What Travel Experiences Are You Grateful For?

All of them! Really. One never knows when the winds of change will blow you in a different direction. Right now, the wind has been at my back for over 30 years. We have been able to travel more than the average person which we are forever grateful. Like you, we have revisited some places more than once to the detriment of others. And that is ok. We look forward to resuming our journeys once we can because wanderlust is a hard habit to break.

Walking around Bacharach, Germany with Herr Jung.

Malcolm Miller's guided visit to Chartres Cathedral.

Music in ireland: Liam O'Riordan and Ger Walsh. Pauline Scanlan and Eilis Kennedy. Mary Greene and Noel Shine. Gerry O'Beirne. Eoin Duignan. Concert in the Old Church in Dingle.

The Schilthorn on a clear day. Lauterbrunnen valley walk on a drizzly day.

Afternoon walk in the Cotswolds outside of Stow on the Wold.

Many more I'm forgetting.

I am grateful for the trip to Italy I took my mother on many years ago. She is gone now so my pictures of the trip and memories are priceless. She was in her 70,s and not in the greatest health but she was like a kid in a candy shop. She even got to shake the pope’s hand out of sheer luck, we were in the crowd against the railing when 3 kids threw their hat at him, the pope mobile stopped with security freaking out but the pope smiled and walked over to the children next to us and patted their heads, My mother put out her hand and spoke to the pope in Polish, he answered her in Polish and shook her hand. Being of Polish decent what a thrill that was for her. Now I am in my 70,s and still going to Europe, last April I went with my niece to Amsterdam to see the tulips. I hope my niece will cherish the memories of our trips to Europe with her elderly aunt. If you have an elderly relative you love, think of planning a trip to Europe, a slow paced trip but one that will make memories. Hopefully a vaccine will make this possible.

First off being able to travel. It's a privilege and something I've never taken for granted.
Meeting new friends who are now good friends.
Watching the fire fall at Yosemite.
Climbing the back of Half Dome for my 60th.
Seeing David for the first time.
Sitting on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during Obama's 1st Inauguration.
Watching the Tower Eiffel light up.
Watching the final night of the NYC cast perform Chorus Line.
Watching a night time lift off the Space Shuttle.
Getting lost in Venice.
Every visit to London.
Seeing Richard Burton in Camelot on Broadway in NYC.
Walking across the Golden Gate Bridge.
Camping in Chaco Canyon
Watching the migration of the sandhill cranes on the Platte River in Nebraska
Standing on the roof of the Student Center at Lower Columbia College in Longview Washington watching the ash spew from Mt. St Helens eruption.
Sitting in a colleague's backyard in Kearney NE watching a tornado set down in Grand Island Nebraska 40 miles away.
Getting to visit Cuba.
Waiting for years to visit Ireland. Finally got to go and as clouds parted on my flight from London, exclaiming, "Expletive it really is that green!"
Attending Mass in St Patricks (NYC) St Paul's (Rome) and Notre Dame.
Evensong in Westminster Abbey
Hiking the Gap of Dunloe on a November day.
Tidepooling and walking on Waddell Beach off HWY 1 in California after a winter storm
Seadfood chowder at Mournes in Belfast
Visiting the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam in 1972 and walking into a room and seeing the Night Watch. Apparently I hadn't paid attention to my high school art history teacher and had no clue about the size of the painting. I stood there stunned.
Couldn't move. Finally did and as I was there before the incident where a man attacked the painting with a knife (think it was 2 or 3 years later) you could get so very close to it. I recall just being amazed at Rembrandts ability to capture light. Then the total let down at seeing the Mona Lisa on the same Europe trip.

And now I'm more than grateful to have these memories to recall!

What a timely topic. Thank you for this, I was just thinking how grateful I am for all the wonderful European trips I’ve taken in the last few years. Since 2013, I have gone twice a year. I had two trips planned for 2020 but the Italy trip has been cancelled and my Poland trip in Sept. is hanging in the balance. I will wait for RS to cancel it. I have a good job and can work from home, finding that I like it. No commute makes life so much easier. I think I’m more productive too. I’m healthy most of all.
Of course, I miss my former life but I have accepted this will be life going forward until there is a vaccine. I heard an interview with Bill and Melinda Gates on ABC TV last night about the pandemic and by the way they have pledged $250 million dollars to fight the disease. Their point of view is informed by science - Bill Gates gave a TED talk in 2015 about pandemics and how we need to prepare for them. Listening to them made me realize that I have to accept this as reality going forward. This will not end tomorrow just because the President says so. Dr. Fauci and other medical experts make me feel confident there will be a solution but we have to accept we need to be instruments of it by social distancing. On and on. My point is I’m grateful!

I'm extremely grateful for all the trips I made before the tourist hordes we have to deal with today. My first experiences in Florence (including the Sistine Chapel), Venice, the popular sights in Ireland, the Isle of Skye, Versailles, were all relatively crowd-free (not completely but better than what people have to deal with today).

I'm grateful that I was able to spend a whole month in an apartment in Paris one summer - having lots of time to work with makes it so much easier to avoid the crowds and it's so much more relaxing. I'll be forever grateful that I was able to see and tour Notre Dame twice and climb the towers (one of my all time favorite experiences in Europe) before the tragic fire last year.

This is not about Europe but I am so grateful for the years of domestic travel (road trips and cruises) I shared with my best friend who passed away last year. I know I'll never find another travel companion that I am so sympatico with.

I'm grateful that I didn't get the boot after arriving at Het Waterhuis aan de Bierkant in Ghent, already four Westmalle Tripels in, and ordering three more strong beers on top of that. Afterward, I may have ALLEGEDLY offered a profanity-laced spoken-word piece about a certain head of the US Federal gov't to those within earshot (which was pretty much the whole of Ghent by that point), but in my defense, I was still wearing pants when I started. This is probably what saved my ass from being tossed into the canal.

I'm grateful for the ticket dude on the train between Strasbourg and Colmar who took one look at my unstamped ticket and gave me a mild lecture instead of a hefty fine, which I would have spent minutes feeling guilty about not paying.

I'm grateful for when the beatings end on Icelandair and we're merely made to get out and push.

I'm grateful for both our Rick Steves tour guides for putting up with me and not handing my wife the card of a good divorce lawyer.

I'm grateful for the awesome stewardess (flight attendant?) on Delta who, upon seeing my cup was empty, suggested that it'd be lonely without more Jack and Coke. God bless that woman and whatever else happened during the next nine hours of that flight.

I'm grateful for every single Frenchman who took pity on my best attempts to slaughter their beautiful language and shifted into English when speaking to me (if only to spare themselves another second of failed French 101 mixed with a terrible Inspector Clouseau impression.)

I'm grateful to the Hotel Harmony in Ghent for introducing me to new levels of breakfast gluttony with their morning buffet spread.

I'm grateful (seriously) to the Rick Steves company for showing me the amazing, wonderful, fantastic, funny, profound, profane, dizzying, astonishing and totally different world beyond the shores of my humble little nation. Thank you for Europe. Thank you for the best times of my life. Thank you for making me a citizen of the world. Thank you for making me feel alive. Thank you for giving my life a purpose.

However, if someone finds a pair of bluejeans floating in the canal outside a waterfront bar in Ghent, those are mine and I'd like them back.

-- Mike Beebe

RS tours - 18 of them.

My mother loved to travel in the US and gave me a wonderful opportunity to travel to Europe after high school with the 4H Ambassador program. My dad preferred being at home.

I’m grateful that my husband and I have taken ten wonderful trips to Europe from 2003-2019. Our first two were with RS, and we learned how to travel more local & light! The rest of our trips have been my own itinerary and planning to create what would be the most fun, educational and memorable for us. We’ve enjoyed these immensely, too.

But I think I am most grateful for the solo trip I took in 2018. Besides all of the fun researching Italian festivals, music concerts, cooking classes, less touristy towns, etc. , I learned something important about myself: No matter what life throws at me in the future, I will always know that I can thrive as a solo traveler.

I'm grateful for the first RS tour I took to Eastern Europe in 2011 which started me on this adventure of solo travel. I had traveled with my ex-husband, then friends, and became addicted to going on foreign journeys. When husbands and friends were no longer available, I took the scary step to go by myself on a tour and it was the most awesome experience. It gave me confidence that I could do this again and since that trip in 2011 - I have gone to Scotland, Iceland, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland and Portugal on my own (one was with a RS tour, my 2nd). I've made some great connections with people in Germany and Ireland and found my Scottish soul on the Isle of Mull. Each time I get to travel, I am grateful. I know that I will go again as soon as it is possible. In the meantime, I have my photos and journals to remind me of these fantastic adventures. No matter what, I feel lucky to be a traveling soul-o in this thing called life!

Thank you for the replies! They are making me smile! We have so much to be grateful for. Your experiences sound wonderful!

I am very grateful for all the trips, guided tours or not that I have taken in my lifetime. It is difficult to know when I will be able to resume this travel so I savor the memories of trips past. I cancelled 2 trips to europe this year due to pandemic. I must look forward to our safety in USA at this time.

My dad instilled a love of travel and languages in me from as long as I can remember.
He had wanted to visit Cuba his whole adult life but as a US citizen, that had not been possible. Two years ago, my husband and I (we are Canadian) were able to take him to Cuba for 2 weeks. As per his request, we visited Havana, Cienfuegos and Trinidad, staying in private homes. The logistics were even more challenging than we had anticipated what with bringing a wheelchair for him (he had just turned 90 and his mobility is not great) but we all had a blast. It was his last long trip and was a real bucket list item for him so I was very grateful to have the chance to share it with him.

My first classical concert in Europe during my first recreational trip to the continent. Salzburg 2014. 84-year-old conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt led his his orchestra in playing Mozart Symphonies 39, 40, and 41. At the end, the audience went crazy -- feet stomping, raucous applause. I thought, "Wow, I guess this is how they react in Austria to classical music." It's not. He was just that well-loved.

Dinner at a Pizza Hut in Manteo, NC, in 2018 with one of my heroes... 98-year-old Colonel Gail "Hal" Halvorsen, who in 1948 began dropping candy to the kids of Berlin as an Airlift pilot without the approval of his superior officers, the beginnings of an operational that ultimately dropped 23 tons of chocolate to the residents of Berlin in 1948 and 1949.

Serendipitous arrival in Riga a few years ago during Latvia's national singing festival. I had finished a tour at the museum in the Corner House, which was the KGB headquarters in Riga, when I entered the street to discover a day-long parade of Latvians dressed in traditional clothing singing, singing and dancing. An interesting juxtaposition to leave a building that housed an organization that hoped to crush Latvian culture only to walk into a celebration of that culture.

Here's a fun anecdote that recalls one of the many kindnesses I'm grateful for --
An RS-recommended tourguide in Arles gave a walking tour in the morning that was a pleasant overview of the city and its history. Now most people booking an Arles walking tour want to hear about van Gogh, but I had had my fill of Impressionism and post-Impressionism at that point and was more interested in earlier historical periods. No offense intended, and none taken by the guide, who was gregarious and pleasant company. By the time the tour was finishing we had hit it off, and she suggested that after her last assigned group of the day the two of us could go for an extracurricular visit to the Abbaye de Montmajour just outside town. Turns out there was a photography exhibit on view there that she wanted to catch, and the rest of the complex's well-preserved ruins were ours for strolling amongst. And from the upper walls we could look out on the very same fields of wheat and grapes where Vincent himself had set up his easel, in the same strong light. So I got some new perspective on his work after all, on top of a great side trip.

I've been lucky enough to have been to Europe quite a few times, even lived there for 4 years in the 80's.
I've had tons of great experiences.

One of the best was being able to bring my 3 daughter to Ireland on a trip without mom. I've 'dragged' them to numerous Irish Festivals in the states, but to tread the old sod of the ancestors with them, amazing. It was my third trip at the time, so was comfortable playing tour guide (my 7th to Ireland was supposed to start 20 March).

2 comments from kids: Dadda, now I know how you take so many great pictures! Ireland is gorgeous!

Second: First day of trip, in Dingle at Tourist Info. It's early April, so not any other tourists about in the office. I'm talking to the great ladies who work there, my girls standing to the side, saying nothing. I thought they were bored.

We walk out, and they say they could have stayed there all day, just listening to their accents.

Great time. My oldest has now taken her husband, the cycle continues.

Just being able to go overseas has made me grateful. As someone who grew up in a trailer sharing a tiny room with my sister for something like 8 years - my life has worked out pretty good. Never would have thought I'd get to Europe. The first time my husband and I went (2008) we thought we'd be lucky to go once every 5 years. After the first trip we determined to make it every other year, and we did that until lately when we've gone over the last 3 years and would've gone again this year (my hope is dimming for that) and I was also planning to go next year (maybe - just maybe - depending on ~all this~ - we can take two trips over next year to make up for missing this year).

The one that stands out the most though is being able to take my mom to Italy in 2014. She was my early morning walking companion and I so enjoyed showing her Rome and my fav city Venice (even if she liked Amalfi Coast the best). I had half planned a return with her this year, but in Jan she said we should wait until next year - well, she must've known what was going to happen! I have a feeling she won't be able to visit my sister overseas in Aug though. She'd never been anywhere other than the UK (once when she was young to meet some of her mom's family, and the rest of the trips to visit my sister/grandkids). I did up a photobook of the trip and she tells me she still takes it out and looks at it. I'm so glad I was able to give her that experience and really hope we can return autumn 2021.

18 months ago in England. We brought my Mother-in-Law with us because she wanted to visit the place where her Father grew up and visit some cousins she'd never met. I wouldn't call Brightlingsea in Essex a tourist destination but it was worth it to see her emotions on that trip.

The multiple trips to Disney World and Disneyland when my kids were small because the excitement in their eyes was priceless.

A lovely topic, slbdaisy, and wonderful responses including from our beloved Mike Beebe.

I am fortunate to have been able to travel a lot in Europe, and have lived here four different times. I am grateful for all my experiences.

Living several years in Europe decades ago when it was far less crowded and one could really interact with the wonderful people.

The most meaningful travel experience I have ever had was being part of a teacher training team that went to Rwanda with Africa New Life Ministries. I can't begin to list all the blessings I received from that trip. In addition to meeting many wonderful people and visiting some great schools, I was especially excited to meet the two children I sponsor through this agency. To be able to go to their homes and meet them and meet their families was wonderful. I was able to participate in serving school lunches to children at one of the schools. It is a rare treat to actually get to go see what is happening with the money you are giving and actually get to participate in the process.

One especially moving moment for me was when we visited the Africa New Life High School. When my husband died, all the memorial funds that were given were used to help with the building of this school. I saw it and wept. It was so moving to know that even out of the worst thing that had ever happened to me, good could still happen. I knew my husband would have been pleased.

We also did some fun activities such as a safari and I loved seeing animals that I had only seen in zoos in the wild.

I've had a lot of other great trips, but I doubt that any of them will ever mean quite as much as this one did.

Awesome topic Daisy ... got me thinking not about missing the trip I should be on (today was Brussels and Ghent and wondering why there were pants in the water) but about the trips I was fortunate enough to take over my 64+ years. Both my wife and I love to travel ... and it rubbed off on one of my 2 daughters ... she's all of 30 and has been to Everest base camp, Machu Picchu, Rio (Carnival), Morocco, Petra, Turkey, Israel, Athens, Santorini, Cyprus, Spain, France, Italy, London, Vancouver, Niagara Falls ... and our European family trip when both were in college and we drove Munich/Prague/Vienna/Ljubljana/Venice/Innsbruck/Munich, seeing all the big (and not so big) sights.

Travelling around the US in my single days after college (thanks to my benefit of working for a major US carrier), I visited Hawaii (10 times) and countless other cities/sights/beaches (no, I'm not a pilot or flight attendant, just an IT guy). My first venture to Europe was Germany for Oktoberfest in 1981 (me and 5 girls, including my girlfriend at the time). Next came Ireland for my honeymoon (wed 34 years ago this Sunday) and my roots in Bansha, County Tipperary. As soon as kids came along it was US trips, starting with visits to one of my wife's sisters and family ... Alaska (3 times ... he was Air Force stationed at Elmendorf ... and this is my biggest travel regret, not catching a late flight to Barrow to see the midnight sun) and then Atlanta. Then many trips to San Diego to see my parents after they retired and left New York City, Disney World (of course ... I rode Dumbo probably 20 times one day) and other trips to see relatives. As they got older, the trips were mostly at the start of summer. We'd leave the day after school got out (here in Texas it was right before Memorial Day) to beat the summer crowds. Packed up the van, hitched up the pop-up trailer and off we went for multiple 2+ week trips, mostly heading west. Several National Park tours (all the biggies ... Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Mesa Verde, Carlsbad, Arches, Estes Park, Crater Lake, etc... A few trips east ... Williamsburg VA and Washington DC, another to New York to visit family (where I was born and raised ... what an adventure dragging a pop-up through the streets of Manhattan). Trips during high school and college years had to contend with summer jobs and wanting to hang out with friends, but we still managed a Florida trip to see a shuttle launch at night, family reunions (Tennessee, West Virginia, Outer Banks NC), Lake Tahoe/San Francisco and New York for my parents 60th anniversary ... and the above-mentioned Europe trip.

Now that we have been empty-nesters for about 7 years, we've been taking 1 big trip a year (sometimes 2 if I could work out the time-off) ... 2 weeks around Italy (Rome ... with Mass on our 30th anniversary in the Vatican, Florence, Assisi, Cinque Terra, Milan), 2 weeks in France (Strasbourg/Normandy/Mt St Michel/Paris), 2 weeks in Romania (wife's roots) and Budapest. Smaller trips/long weekends to Europe (Madrid, Barcelona/Munich/Salzburg, Zurich/Bellagio/Milan (via the Bernina Express) and within the US (Key West, Washington DC to see the cherry blossoms, San Diego, Colorado in the fall, South Carolina (my wife's birthplace), Mount Rushmore/Devils Tower, Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Destin, Tucson. Our trip 2 years ago was our first venture to a new continent ... 2+ weeks in New Zealand (South Island and Auckland). Our last trip was 2 weeks in Portugal last Labor Day. In all, I've been to 49 states (missing North Dakota) and 16 countries, with many more planned.

Sorry for the long reply (this WFH is getting to me) ... the walk down memory lane took a while as I thought of things I hadn't thought of for a long time. I'm hopeful we can pick back up same time next year with the trip we should be on now ... I am slowly realizing travel this year is very doubtful at best.

Stay safe everyone ... we're all in this together.

Happy anniversary, DQ!

Just a start-that I will add to as I think of more.

The great trains and subway systems in many European cities.
The Vivaldi concert at Sainte Chappelle
Florence for being Florence and London for being London
All the great artists whose works I have so enjoyed
The architects of great buildings-both ancient and more recent
Gelato
the people and organizations in so many countries that help stray cats
being able to see Troy and Mycenae
the airplane safety that we take for granted-I don't think most of us worry about crashing when we get on a plane

Many and I won't list them. But one that stands out is Im grateful - maybe TMI - that my daughter got her first period in the bathroom at Chenenceau. What a unique beginning and "remember when!..."

Our best trip and, probably the most exhausting trip, was Cuba the week that Obama loosen restriction and we returned, legally, with Cuban rum and cigars. And the obviously Cuban customs officer in Miami just smiled when we showed him our stash. Will remember it forever.

It's been a blast reading the responses. We've had too many wonderful travel experiences to count. However, there's one that started it all.

When I was in junior high school, my best friend's mom organized a group of 8 to go to Europe on a People to People tour. If she could wrangle 8, she'd go for free as a chaperone. There were 4 boys and 4 girls. Back then, the boys and girls schools were separated. Mark's mom was a science teacher at the girl's school and hand picked those who she wanted to go.

We started planning months in advance. We got an itinerary and each of us was assigned a segment of the trip to research. We'd report to the group during our monthly meetings. Our trip was 21 days - Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France and England in that order.

There was a cute little 14 year old girl whom I'd never met who was part of the trip. We didn't speak much at the meetings, but started to hang out together during the trip. By the time we got to Switzerland we were holding hands. On August 10, 1966 at around 8:30 in the evening in Florence, I worked up enough courage to kiss her.

In July, 2016, 3 of the original 8 returned to cover part of the trip. It was Mark, Deb and me, along with Mark's wonderful (and tolerant) wife. Six months before, Deb and I had returned to Tuscany on our own, making sure to share another kiss in Florence.

In August we'll celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. We were going steady by the end of the trip and have gone steady ever since.

DougMac, while all of my travel experiences have been great, wonderful, and sometimes fantastic, none come close to yours!

While I am grateful for all of our travel experiences, there is one that stands out mainly because of the timing. Last Christmas our granddaughters expressed an interest in cooking and a trip to Italy. When we heard this was a possibility we wondered how we could juggle two trips to Europe with less than 4 weeks in between trips—we already had a September/October trip scheduled. My husband said maybe we should plan a trip with the girls for the following summer since the oldest one would be graduating from HS and we could make that a graduation trip. I lobbied for GO NOW while they were available and we would think of the financial impact later—not our usual way to think about travel. I’m so glad we made this decision to travel with them last summer as this summer never would have happened. Last summers’s trip was epic in our travel experiences. We are so grateful.

I have visited 78 foreign countries, not counting one country that doesn't exist anymore.

I have lived in Germany (4 years) and Saudi Arabia (5 years) working for the US Army.

Since retirement about 10 years ago, we have visited every continent except Antarctica.

Here a just a few key places.
1) London, visiting the House of Commons in 1981 and watching question time.
2) Seen the Sistine Chapel and Vatican twice, one before the frescoes were cleaned and one after.
3) Hong Kong in 1981, 2012 and 2012.
4) Kyoto, Japan 2015
5) Jerusalem at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, then Bethlehem on Christmas Eve at the Church of Holy Nativity, 1985
6) Athens, Greece, the Parthenon, 2015.
7) Hiking the Zugspitze, near Garmish, Germany in 1990.
8) Llanddewi Brefi, Wales 2017, the home of my surname ancestors that left for America in 1716.
9) Going up then Stature of Liberty with my Grandfather, 1956.
10) Going to see the Brooklyn Dodgers play in Brooklyn with my Grandfather, 1956
11) Glacier Bay, Alaska, 2018
12) going through the Panama Canal, 2011
13) Crusing around the Horn of South America, 2016
14) Crusing up the coast of Norway to the North Cape, 2019
15) Machu Picchu, Peru 2019
16) St, Petersburg and Moscow, Russia, 2011
17) China, the great wall, Forbidden City, Xian, Terra Cotta Warriors, 2012
18) Sydney Australia, Opera house for the opera, La Boheme.
19) St. Petersburg, Russia, Marinsky Ballet, for Swan Lake.
20) Istanbul, Turkey 2014 Hagia Sophia

I am grateful that my husband and I saw the three tenors perform in front of the Eiffel Tower the night before France won the World Cup in soccer. I hate crowds but my husband insisted that we go. And boy was it crowded. We were all jammed in like sardines. People were in the trees to get a view. It was an absolute thrill.

What I am most grateful for was my last trip to Europe in late summer 2018. My father and I visited Germany and Switzerland with 2 days in Paris and 5 in London, And even spent a day with my dad’s cousins in Germany. The trip was originally scheduled for spring of 19 but my (ex) sister-in-law offered us the tickets to go in 18, so we took her up on it.
A good thing two as the in spring of 19 my father got ill and he can no longer travel. So if it wasn’t for my sister in law getting us the tickets in 18 we would not have made the last trip To Europe that we will ever make together...

We have two types of travel experiences to be grateful for- the first views of spectacular nature or architecture and second sharing experiences abroad with people. Both are worthwhile.
Spectacular nature/architecture:
First view of Machu Picchu from the bus as it turns the last curve before arriving .
The Eiffel Tower from any where-sparkling
Sunset on the steps of Sacre Coeur In Montemartre-Paris

Rafting the Grand Canyon and hiking
Walking the Great Wall of China
Walking the Golden Gate Bridge In sunshine
Seeing wild elephants and tigers in India
Filming of James Bond movie in Istanbul
Walking trails in Cinque Terra many years ago
Driving and camping trip to Alaska

People experiences to remember:
Mother’s Day luncheon with family in Sweden
and visits with everyone at work and home. Top of an extended fire truck ladder, attic of old house dad was born in, smelly pig farm, potato farm and lots of food and shnops

A simple chateau BnB in Arles. Shared everyone’s purchases at the Saturday market at the shady picnic table with the family golden retriever begging. It was more family than business. Walked to the bakery in morning down the gravel road and under a viaduct with our host.

Learning to eat Indian style with right hand on a banana leaf. No silverware! Our guide shared his favorite local street vendors. Something we would be hesitant to do in India. Better than most of the tour restaurants.

These more personal interactions are much more infrequent but always memorable. We have had many over the years but never as many as seeing the big sites. I am ready to explore again.

Corona made me learn to appreciate everything even the smallest of them all. I am grateful for every travel experience especially with family. Travel will always be near the top of my list. It has been the catalyst for many big changes in my life, at every stage. The most profound of these changes would of course be the fact that when I traveled to Europe many years ago, for work, I ended up meeting my future American husband. Happily married for 14 years and 2 kids later, we have traveled the world for both work and play, with and without kids, experiencing everything that travel has to offer. I am beyond grateful for all that travel has given our family