So darn Happy

I know exactly how you feel. We go to Paris in 47 days and I can't wait. We are only there a week, I wish all the time that I could stay longer.

I totally get what you mean, Pat. We're taking our daughters and their boyfriends on a cruise in a couple of weeks, but I am spending all of my time thinking and planning our December European trip. Cruises are great for R & R (anything that gets me out of the house and away from cleaning is always wonderful) but aren't mentally stimulating like trips to Europe. Before our first trip to Germany, I have stacks of books to read on German history, the basics of the German language to learn and facts to learn about each city we visit. Europe requires a much greater investment mentally. But the cruise will give me lots of down time to read up on Germany!

Yes. I'm fairly sure that everyone around me thinks I'm insane, because I'm already consumed by my trip which isn't even happening until October. I'm trying to tone it down so I don't end up just wishing away most of the year.

OMG !!! Terry,, great idea,, bring language books on cruise to brush up,, thanks,, never thought of that! LOL

Nice to hear I am not the only Europhile around here!

Yeah, cruises are a great time to sit back with the head phones on and brush up on language. I totally understand your love affair with Paris, too. We've been there 4 times and I could never, ever grow tired of it. I think I could be happy all by myself in Paris, just wandering the streets endlessly for the rest of my life. It would be my dream place to live. I completely understand your obsession, Pat, and know you're not insane!

29 days until Portugal!

With us, it seems to be more work schedules than budgets. Stupid companies America with their lousy vacation benefits. I was jealous of the families we ran into a few years ago who were spending 3 weeks at the same place.

We're taking a small trip in the US this summer, but I'm already planning our trip to Germany next year. I'm sure my husband thinks I'm nuts. I've done hardly any research on our US trip.

Enjoy your cruise, Pat!

Hi Pat!

I'm really happy for you and absolutely understand! We're going to Spain and France for a May/June trip and I've been thinking lately that we should be staying longer. It's refreshing to know that someone else has the same obsession!

Spending time with your daughter will be fun too!

Maybe we will cross paths somewhere in Paris!
Best,
Sharon

Me, too! I'm going to Italy (first time) and London (2nd time) in October and I have been obsessed with getting ready for the trip. We're going for a total of 12 days, doing a Trafalgar guided tour of Italy for 7 and the rest on our own. RS tours are just so expensive and so we'll see about Trafalgar. Enjoy yourself and maybe now we have started a support group on obsessive upcoming European travel planners!!

What is very sad on my part is that I have not gotten around to reading up on what we are going to see or do in Washington! I know it is a beautiful state but for some reason I feel like I am "home" and can take whatever I want or buy there, so no homework...yet, and we leave on the 14th, LOL

But...I have been working on stuff for our July trip to the UK and trying to figure out if we should go to Germany, then some part of France and maybe Amsterdam? Sick I tell you, we're all quite ill on this board. It's the best virus ever though :-)

Oh Eli, you have to research Washington! We have wineries, Seattle with Pikes Place, Mt Rainier, the San Juan Islands, the coast, then there are the vineyards in eastern Washington, and of course at the bottom of the state (where I live), you can experience Portland. Soooo much to do. Granted it's not Europe, but there is a ton to do! :)

Have fun on your cruise and your trip to Paris Pat. I can completely relate! :)

It's good that we have each other. No one else in my life gets it.

So many kindred spirits! I have been planning our August trip to Europe for over a year...planning is my passion. I think the planning is half the fun!

We are leaving on a road trip to the Gulf Coast of Alabama in four weeks. We'll be stopping in San Antonio and New Orleans. I can't say I've done no planning, but nothing like the planning for Europe. And although I'm excited about our road trip (my newlywed daughter is living in Alabama), I dream about Europe!

I also agree with the poster regarding cruises. I do enjoy them, but they are definitely not mentally stimulating...like Europe is.

And...it's funny, Pat, that you mention getting 'just a few more days ish.' Our August trip began as 18 days and it's now up to 23! I need to book my airline tickets to prevent it from expanding...hubby is running out of vacation.

Yup- Europe trip planning trumps all the other stuff. What? Disneyland. Ok, kids, I'll pretend to be "here" mentally. ; )

Eli, WA state does have a lot, though. If nothing else, we have Rick Steves! No, the ferries are outstanding! The Space Needle, the Coast, the Islands, the Underground Tour, Pike Place Market, both mountain ranges.... If you have the time and money, Tillicum Island is pretty cool- you take the boat over and get a native show with a salmon bake. Just stay out of downtown Seattle at night.

ETA: It's Tillicum Village on Blake Island. Ooops.

We definitely all have SO much in common! All I want to do is plan our trips, read about where I'm going and study the language! Oh and cruise the Graffiti Wall and the RS site! 72 more days! woohoo!
EDIT: One of the benefits of frequent flier miles...."gee, I wanted to return after 2 weeks but there wasn't a ff flight so I had to add xxx more days!"

I know exactly what you're saying Pat, and I'm so with you. I think of Paris all the time. Every time I get a chance to go somewhere else, I say no, I'd rather save my money and use it for Paris. Doesn't matter if I have 5 days there, or 5 wks, it's never long enough for me. I adore Paris and can never get enough. I hope you have a WONDERFUL trip!!

I second Terry. Thank God for this board. This year I'm taking my daughters to Washington (DC) next month, the Bahamas in June and my husband & I are celebrating our 25th in the Fall in Grand Cayman (his choice). While I'm sure I'll enjoy these trips, all I can think about is where in Europe to go next year. Back to one of my favorites (Paris, Rome) or try something new. Then I think I'm pretty lucky to even HAVE to make such choices!

Thanks to all of you, I'll make it through this year:)

I'm always wishing for a few more days. Usually, it starts with "if I add a couple of days I could see this...and as long as I'm already there, I could add a few more days to see this..."

Eventually reality hits and I keep my trips compressed and focussed on one area. A few more days is better spent seeing more in the area you're in than hopping somewhere else to "add" something to your trip.

I have enjoyed reading all these posts,, amazing, for all our differences at times,, we definately all have Europe on the brain in common!

Pat, I also understand. I become more and more obsessed by my current trip to Europe the closer it gets. Right now it is 103 days to take off. At work they absolutely dread those last 3 months before a trip as it is all I talk about, but they understand my passion and try to be patient with me.

This site is SO much fun! We're leaving Sat for a 3 wk road trip to see friends/relatives in ID, NV,CA & AZ and it will be fun, but it just doen't excite me like the upcoming trip to France & Germany---leaving May 28, home July 12. We will be in Normandy at a gite for a week, Paris apt for a week, 2 wks in Provence cottage, last 2 weeks up the Rhone valley (Beaune & Eugesheim) to Rothenberg, Bacharach, and Beilstein; 2 & 3 nights w/ a couple of free nights before back to Paris via Rennes. Thanks to this site, I tried Hotwire for the first time and got a room @ the Hilton for $106!

RS books, maps, scraps of paper w/ ideas/info are all over in our room w/ the computer, and I love it.The planning is indeed half the fun. One thing I've done more this trip is to try and read more fiction and non-fiction set in Paris and to keep my city map out to track the action. This will be our third time in Paris, but I feel like I'm more familiar w/ it----will report how this worked when we get back. I, too, find myself totally absorbed and must control my excitement when with others who are not travelers.

Safe travel to all of us.

Cary,, I am so envious of your nice long trip,, lucky you,, I don't how you can contain your excitment !

Leaving in one month for 3 weeks in France, Switzerland, and Austria. Very excited!!!

On March 31, the wife and I leave for Tuscany for 6 days to meet up with my cousin at their vacation farm house. First time there. Can't wait!!

I agree with all of you! My in-laws recently asked my husband and I to join them in Jamaica to renew their vows next year and my first thought was "OK, but does that mean we can't go to Europe?"

Some people just don't get it, that's why I visit these boards every day. They either don't understand why I want to pound the pavement in Paris for a week, or have the adventure of driving from Edinburgh to London and points in between when I could lay on a beach doing nothing for less cost. Or they think I'm spoiled or irresponsible for choosing to spend my money that way. I suspect that like me, not all of us on these boards are millionaires that can jet off at any moment.

My only regret is that I didn't get my European adventures underway until I was thirty! I really should have found a way to overcome my fears and do it as a young person. My niece and nephew (16 and 15) leave Friday for a snowboarding trip to Switzerland with their school and I am so happy for them. They have already been to Spain and France but with their parents.

We once had a month-long trip to Eastern Europe and weren't ready to come home even after that length of time. I used to worry after each trip that it would be the last but now my husband is well and truly hooked like me and I know as long as we are able and can find the budget we'll be planning another trip somewhere in Europe.

I leave in 37 days for Hawaii and then we are going to Walt Disney World for Fall Break in October yet here I am scouring RS and other sites planning a trip to Germany/Austria that won't take place until Fall Break 2011.

It's a sickness I tell you.

Well this tread makes me feel better! I, too, am obsessed with our trip. (3 weeks-Paris, Rome, Tuscany, and Como) I am just loving planning every detail, researching, reading......We leave the end of May, so I was actually happy when it turned into March so I could say "we go to Europe the month after next" in my mind! :)

I really think that planning it and anticipation is half of the fun!

I love this thread.

I'm currently planning, to one degree or another...

-- My date night with my wife at a Bavarian Restaurant next week.

-- Weekend getaway in May

-- Family vacation to California in June/July

-- Weekend getaway in October

-- Family vacation to deep south (exact location TBD) in March 2011

-- Family vacation to Spain/Portugal summer 2011

-- Family vacation to New England 2012

-- Family vacation to Germany/Switzerland/France 2013

I spend my lunch hour, every day, reading or planning toward a trip in some manner... ;D

I wish my husband would get as excited about traveling to Europe as I do. sigh...

Andrea,

You were just a kid on your first European trip; I didn't go until I was 42. I first got hooked on British history at age 8 when I saw the movie "Good Queen Bess", and this morphed into European history, particularly Medieval and WWII.

My husband had no interest until I came back in 1992 blabbing about all the preparations for the 50th D-Day anniversary. After our first trip to Normandy in 1994, he was hooked. We're both retired now so are able to spend a longer time this trip; wish I had the $$$ to just hop on a plane for a week sev times a year.

This website has given me so much good info and it's fun to chat w/ like-minded travelers. I don't jump back on until I'm plnng the next trip, so I can't really be addicted, can I?!

I took a trip to Europe in the summer of 1972 as a 17 year old, as part of the "American Youth Symphonic Band and Chorus" You had to audition to get into the group (I sang Bass in the Chorus) and it only cost $799.00 all food and lodging for 3 weeks! That was from Dulles, and we had to pay an additional $150 to get from Denver to Dulles...still an inexpensive trip! We visited Switzerland, Italy, spent 2 weeks on a Greek Cruise Ship visiting the Med. coutries of Greece, Yugoslavia, Israel, Turkey and numerous islands. We ended in Paris and did a recording. I didn't get back to Europe until 34 years later, and that was to England 2 days, and 9 in Ireland. We returned to Ireland last August for 15 days, and we need to go back at least 3 more times! Scotland is next on the list with a combined trip to Northern Ireland 3 weeks total. We have geneolgy research to do in County Cork and Dublin--2 trips! After that, maybe Italy....I was only in Venice the first time around, and since I am a "foodie" I think Italy would be fantastic. I have often made the statement to my friends and family, that if someone offered me a free trip to anywhere in the world, I would go back to Ireland without a moments hesitation...I'm hooked! I suppose the fact that my Great-Grandfather left there in 1851 during the famine has something to do with it! Keep dreaming about traveling, and then do what ever it takes to make that dream a reality! Dan

Ditto, leaving for Paris in 46 days!!! I cannot wait,like many of you, Paris is in my thoughts almost daily! I am going to Prague first and ending in Paris.

Happy Travels!
Debi

I go thru this with each trip. Made most of the current plans back in late May/early June, but not a day goes by that I'm not looking into some aspect of the trip; double-checking things; adding activities; changing various things. The planning & anticipation are major highs of European travel for me -- not so much for my husband because he doesn't have the patience for planning, searching, etc. but he's very grateful that I do. He brags on my tenaciousness in this area to others.
We leave in less than 3 weeks, and I'm just like a kid on Christmas Eve already! Look out Paris. Here I come again.

I just couldn't get enough of Paris; I felt deprived every time I went there and had to leave again. So last spring I went there and stayed for 24 days. It was great! I stayed in two hotels and two apartments scattered around the city. This year I'm limiting myself to 15 days; I will spend 11 days in Provence and on the French Riviera. Can't wait. I decided to buy individual train tix rather than a pass. It looks less expensive this way.

I started planning our July trip to Vienna-Prague-Salzburg, oh, about two days after we got back from Rome-Florence-Sienna in June 2008. I simply cannot get enough of the expectation involved -- of plowing through the tour books and videos, booking hotel rooms and deciphering railroad timetables. Traveling is truly life heightened ... in other words, it's this sort of thing that makes the humdrum even remotely palatable.