In the Media

This article was recently published in the Lombardian newspaper. They did a feature on me and my travels that I decided to publish for the benefit my viewers. This is the first of what I hope to be many media appearances.

Lombard teenager shares love of travel
Michael McGerty has done some extensive traveling in the last year or so, and now, he’s using that experience to write his own blog, which those of us who are baby boomers might call an “armchair” travel guide of sorts.
In part, at the young age of 14, Michael has already traveled around parts of Europe and the Middle East and wants to talk about it, but it’s also due to the fact that he did his homework about the history and culture of his destinations prior to the trips.
Michael, a Manor Hill Elementary School and Glenn Westlake Middle School graduate, is about to begin his freshman year at Benet Academy in Lisle, but in the meantime, he has been writing about his trips from his own perspective, according to his dad, Patrick McGerty, with whom he traveled.
Michael said he was profoundly affected by his trips, which last year included England, Germany, and Italy, and most recently, Egypt, Israel, the West Bank and Jordan.
“I decided to write my blog to convince people to travel the world,” the teenager stated, adding, “Most people never learn about the wonderful places of the Earth outside Illinois, and this greatly saddens me.”
“I didn’t know about any of these places until a few years ago,” Michael said, so he spent time researching the places they would visit, with an emphasis on the location’s history.
“I wanted to know what I was seeing,” he emphasized, explaining that he read books, watched documentaries and talked to family members, including one who is a priest and who was able to give him some background information on religion for his trip to the Middle East.
The elder McGerty, who mentioned that he has an interest in world history, said the pair spent months planning out their trips, forming the basis of his son’s research, and chuckled that they learned “there was more to see than we had time for. I called it ‘Dad and Michael’s amazing race.’”
Michael said he was definitely an integral part of the vacation-planning process, saying, “We talked about it together.”
“We spent a lot of time looking at where we wanted to go,” he added.
Both father and son agreed that Europe was a good place to start for overseas travel with tourist destinations in mind.
When it came to taking a trip to the Middle East, the pair researched the safest places to visit, and Michael said he found the trip to be “a far more ambitious venture” than the trip to Europe, “and loved every bit of it.”
The teenager said he wanted to correct misconceptions about the Middle East not being a safe destination for Americans to travel, and in his blog, “I try to convince people that other countries are safer than they think. When I was in the Middle East, the people were very friendly and we never encountered any danger or anti-Western sentiment.”
“I try to alleviate people’s fears,” he added.
Michael said he met new friends both in Europe and the Middle East, commented that the people were “very nice to me when I was there.”
He reiterated that the pair “planned outings to avoid dangers,” such as steering away from locations that are near the missile sites close to the Gaza Strip.
McGerty recalled how the adults were very interested in his son’s knowledge of the areas they visited, saying, “The guides were impressed with his level of knowledge,” adding that their conversations “led to a bond between Michael and some of these guides.”
Even other tourists who heard the teenager making conversation with the guides started asking Michael questions, McGerty said with a laugh.
He believes that it gave his son “confidence beyond book knowledge,” adding that talking about what he has learned is “a unique growth opportunity for him.”
McGerty said that during one part of their last trip a few months ago, the pair had private guides in Jordan and Egypt, and his son got the chance to talk with an Egyptologist “in depth on Egypt’s history.”
The people are “so friendly, hungry for tourism and very much about trying to share their country,” he added.
McGerty said that when the pair returned home, his son was eager to talk about his travels and what he had learned, saying, “How do I share this with more people?”
He said someone suggested a blog, and Michael did just that as soon as he was finished with the school year, in part because when he would talk to family and friends about his travels, “I saw most of them didn’t even know about the places I had been. I wanted to share that with them.”
Additionally, “I want to help my friends in Europe and the Middle East, who helped me when I was there. Many tour guides I met, at least in the Middle East, hadn’t worked in months because tourism was so far down. I want to convince people to learn about, and maybe visit, these wonderful places.”
“He’s a very unique young man. He’s doing this all on his own,” said his dad, with pride.
Michael said he spends as much as six or seven hours daily working on his blog and also runs, logging as many as 5 to 10 miles a day.
When asked who his target audience is, Michael responded that he hopes to get people of all ages interested in traveling to the places he’s been—and other corners of the globe.
“I’m writing as a 14-year-old,” he related, “so everybody can enjoy it and understand more about these places from my writing. I want to tell people to learn more about the places before they go.”
His dad noted that adults have been offering Michael feedback as his blogs continue, so he can develop and refine his writing style.
High school is just around the corner, though, so Michael is realistic in acknowledging that “I’ll probably have to stop writing this much when the school year starts.”
If nothing else, he hopes that people can “at least experience the world’s beautiful sights through my pictures and writings.”
Michael’s travel blog can be found at travelprep.blogspot.com. He can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Stumbleupon, and Tripadvisor.
by Jane Charmelo

All material is owned by The Lombardian and www.lombardian.info. I have no claim on whatever is used.