Tripping

A friend asked me recently what was the best trip I have ever taken. Not that I have travelled everywhere there is to travel, but I had a hard time answering her. (In fact, I don’t think I actually did.)

The thing is that each trip I have gone on has been wonderful in its own way. Some have been exceptional, but all have been worth every penny spent. I don’t think I have been anywhere that I would never want to go again.

My parents were great believers in the value of travel. We went camping all around BC when I was a kid, and there were frequent visits to Alberta to see all the relatives. As I got older and there was more money, we travelled a bit further afield: California (Disneyland!), Hawaii, across Canada to Québec and back through the northern US states . In high school, there were teacher-chaperoned trips offered each year, so I went to Russia one year and to Paris another. I absolutely adored Europe. I was hooked.

I did a French course in France as a university student, fell even more in love with Europe and specifically with France, then came back to Canada pretty much bilingual. A couple of years after graduation and into my teaching career in French Immersion, back I went around Europe, hitting the hot spots of France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg (not necessarily in that order). I repeated much of that trip several years later with my new husband.

Travel was put on hold for a while, due to buying a house and having a baby. But when the marriage dissolved, travel returned to my life, this time with Darling Daughter as my travel companion.

Our first mother-daughter voyage was to France, and that worked out so well that we have made it a point to go somewhere together every summer. We have travelled together to Toronto and Ottawa, New York and Washington DC, England and Scotland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. One summer I bought my townhouse and with all the additional expenses involved, I couldn’t quite manage a trip for the two of us, but I did send DD on a school trip to Spain without me. And last summer, I had just purchased my BMW, so I again felt I couldn’t quite afford a trip for two, and besides, DD was taking university classes all summer. I was able to swing a four-day weekend to Las Vegas with Porsche Guy, however, much to DD’s chagrin. (I told her that it didn’t count because I didn’t enjoy it.)

Now she and I are in negotiations for our next trip. I always worry about the money aspect, but I do make a comfortable salary and my house is paid for (even if the car isn’t!), so as long as I’m careful and budget within my means, we’ll be able to do it. We’re thinking about going to Greece, since DD has taken a few courses on the art and architecture of ancient Greece and is totally enamoured of the place. And of course, how can you go to Greece without going to Istanbul, Turkey to see the Hagia Sophia, especially if you love ancient Greek art and architecture? So here’s hoping that we do pull it off and get there!

So, which has been my favourite trip thus far? I still can’t choose – but I do know that you never regret the trips you take, only the ones you don’t take, so I’m gonna keep travelling!

What I did(n’t) on my summer vacation

I’m a teacher, so I’ve just gone back to work after two months off.  That’s a LONG time, unless you go away on vacation.  I normally do, except for this year when Porsche Guy and I only went to Las Vegas for three days and to the Okanagan for two days.  My usual travelling companion is Darling Daughter, who has been in school all her life (sort-of like her mother, though I do get paid for it now) and so generally has the same vacation periods as I do.  Of course, the downside is that I pay for all transportation and accommodation on trips – but at least I’m in charge.

We started doing all our travelling after the Ex and I split up in 2001.  I had moved myself and DD to a basement suite not too far from our former residence, and even if it was quite roomy, it was still a basement suite and a bit of a step down from my big, new house.  I recall sitting in the bathtub one day while DD was spending the weekend with her dad and wondering what the hell we were going to do during the coming summer.  I made the decision then and there that we would go to France for three weeks, and not worry about the cost (shades of my future relationship with PG!).  My reasoning was that while I might not be able to really afford to go for three whole weeks, our mental health absolutely demanded it.    

So we went and we had an amazing time.  DD turned out to be a wonderful travelling companion (mostly because, as I said, she let me be in charge – but she had only just turned 15 when we went, so I guess one of us had to be the adult.  Besides, I’d been to France several times already and presumably knew my way around reasonably well.  Which I did.  And do.  Unless the country has changed a great deal since 2002.) Being a French Immersion student her whole life, she spoke French almost as well as I did, so that was a bonus too.    

The next summer found me squirreling away as much money as I could and buying a townhouse, so travel wasn’t a priority at the time.  However,  DD’s school was offering teacher-chaperoned trips to various places around the world, so she chose to go to Spain to work on her Spanish (which was already pretty good since it’s so similar to French).  She came back with a suntan, lisping beautifully, then we moved and after I paid off all the bills related to that, I started saving again.

Our next trip was four and a half weeks in England and Scotland.  The summer after that, we stayed in Canada and visited Toronto and Ottawa for almost two weeks.  In 2006 it was back to Europe, to Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg for two and a half extremely hot weeks.  Last summer we hit New York and Washington DC for almost two equally extremely hot weeks.  This summer I guess we should have been on track for Europe again, but I chose to spend my money on a new car (but I won’t go into THAT story again!)  

DD is already talking about next summer’s trip.  I can’t believe she still wants to travel with me!  I guess a mom’s wallet is a pretty strong incentive for a daughter.  She’s thinking perhaps Germany, Russia, Egypt, Greece, or somewhere else I’ve forgotten already.  Expensive habit, this, but it sure beats sitting in the bathtub wondering what the hell to do.