Unforgettable Memories

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Unforgettable Memories

In 2018, while I was curling my mom's hair, we watched a documentary about historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). My mom attended Southern University, an HBCU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. As memories flooded back, she shared stories of the summer she spent in Switzerland after her freshman year of college. I paused, feeling incredulous that my mom, a young Black woman who grew up in a family without any degrees, could travel to Europe in the 1960s.

A Fascinating Story About the Ticket to Switzerland

My mom recalled, “We traveled around Switzerland for two months, and that trip changed my life.” She participated in a program called the International Living Experiment, thanks to a passionate professor, some donations from the school newspaper, and even a car wash she organized with her classmates. Eventually, she raised $1,500 to make the trip, and at the age of 19, she set off for Switzerland. Since then, she had never returned.

As I listened to her stories, I promised to go back with her one day. We could walk in her footsteps, revisiting the places that had left an imprint on her heart over the years. Almost seven years after that conversation, we made our dream a reality. In September 2025, we had a week and two Swiss Travel Passes, allowing us to travel by train from Geneva to Zurich.

The Journey Begins in Geneva

We decided to revisit towns my mom had known, like St. Gallen, Lucerne, and Zurich, while also exploring new places like Geneva and Interlaken. Our goal wasn’t to recreate her trip but to honor the significant locations and see which memories would resurface along the way. The sadness of my father's passing, after years of battling dementia, added urgency to this journey for me.

When we arrived in Geneva on a bright afternoon, the first sight that caught my eye was the shimmering Lake Geneva. We had a delightful conversation with our taxi driver, Alberto, as my mom shared about this special trip. Alberto grew up near Lugano, and that sparked memories from my mom’s past. Before heading to Switzerland, she had planned to marry her then-boyfriend.

Memories from the Past

My mom reminisced about an evening stroll by Lake Lugano, feeling the stark contrast between her life then and her life back home in Wales. She told herself that the world was vast and full of opportunities to explore, and she didn’t want to get married at that moment. Had she not made the decision to abandon that plan, she might never have met my dad, a fellow traveler and social activist.

As I caught sight of our hotel, The Woodward, I felt grateful for the city of Lugano. During her previous trip, my mom had never visited this place. Together, we experienced the feeling of being global citizens, something that seemed to be fading at home.

Memorable Experiences in Switzerland

We joined a tour of the United Nations Palais des Nations, sat at the desk of the Human Rights Council, dined at Restaurant Les Armures, the oldest restaurant in Geneva, and after wandering through cobblestone streets, we rejuvenated in our hotel room.

On my mom’s birthday, I pampered her with a massage at the Guerlain Spa in the hotel, where the staff surprised us with a plate of pastries featuring the words "joyeux anniversaire" written in Swiss chocolate. The joy between the two generations, aged 19 and 76, filled the air.

An Adventure All Around

We continued our journey deeper into the country by train, transitioning from city streets to lush green hills, cow-filled meadows, waterfalls, and lakes. During the trip from Geneva to Interlaken, an image of my mom flipping through a photo album and smiling flashed in my mind. Those little photos captured the life-changing summer: family welcomes, an open-air bus ride in Basel, murals and churches in St. Gallen, visiting a cheese factory, and skiing in St. Moritz.

As familiar sights rushed past the window, I felt as though we were reliving those memories in real-time. My mom wrote extensively in her travel journal, determined not to let any memories slip away again.

Returning with Memories

In Interlaken, I watched as my mom gazed in awe at the fields of flowers and vibrant lakes, like a child discovering the world for the first time. I was also surprised when she explained the rules of playing roulette at the Grand Casino Lucerne. In Zurich, we savored creamy chocolate at the Lindt Home of Chocolate and sipped coffee from our hotel balcony while Swiss residents swam in the chilly waters below.

My mom often felt sadness thinking about not being able to return to Switzerland over the years, but I always reminded her that the most important thing was that we succeeded in this trip.

Watching her enjoy those moments, I understood that she carried a significant responsibility on her shoulders. My love for travel didn’t stem solely from my own desires but also from my parents’ encouragement. They took me on my first flight when I was just three months old and never stopped, nurturing my growth in a vast world.

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