Our First Trip
Our first ever trip to Europe was both inspiring and disappointing.
It wasn’t something we really planned to do. Up to that point, we thought of travelling to Europe as something other people did. Not us. We simply assumed it was too expensive and too complicated for mere mortals like us to even contemplate doing.
But then the opportunity came around to go to Europe for a cruise with a group we were part of. The cruise was to start in Spain, visit Rome and Florence in Italy followed by Corsica before heading back to Spain.
Our thought process went something like this:
- “Really? Spain and Italy?!? No, surely we can’t do that!”
- “Are you saying we can go to Rome and see the Sistine Chapel? That’s not our reality!”
- “But wait, maybe we can swing this? It might be a once in a lifetime chance…”
We were given a date and a price tag. We were also given the choice to have our flights and accommodations booked for us. Once we determined that the price tag was manageable, to our surprise, we jumped on the chance to go on a trip to Europe without really having to think about how this was all going to happen.
And yes, it was both amazingly inspiring and heart-breakingly disappointing.
Europe is inspiring. In those few hours we spent in each city, we discovered a love of art, architecture, history and culture. It showed us how much richer the experience of travel could be beyond being able to say “Been there!” with postcards and magnets as proof.
And yet the trip was disappointing. We could see the possibilities, but at the end of it we were left feeling like we barely scratched the surface. We saw places, yes. We saw the major sights, yes. We saw, but didn’t really experience the place. While in Italy, we toured the Colosseum but we never even got a chance to sit down for a good cup of coffee!
Far from being a once-in-a-lifetime chance, we have been back to Europe several times since that first trip. We learned so much from that first trip about ourselves and what we want to get out of travelling. With every trip, we’ve learned more about how to plan and prepare for our trips, how to enjoy the trip and how to savour the experience when it’s done.
Friends ask us about our trips: how do we plan them, how do we know what to do and where to go, how do we get around. Whether or not you’ve travelled to Europe before, or anywhere beyond your borders for that matter, we hope to share with you what we’ve learned about having an enjoyable and enriching experience when we travel.
