Origins
Hi! I'm George! My dad has been helping me write about our family and our travels, so let me tell you our story...
It all started with these people. The small kid over there, that's not me, that's my dad. I hadn't been born yet. And those are my grandparents - Isabel and Jorge - they visit sometimes. I never met my great-grandparents - Rosa and Antonio - but I've heard a lot about them. I have other relatives from my mom's and my grandma's side. They are pretty cool too, and their story deserves to be told as well, but we'll leave them for another time - you may be introduced to some of them during our trip...
You see, my great-grandfather Antonio - in the picture above - he was a herder, and he worked the land. I don't think he ever left his island. He taught my dad how to milk a cow.
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He had lots of cows and fields full of corn, chickens, and cattle, vegetables, fruits, and herbs. My dad says he left us a great legacy. He talks about his honor, work ethics, and strength. He lived until he was 92 years old!
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My great-grandparents had five kids - four boys, and a girl. Those are the ones that survived, at least. It was normal back then. And they lived in that house. I am going to go there on the big trip and meet a lot of new people.
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My great-grandfather was very dedicated to his kids and worked very hard towards his family. He took pride in instilling ethics, giving them education, and supporting them in exploring opportunities to be who they wanted to be when they grew up. Back then, the days were long, life was hard, and everyone worked and helped each other.
My grandpa always wanted to leave the island. He still talks about how he used to sit by the water and dream of leaving. He says it was too small. He had a good time growing up there. He had good friends and did lots of cool activities. He used to dive in the ocean and catch octopus and fish with a spear gun, but then he hurt his ears and had to stop doing it, which made him very sad. He says the bottom of the ocean is a beautiful place. When my dad is having fun swimming with my grandpa, grandma always tells him to be careful with his ears, which makes him really upset, and he ignores it.
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Living in the middle of the ocean and not being able to dive was the final straw. He wanted to get out and see the world, but he hadn't even left the island at that point... the world was a very big and unreachable place! As he got close to graduating high school, something my great-grandad didn't do, my great-granddad gave my grandpa whatever money he could and got my dad on a boat to the mainland. He believed in him. My grandpa says it didn't take much until he ran out of cash, but he got a job and worked hard to sustain himself. He eventually went to college and graduated to be a very important medical doctor in the country! He helped a lot of people, and everyone loved him. My great-grandpa was very proud of my grandpa, and so is my dad. He's always happy when he visits us in California.
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When my dad was a kid, he used to travel a lot in Portugal. The world was different back then - borders were closed, traveling was expensive, and there was a lot to see in the country, so they traveled within Portugal, and it was fun! The first time my dad remembers leaving the country was by car. He says it took hours just to cross the border with Spain.
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Once he became a teenager, they started traveling more. They first went to Morocco, then Spain again. France, England. My dad went to Scotland on a field trip with friends from school, and as he got older, my grandparents also started taking off by themselves to other countries. My dad remembers coming back home during college on random weekends, hoping to see grandpa and grandma, and the house being empty because they were out on a trip somewhere.
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Eventually, my dad left Portugal to live in Ireland. That's when grandpa and grandma really took off! Mexico, United States, Cuba, Sao Tome and Principe, China, Vietnam, Australia, Bermuda, Dominican Republic, Tahiti, Barbados, Aruba, Venezuela, Chile, Ecuador, Italy, Germany, Ireland, Iceland, United Arab Emirates, Maldives, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, New Zealand... and many, many more!
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There was always that itch, they were always thinking about where to go next... but they never forgot who they were and where they came from. My dad says the world is a better place because of them.