Travel

Several of you have asked when we'll be leaving for Europe...Sunday, May 27th at 10 am from Gulfport, MS. We fly to Atlanta and then to Rome. We should arrive around 9:30 am on Monday morning and will then go to our hotel, drop off our bags and begin to enjoy our day. To say we can't wait would be like saying, well, the most obvious thing in the world.

I think this trip has just about monopolized every aspect of our lives. When I get dressed or go to the store, I say, "wouldn't this be a cute outfit to wear in Europe?" When I exercise I like to imagine how it will feel being IN Rome walking through ancient city streets or hiking along a trail in the Swiss Alps. I try to keep my footing extra carefully just in case I'm in cobble stones. The girls can't wait to take pictures of themselves with hot Italian men (they're 15 and can't help themselves...). The beach time in Venice sounds "divine" to Alyssa. Seeing castles is going to be totally cool for all of us...not to mention Elizabeth getting to go to France and actually hear the language she's been studying for the past two years spoken. I hope she has the nerve to try to at minimum order some food. For David, the idea of being without cell phones, e-mail and other work stresses may make a rebel out of him yet.

We are taking a tour with the Rick Steve's Europe Through the Back Door tour company. I like Rick Steve's PBS travel videos and own a complete collection. I think he has an interesting philosophy about travel and tries to steer travelers away from traps and into pockets of unique history and culture. For that reason I'm extremely excited.

However, I don't really like to travel with a set itinerary. Years ago I discovered that on the Myers Briggs personality type indicator I'm a "ENFP", with the P being the most important component of my travel desires. P means perceiving and a P person likes to "go with their whim," to oversimplify it a bit. In a leadership seminar I attended, we even had to plan a vacation as a group of P's, while our opposite personality group, the J's (Judging) had to plan one too. When the J's got up to do their presentation they were all tidy and neat with printed out lists of what they needed and how they came to their decision. They went through step-by-step how they had planned their trip. Number one on the list: "budget." When the presenter said that, I laughed out loud. I was so embarrassed because it was a terribly rude thing to do, but our group NEVER EVEN considered how much money we had to spend. This is how "P" we were.

In fact, David and I are both strong P's. He hasn't been officially tested, but after reading the descriptions, and going through a few seminars, I can guess. When we travel, we always go independently, get in the car and go. My only requirements are that we have a hotel everywhere we plan to be and that there is a car rental secured. Then we get to our hotel, look around, examine some guidebooks, talk to some people, and set out to explore. We have found ancient stone circles, works projects in Ireland, the wonderfully cute town of Cobh in Ireland. Whenever we feel like it, we stop and take pictures. If we'd planned to do something and ran out of time, we know that there will be a next time.

When we described this travel ideal to our children back in the fall, they had the total "deer in the headlights" look. They were terrified of being lost in a country they've never been before. They said things like "but I want to go to the Collosseum" (so do I, but I guess my whimsy travel ideals made it sound like I don't also hit the big stuff). So as we talked, we realized that a tour would make them feel more comfortable, and to be honest, we'd feel more comfortable too because we'd have the freedom of knowing that we weren't making them miserable and thus them making us miserable.

And since we made that decision, booked our reservation for Rick Steve's Family Europe in 14 days, I have felt so relieved. I haven't had to think about train tickets, hotel reservations, or anything. We have several free days on the trip where we can go and do whatever we want to do, and in the meantime all the big sights have been reserved for us. My only concern is hanging out with 26 other people that I don't know and their kids. What if we don't like them? What if someone believes that their child is perfect and it doesn't matter if he's acting obnoxiously on the bus? We got our list on Monday and the first thing I noticed is that there is a family of 7. Our first assumption, of course, is that it's 2 parents and 5 kids...which is likely, but it could easily be 2 grandparents and 5 grandchildren, or 2 parents, 2 grandparents and 3 children. So, we'll see. But it's funny how every single one of our family noticed this and started making assumptions about the people who we only know by name...a potentially dangerous situation.

That said, I am approaching this trip with an open mind. My worries are there, but the absence of that huge burden of pre-planning has allowed me to relax and dream about all the cool stuff we're going to do, how much fun we're going to have, and still get my work done without being totally stressed. And that's a very good thing. And I'm really looking forward to spending time with the girls and David where we can laugh and have fun and get to know one another outside of our daily grind. And I don't think I could have said that a year ago.