mark*, and I was born and raised in Leona Valley, CA . While growing up, I had a lot of opportunities to go on trips around the US with my parents and grandparents. There was always an adventure waiting out there somewhere.
I took a big step in 1995, moving 1500 miles from home to Waco, TX where I attended Baylor University . Moving here was a great catalyst, as it allowed me to tour all over the country playing rugby, which is still my favorite sport to watch and play. My first college road trip was to Huntsville, TX to play Sam Houston State University, although back then I was not nearly as interested in taking pictures as I am now.

In 1998, I moved to Austin, TX to work for Dell Computer. While here, I had the opportunity to fly to various Dell facilities, and increase my interest in commercial air travel. During that first year in Austin, TX , the rugby team I played for was offering a round trip air and land package to London for the Rugby World Cup, which piqued my interest. Off we went for 14 days in the United Kingdom, including England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. I thoroughly enjoyed my time here in small towns like Hitchin and Twickenham, and also the bigger towns like London and Belfast. Now that I had my passport, and had experienced International travel, the bug you likely have experienced yourself hit on full force, and I have been touring ever since.
September 2001 was truly the best of times and the worst of times for me as a traveler. In August, my roommates and I found a killer deal to Germany, and made plans for a two week tour-de-force throughout Bavaria, the Czech Republic, Amsterdam, Belgium, and Frankfurt . Shortly after making arrangements, terrorists flew two planes into the Twin Towers in NYC, killing thousands of my countrymen. My roommates and I came together that night and made a decision I happily support today, each agreeing that if we put our trip on hold, the terrorists would win. We boarded that plan on Sept. 15th, and took our trip to Germany, where we were proud of the unbelievable support received from the Europeans we met. Each one seemed to thank us for coming anyway, and appreciated the dollars we spent in their country. We especially felt the love in Munich , Stuttgart, and Ulm. This appreciation let me realize that despite our political and religious beliefs, people from all over the world who call themselves “travelers” are able to bond together and enjoy the positives of life, and share with each other the great things about their cities instead of focusing on the negative. I have tried my best to share those things with other travelers that darken my doorway as well.

In 2003, the world changed for me again, when I met my future wife, Sarah. I had never met someone who had as many ideals and goals that matched mine before in my life. Our similar interests in family, friends, and the love of travel have carried us through some great experiences in our life, including Egypt , the Caribbean, and on to our biggest adventure… moving to Australia. Directly after our wedding in Waskom and honeymoon to French Polynesia , Sarah and I accepted a job transfer to Melbourne, Australia. For the first two years of our married life, we were 15,000 miles away from friends and family. Luckily, we had visits from her parents, Sue&Gene, her best friend, ADawn412, and her Brother/Sister-in-Law, Wisxox. We also really got into VT, when we met the Melbourne VT members! After wonderful times in Melbourne, Victoria, and visits to Uluru and the Great Barrier Reef , we moved to Manly for a couple fun months living on the beach outside Sydney, Australia. When two years started coming to an end and my job commitment had ended, we heard the biological clocks ringing and decided to head back to Texas to start a family. Soon to join the VT community will be its youngest member, Anna Elise. She is expected on or around June 7th, 2008. Surely it will be the happiest day of my life, but I just hope the next 20 years can be as eventful and joyous as my current years of travel have been!

Right now, there are plenty of trips going, however Sarah and I are planning on having our next adventure, Anna Elise!

I do still make frequent trips on business, so I will be adding small pages as we go. Recently, I have been to San Antonio, Gruene, and San Marcos, TX. I may also be adding more information to my Costa Mesa and Santa Ana pages in California!

Sarah and I in Trunk Bay, US VI

International Timeline:
1999
Obtained a US Passport
1999 - October
UK - London to Wales to Ireland through the RWC99
2001 - September
Germany - Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Munich, Dachau, Germany, Ulm, Schloß Linderhof
Austria
Czech Republic - Prague
Netherlands - Amsterdam
Belgium - Brussels
2002 - November
Canada - Toronto
2002 - December
Mexico - Cancun/Cozumel
2003 - September
Mexico - Mexico City
2003 - December
Eastern Caribbean Cruise
US - Puerto Rico
St. Maarten
US VI - St. John/ St. Thomas, US V.I.
2004 - May
Egypt
2004 - December
Belize
Honduras - Roatan
2005 - March
French Polynesia
Tahiti
Moorea
Bora Bora
2005 - April
Australia
New South Wales
2005 - July
China
Shanghai
2005 - August
New Zealand
Auckland
2006 - February
Malaysia - Kuantan
Singapore
Thailand - Ko Samui
2007 - March
Hong Kong
Japan - Just for Air transit
Malaysia - KL and Penang
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand – Bangkok
2007 - June
Canada - Montreal
2007 - August
Argentina
Brazil
Paraguay

Saraheg77 - Sarah (my wonderful wife)
MommaCarroll - My mother
Sue&Gene - Sarah's Mother and Father
ADawn412 - Sarah's Best Friend
BarbieAnn - Sarah's Aunt
Jesscamacho - My former roommate Jessica
MattCluin - Friend from Austin, Matt
Wisxox - Sarah's brother Stephen

Feb. 2005 - Austin VT Meet
Asgottl - Amy from somewhere around the world
Butterfly_Kym - Kym from Austin
WalkaboutWally - Sam from Adelaide, Australia
Stephen-KarenConn - Stephen from Sharonville, Ohio
Skibbe - Scott from Austin
Mertmh – Mark from Austin
Saraheg77 – Sarah from Waskom
Yelli - Danielle from San Marcos

May 2005 - Melbourne VT Meet
Anne12 - Anne from Hepburn Springs
AussieJenn - Jenn from Melton
Audrey118 - Audrey from Kuala Lumpur
Ray_D - Ray From Malta via Elwood, AU
Rosie235 - Rosie from Melbourne
Suzyq40 - Suzie from Melbourne

July 2005 - Melbourne VT Meet #2
AussieDoug - Doug from Sydney

July 29th, 2005 - Auckland VT Meet
Kiwi - Pam from New Zealand
MorePork - Audrey from New Zealand
FlyingKiwi - Mark from New Zealand
AlliKat - Allison from England
WorldKiwi - Glenn from New Zealand
IcemanNZL - Wayne from New Zealand
CabernetMan - Ken from New Zealand
Kiwigal_1 - Rhianon from New Zealand

August 17, 2005 – Melbourne VT Meet #3
Craic - Jen from Wingello, AU
Moonlightsmile - Sue from Melbourne
Relax47 - Dave and Wendy from Melton, AU
LaCristina - Cristina from Pittsburgh, US
MesoBlonda - “Mel”inda from Concord, CA, US
PaoSeo - Paola from Trieste, Italy
Dmirebella - Deepa from Malaysia
Leffe3 - Keith from Melbourne (although he is rumoured to be a POhM)
Aussie75 - Micky from Melbourne
June 2007
B1Bob - The Infamous Nat from Richmond
Germany
tini58de - Christine from Karlsruhe, Germany