Ed Fitterer doesn’t remember the conversation exactly, but the tone was unforgettable.
In the mid-1990s, when he was a junior at Monmouth University, Fitterer told his mother that he was going to move to London for more than half the year to take advantage of the school’s study abroad program. His mom’s reaction could be summed up in two words: What? Why?
“I was always trying to do something else,” Fitterer said recently, reflecting back on his pitch to his parents about leaving the nest, neighborhood, state and country. “I think it took them by surprise. Between me and my twin brother, I was always the one trying to push things.”
What started in London soon led to Paris and then Dublin, Hong Kong and Greece, Egypt and Costa Rica. You get the picture. The program ignited a passion for travel and exploration that has not waned; in fact, it has only grown stronger over the years.
“There was a group of us (studying abroad), and every Friday night we left and we wouldn’t come back until Monday morning. We would take the train and we backpacked all of Europe, thirteen countries in all. We were in Dublin for St. Patrick’s Day, Rome for Easter Sunday. We saw the crowds listening to the pope deliver his Good Friday mass in Vatican City.”
For Fitterer, who has a law firm in Ocean that focuses on business law, civil litigation and real estate, the study abroad program was an opportunity that he could not pass up. His family didn’t travel often, so this was his chance to see what else the world had to offer. To call the trip “life-changing” would be an understatement.
“I actually met my wife there,” he says of that first trip to London. “She was in the same program as me, but lived only about 30 minutes away from where I did back in New Jersey. She was in the same situation as I was, just feeling the need to get out and travel.”
A few years after coming back to New Jersey, Ed and Nancy were back in London – this time for their wedding. “London holds a special place in our heart,” Fitterer said, adding that their wedding was an opportunity to bring his parents abroad, along with about 30-40 additional guests. They've been back three times and also count Paris among the special spots they've visited.
"The last time we were in Paris, I re-proposed to my wife because I was able to afford a bigger ring," Fitterer said of their third trip to the City of Lights. "I was trying to make up for not being very romantic the first time."
Between Ed, Nancy and their children, travel is clearly a big part of their lives. Ed jokes that he is never really satisfied with a trip because his mind is always wondering about the next one. At some point on a trip, or at the very least on the plane ride home, the four of them will discuss their next adventure. And it is a four-way conversation; Ed says that their kids are involved in choosing the next stop for this globe-trotting family.
“We’re all equal voices with that,” he says of picking a destination. “It gives the kids a real good reason to learn about places, too. I have learned so much traveling. Stuff you can’t learn from books. They have become well-rounded from the traveling we do. That is one of the draws. You learn so much about yourself and other cultures.”
The cultures and experiences are worth the cost, Fitterer says. Everyone knows that travel isn’t cheap, and he says they make sacrifices elsewhere to make these trips happen. The value of snorkeling in the Red Sea – “The water there is so blue, so clear and so warm. The coral reefs are just insane.” – or going to Iceland to see the famous waterfalls during the midnight sun, a time where the country experiences 23 hours of daylight, goes far beyond dollars and cents.
“Why do people do anything? I just don’t know,” he says of the insatiable desire to get out there and see what the world has to offer. “It’s such an important part of our lives to do it.”
And while the majority of their trips are what Fitterer calls “off the beaten path,” they’ve also done Disney – “way too many times,” he said – and their fair share of big cities. The way he describes it, they aren’t city people or beach people or even Disney people; they're travel people, and wherever they go, they are fully immersed in the experience.
“There’s really no reason behind it, other than you just can’t get it out of you,” Fitterer said. “You just keep exploring.”
Ed Fitterer's law firm provides legal guidance across a wide spectrum of real estate matters. He can be reached at: 732.573.7333.
“There’s really no reason behind it, other than you just can’t get it out of you. You just keep exploring.”
"I have learned so much traveling. My kids have become well-rounded from the traveling we do. That is one of the draws.”