By: Kathryn Ludwig

Jake Ludwig’s grandmother, Ann, saw the ad in her American Automobile Association member magazine: a contest for eighth graders with a chance to win an eight-day river cruise in the Netherlands and Belgium. 

Of course she thought of Jake, who is a geography enthusiast. Jake is a kid who gets maps for his birthday and knows the flags of every country in the world. It seemed like a long shot, but Jake decided to answer the four short essay questions and send in a photo to illustrate his love for travel. A few months later, his dad and I would wake Jake early on a Saturday to let him know that he’d won a spot on the first Discovery Crew cruise.

In his application essay, Jake wrote about his love of geography and his desire to travel. It probably didn’t hurt, in a contest for a cruise, that “There was a question about the importance of waterways that I enjoyed answering,” he says.

On March 27, 2019, Jake and I embarked on the spring break of a lifetime. Along with 55 other kids from several states—each with a lucky parent in tow—Jake spent a week aboard the AMA Dante, a cruise ship in the AMA Waterways river cruise fleet. Each night the ship transported passengers to a new city while we slept; each day we visited memorable sites such as the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, the medieval city of Bruges (aka the “Sleeping Beauty”), the original settlement of the Pilgrims in Delfshaven and the European Union Parliament in Brussels.

“Visiting the Anne Frank house made a big impression because I had read the book,” reflects Jake. “It felt strange to think that I was standing in the place they lived.”

He also enjoyed the Keukenhof Gardens’ huge variety of flowers. “It’s an important part of the culture and history of the Netherlands.”

The Discovery Crew project was conceived by AAA Vice President Debbie Haas and AMA Waterways President and Co-Owner Rudi Schreiner. Haas and Schreiner had the idea to give the gift of travel to young people. The result was more impactful than they could possibly have imagined. 

Organizers worked to establish a community of explorers in advance of the trip. Winners received a copy of The Diary of Anne Frank in December. A live webcast prepared cruisers to pack and plan for excursions. A private Facebook group also allowed participants and family members to share their excitement and form connections. Months after the trip, we are still posting in the Facebook group and arranging regional reunions.

It’s difficult to say which part of the trip was the most transformative for Jake: spending a week with kids of the same age from all over the U.S. and learning about their lives, encountering a part of the globe whose history stretches centuries into the past, or returning home with a richer conception of world and self than he had when he left. As an adult, I can look back at my life and identify moments when my sense of life’s possibilities shifted. I’m grateful that I got to witness firsthand one of those great moments in Jake’s life. I fully expect to see the consequences of this experience unfolding for years to come. At the very least, I know that Jake will do everything he can to see more of the world. Maybe I’ll even get to tag along one more time.

“The trip made me realize that I really want a career that involves travel,” says Jake. “It enlarged my perspective on the world. Travel brings you insights and knowledge.”