As I was putting up all my memories from the Italy trip, I felt the need to kind of wrap it all up. I did my first overseas trip at age 4, when my father was assigned to a RAF (Royal Air Force) Base about 60 miles outside of London. We were the only Americans on the base, so we got to take part in the culture of a new country firsthand and I was hooked. I knew I wanted to continue to see the world in every way I could. For the next 20 years, I was limited to a few trips to Mexico both with my family, with the high school band and in my college years I was part of a puppet troupe and we did a tour on the interior of Mexico for a week. My honeymoon was spent in the Caribbean, mostly the West Indies (Saint Bart’s, Nevis, Saint Maarten, Antigua, Saint Kitts). I went back across the Atlantic for my 40th Birthday, mostly in Portugal, and for the next several years did more of the Caribbean, some of South American (Colombia, Panama and Argentina) and Canada. Italy had always been high on my list of places I wanted to go, but I stopped traveling abroad for about 15 years when my parent’s health was failing and I did not want to be out of the country if something happened. I also had a son in college. I knew retirement would bring more travel and I was ready.
International travel is full of wonders, but can be very stressful at times, I wanted to get as much of it done before age and health prevented me from going so far away from home, family and medical care. I had always thought that my trip to Italy would be to primarily go to cooking school and see the art. Several friends had done this various times and I wanted to see the Italy they had seen. I had not really thought too much about the Catholic history part, as I left the church in my 20’s, but with the death of both parents you seek connection to them and family in general. A group tour was not high on my list of how I liked to travel, as I knew it would mean lots of buses and agendas, but for this trip it was the perfect way to go. There is so much to see and putting that all together and finding hotels, guides, tickets and transportation is a huge task. I wanted to see how and if I liked group travel. I had done a bunch of it with church groups, youth groups and school trips, both in my youth and then as a sponsor for my son. I thought my bus riding days were over.
I had to also deal with nothing knowing all the details and having rules and guides that would have to be followed. I am a rule follower, so that was not the issue, it was just not having a say in what I wanted to do each day, but it also meant that I did not have the burden of all of that, I could just take part and enjoy. I always have a great time getting ready for big trips, all the shopping and research, finding new travel products and planning what to wear is a lot of the fun of travel for me. I focused on much of that and let the rest up to the tour guides. I thought the bus would be the worst part, but it was enjoyable and a time to get to know all in the group. I had books of all kinds, real books, audio books and my I-Pad to read and used all three depending on my mood for the day. The only thing that really bugged me was we could not eat or drink (anything but bottled water) on the bus, I longed for hot tea each morning as we started off and at each stop I had to hurry and grab a cup and get it finished in the break time, which is no way to drink tea LOL! The bus allowed for views of each area and region, it was also when we would learn about the day’s agenda and lots of information and back stories about what we would see. I have to say our bus driver was amazing, the places he got that bus into and always a smile. Often, we would be parked with tons of other buses, but he always managed to find some of us and lead us to the right bus! He had stories to tell and was a wealth of information on just day-to-day life.
Getting to travel with my sister and my cousin was the best part of the trip. My cousin has been a travel companion of mine for about the 30 years, we have seen lots of the USA, tons of concerts, spas in every shape and size and wonderful food. I knew we would do fine with her. My older sister and I have always lived far apart and were both raising families, so had not traveled together since the family vacations in the 70’s. It was so fun to see things as each one of them saw them. We all have followed many paths during our life and other than being family we don’t share lots of common interests, but I discovered so much about them both and I just had a ton of fun with them.
Laughing with those you love is a true pleasure and often we get so caught up in life that we just don’t take the time to laugh or take part in things that make us laugh, I was a real giggle box during this trip, we saw so many things and some of them were just too funny. The wonder of all we discovered was a treat to see in each other, we all went the same places and heard the same thing, but we each took away different things from each adventure. We would unwind in the evening and talk about our favorite part of each day and why.
I am the big shopper in the group and almost got left behind a few times, trying to buy one more thing! My cousin and I both collect magnets as a way to remember where we have been and it is a cheap and fun collection to have. We took turns buying magnets each day and ended up with a bunch of really neat ones. I put together a magnet of some of the pictures of the three of us from the trip and gave it to them at Christmas! My worry about wearing the same clothes over several times, was not an issue, I was able to do some handwashing and ended up doing well on clothes and could have done with less. The was good for me to learn as I am a big over packer! I had to pay for overweight luggage on the way home and that was after I shipped a ton of olive oil and pasta home, but it all worked out and more fun was had sharing my souvenirs with all when I returned.
A few hints for international travel…. Everyone tells you something different about how to do your money. I got my euros ahead of time with the help of the lovely ladies at Texas First here on Crystal Beach. It worked great for me as there are many options once you get there, but how the conversion rate is done and what fee’s there are is often impossible to figure out. I got a very clear picture of that from the bank and it was one of the best deals that people got who exchanged funds ahead of time. I was prepared for the pay toilets and bottles of water as soon as we landed, I was told Texas First would buy any Euros I did not use back, but I worked hard to spend all I took! Make sure to make arrangements with your cell phone carrier BEFORE you go, I got a package and because I needed it longer than 10 days it was without limits. It was great for keeping in touch, sharing my trip and the internet as we never knew how good the service would be.
I got Rick Stevens latest tour guide on Italy. It is geared for planning it yourself, but it gave so much information. I was able to highlight and make notes both before and after the trip, his videos on PBS are also great! I tried to learn some Italian from several apps, but never did too well and I did fine without it, plus your phone can translate anything. One of the group had an app that would read the signs and it was the best, I am sorry I did not get the name and just let her figure it out. (another great part of group travel, each of you brings different skills to travel, so as a group you end up with a ton of knowledge unless you have a smarty pants on your trip, which we did not.!) I had a currency converter, but never used it much, I got where I could come close enough. I used mostly cash but for the bigger purchase I used my credit card to have the protection.
As I age, I really like to have my comfort creatures around me, that special blanket or pillow, a certain type of tea etc. I was very worried that I would struggle with some of that, but I managed to find ways to feel comfortable in every situation. I was proud of myself for doing that, because taking care of an old person who has lots of things that need want or need to feel comfortable is not fun and I did not want to be that person.
Traveling by cruise ship is still the best for me, but there are some things that are not seen the best by that method, so I know now that I can go beyond my travel comfort level and go with the flow! Travel and Retirement go hand in hand, but you have to find the balancing act of know what your limits are both physically and financially. I want to make sure I can go as long as I can but want to make sure that I don’t run out of money before I run out of days to live. You have to leave family (even if they travel with you, someone is not there) health issues, the political climate, weather and the unknown, BUT GO…. Find out what is in your backyard and the bigger backyard of the world, get to see things that are new and strange to you. Get out of your comfort zone and explore. I find I have a much deeper appreciation for what I have after travel. I never can get enough ice or good chewing ice when I travel, so always love to return to my ice machine or a Sonic for that comfort, but I know I can drink room temperature water and not die, so get to planning your next trip, I know I am. I have included some pictures of smiling faces from this journey.
