My World Records:
My Own Firsts!
FIRST FRIDAY!
Why not pause for a moment and maybe reflect a bit on your ‘own’ first Friday. I just had a birthday, so I’m reflecting on my life. Here are my three ‘firsts’ in my life—though of dubious distinction they may be:
The world’s first and only ‘travel psychologist’
I was the first to coin this term during my graduate studies in psychology in 1965 at the University of Hawaii. So far as I know I am the first and only person in the whole world to refer to oneself as such.
The first to fly to all 50 U.S. States.
I can’t prove this, but I can make a very good case for it being true. I was the first to complete a contest on United Airlines in 1984 called “the United Airlines 50-State Marathon.” If you flew to all 50 states, either landing in or taking off from you won a FREE first-class pass on United’s domestic routes for a whole year! I was the first of 78 people to complete the contest. So I think I may have been the first person to fly to all 50 states!
Travel guides to sightseeing by public transportation.
Although there may be other similar series, perhaps on mobile devices, I was the first to come up with the concept of showing travelers how to go to the top 50 visitor attractions in fourteen cities around the globe using fixed rail and other public transit. My London, Paris, and Honolulu guides are the most popular in my series.
Those are my firsts; what are yours?