My parents started taking my sister and me on cruises when we were very young. My sister was 3 and I was 8. Let me start with, cruises are my favorite thing in the whole world! Since I was 8, I have been on 16 cruises, and in November I will make it 17, I am now 20 years old. This isn't something I am trying to brag about, it is just a very big part of my life. But ever since I started cruising and talking about it with people, the first thing they say is, "Wow! Your family must be rich!"

NO! My family is not rich.

Here is the deal, my family puts vacations and cruising as one of our top priorities, if not our top. This is how we spend time together, this is how we make memories. My mom always told my sister and I that she would rather take us on cruises than buy us stuff that we won't remember two years later. Cruising and the memories we make will last us a lifetime. So my parents didn't buy us name brand clothes or get us every toy that was popular, and my sister and I understood that this was the exchange for the trips we got to take.

My parents also felt that cruises and vacations were an educational experience that shouldn't be passed up. Yes, cruises were a vacation and we had fun at the beach and dancing at parties, but they also taught us a lot about life. I still remember the first time we went to a third world country on a cruise. We did a taxi tour around the island and we saw how the people on the island lived.

As a kid, it opened my eyes to how different life is for people and how I was so lucky to have what I did. Not only did they teach me about the world but they forced me to be more outgoing. I had to introduce myself to kids I didn't know and I participated in games in front of the whole ship. You could ask my parents and they would tell you that I learned a lot from cruising that I would have never learned in school.

My parents didn't just have this money laying around, they made sacrifices to give us these experiences. My parents hardly ever did stuff just the two of them, they never got the fanciest car, and they never bought themselves unnecessary things. They were always trying to save money. For my graduate trip, a cruise from Barcelona to Italy and France, both of my parents worked a small extra job to help save money.

In addition, cruises are cheaper than most people think. When you see a price for a cruise you have to remember that that includes your food and lots of activities and entertainment. Plus, there are always deals! A lot of times, my mom found a cruise where kids sailed free with each adult! Cruises are a very economical way to travel.

So, there, that's the break down of how I have gotten to go on so many cruises when my parents are not rich! I am so incredibly blessed and thankful. Thank you, mom and dad, for these experiences and showing me my true passion in life, travel! I couldn't have found it without your guidance and sacrifice... but I think you got some fun from it too!