• Bio

ELouise Ondash

E’Louise Lucier Ondash decided she loved traveling after taking her first ride on a commercial airliner in – well, let’s just say it was sometime during the last millennium. Since that time, she’s traveled more than some; less than others, and never regretted any destination. E’Louise began her professional life as a registered nurse, then oddly moved into journalism. She was an investigative reporter, feature writer and health care columnist for a daily paper in San Diego County for two decades. She has written for health- and nurse-related websites for the past 15 years, and travel features for The Coast News in San Diego County for more than 10 years. Read her “Hit the Road” features at https://thecoastnews.com/blog/category/columns/hit-the-road/. E’Louise also co-owned a San Diego-area tour coordinating company and is a certified guide with the San Diego Professional Tour Guide Association. Her favorite words of wisdom come from Susan Sontag: “I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.”

People have asked me why i like to travel. In fact, one relative, who shall remain nameless, even insisted that there’s no point to travel when you can stay home and watch the Travel Channel.

“It’s all the same experience, isn’t it?” he asked.

If that’s the mindset, it’s pretty difficult to answer that question.

I’m not sure when I first got the travel bug, but I remember thinking that it’s what you do when you grow up. Both my parents traveled quite a bit — my father at first because of work, and later, when their 11 children were old enough, my parents went together. I also remember hearing my father’s stories about World War II and the South Pacific, and my mother was a WASP (Women’s Air Service Pilot) during the war, which took her all over the country. She was an adventurous woman and a great role model.

I remember saving my nickles and dimes so I could spend a week or two at a camp in upstate New York. It was probably all of an hour’s drive away, but to me, it seemed like a world away. There were the trips on the train to visit my grandmother in Indiana,and a drive to Canada with my best friend and her father. I got carsick and threw up all over the back seat of his new car. He must have been really angry, but I only recall that I felt really miserable.

Almost anyting can happen while traveling and I’d still insist that I had a good time – and most of the time it is true.

My husband and I realized we both loved to travel not long after we met, and have spent most of our lives together planning for the next trip. All our adventures have created friendships, expanded our worlds and given us many great memories.

This blog is meant to share some experiences beyond what I’m able to relate in my regular travel features that run in The Coast News (San Diego County), published weekly in print and online.