I can remember a time in my life before Star War and Star Trek. There’s a few years of my childhood in the 70s that were untouched by the pop culture events that would play such a huge part in my life. But when I finally ventured to the final frontier, I was drawn into the human adventure… and I’ve been continuing with it ever since.

I recently chatted about my introduction to Trek on the wonderful podcast, On This Stardate, and it brought back a slew of memories.

One of my earliest encounters was watching a 35mm print of the episode Miri, on a wall at a KOA campground during a family trip. From that first moment, when the crew beamed down to a planet that looked like Earth, but had suffered a disaster of sorts, I was intrigued. And that spaceship… she was beautiful. Her name… Enterprise.

From that moment, whenever I came across it, Saturday mornings, or afternoons after school, I devoured the syndicated series wherever I could find it. And oh my god, there as a movie coming in time for Christmas!

And something called a Happy Meal at McDonald’s – had to have it!! I remember the toy, it was a ‘communicator’ that had a story you could scroll through. It didn’t last long, but I treasured it.

I remember seeing The Motion Picture, and even then, at the young age of 8 I enjoyed it, and was struck by the music. And just seeing the Enterprise on a giant screen, it blew me away. From that moment on, whenever I wear a watch, I wear it with the face on the inside of my wrist. Because that’s how they wore the wrist communicators in TMP.

School days passed, and sometimes I would let my imagination take over, letting the slightly angled surface of the desk serve as Sulu’s panel to fly the Enterprise, and the windows of the classroom, a viewscreen. Trees and playground gave way to space, stars passing by, strange new worlds…

At home, I would put my Legos to work, and construct phasers and communicators, and then I would step outside, shoulder-rolling my way into battles with Klingons and Gorn. I’m sure I came home grass-stained more times than my mother would like, but I was out there, boldly going, and discovering that the human adventure continues.

My parents actually fed my Trek interest, as there were books to be had, which would make Christmas and birthday gifts. There weren’t quite as many Trek toys as Wars toys, so whenever one came along for me, it was something special.

I still remember getting the Mego bridge set in the early 80s. I loved that thing. Trek was everything to me. As much as I loved the fantasy of Star Wars, I lived for the human condition and adventure that was being explored in Trek. And I could watch it so much more often than Star Wars, it was on practically every day!

I traveled with the crew of the Enterprise on an almost daily basis.

When 1982 rolled around and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan hit theaters, this was one of the first new movies I was every allowed to go to on my own. Me and my friend Shawn went, and I loved it. The score, the sweep, the action. And I distinctly remembered hearing a woman sobbing when Spock made his sacrifice.

When our father allowed my sister and I to pick up records later that summer, I grabbed James Horner’s score for Trek II, and she grabbed E.T. – both currently sit in my collection.

I revisited the show whenever I found it on television. I wondered at the images of The Animated Series which I didn’t see when it aired. And then with The Search for Spock on the horizon, I read the novelization in one sitting the day before I saw the film, and shortly before my family moved to Bermuda.

More James Horner, and I loved stealing the Enterprise, and the sacrifices my heroes made for one another.

In Bermuda, I tore apart my Star Trek wall calendars and decorated the walls of my bedroom with the images. I read Trek novels constantly, picking them up in shops and from friends. The pocket of my school blazer constantly had further voyages of the Enterprise contained within.

That’s all there was for awhile, until there were rumors of IV and a new television series. I was in it from the get-go. While I was curious to see what Trek would be like without Kirk, Spock and McCoy, I was more than willing to boldly go to see what happened after Kirk’s time.

I remember seeing The Voyage Home in the theater, and then getting my first glimpses of The Next Generation on the teaser that ran before the VHS release of Trek IV. I devoured Starlogs for any information, and couldn’t wait to continue the journey…

And thanks to Mr. Simpson, my math teacher in high school, he provided me with video tapes of the episodes as they aired. If I worked hard in his class – and I struggled with Advanced Math, I fought for my grade every step of the way. I think he knew that, so he kept me in Next Gen episodes.

Thanks Mr. Simpson!

And there was my friend Steve Gallant, a young man making his way through the business world of Bermuda. He founded the first official Star Trek club in Bermuda. There was an article about it in the island’s paper of record, The Royal Gazette. And I hunted him down from there, eager to join up.

He was and is a treasured friend, and our love of Trek, 007 and great films formed a fast friendship between us. He’s a composer now, and an excellent one at that.

Next Gen saw me through the end of high school, my post-secondary education, and my first steps into the job market and adult world.

Now it provides comfort, and there’s a Trek to fit any one of my moods. Deep Space Nine showed me a darker side, Voyager was about exploration and the long journey home, Enterprise gave us a glimpse of what happened before Kirk…

And then there were reboot movies, an second animated series, and more television series, a final send off for Next Gen… the human adventure continues and I keep boldly going. They’ve given me new friends, Dennis, Amin, Bryan. A shared vision of a better world.

There’s so much Trek, it feels like it has blossomed as I have blossomed. Sure there are some stumbles, but the successes are sweet.

Anytime I step onto an elevator, my mind whispers, “Bridge.” Whenever I stand at the doors of a subway coming to the stop, I’m Kirk stepping off the transport at Starfleet Headquarters.

Trek has been an essential part of my life since it first came into my life. The musical themes constantly arise in my mind, the characters let me strive to be more, and the stories keep me coming back, rewatching episodes in new ways, seeing new things as I watch them with older eyes.

I love my Star Trek. It is an intrinsic part of my life, and we’ve both grown together. It’s hard to believe there was so little of it when I was a child, and yet it played such an integral part of who I became. I love watching it, listening to it, reading it, and with all that it is I hope to live long and prosper…