Our Transatlantic Adventure

The idea forms…

After our big cross country road trip, visiting friends, family, and exploring the expansive USA, we start to pine after our time in Europe. We miss the lifestyle, our amazing friends, and the ease of exploring countries by train.

There were a few things left on our list of places to visit that we couldn’t do because of the restrictions placed in response to the pandemic. One was a transatlantic cruise. We had a grand dream of leaving our apartment on Stuttgart with just our backpacks, and making our way to a cruise that would take us back to the States. A little like our ancestors, although a lot better conditions. Well, we had it all booked thinking, quite naively, that the lockdowns would surely be over in a year. Nope. Canceled. We also had Greece on the top of our list but had 3 trips canceled because of lockdowns. And, of course, the Camino calls to us. Always.

Since we have one year left before our son starts high school, we decide to plan a trip. The timing doesn’t work for a transatlantic cruise coming back to the US but we find a perfect one headed to Southampton. We book it, and for about half of the cost of the one we had booked before! What a steal!

One huge problem. We have a puppy that we adore and take everywhere we can. It turns out dogs aren’t allowed on cruises. Hadn’t thought of that. We hesitantly call my parents and ask if they would be at all willing to watch Morgen for us. They were so supportive and graciously agreed. Whew. That solves a big issue for us. Morgie will love it with them and hopefully my parents will enjoy her and all her quirks.

Now comes the rest of the planning. We have 90 days that we can be in the EU and we want to make the most of it. The kids want to see friends, we want to see friends, and we want to do the things we missed out on.

The ease of traveling around Europe makes it so enticing to go everywhere. Let’s go to the bunker in Lithuania that we looked into years ago! There was a beautiful picture in Romania on Instagram, let’s go! We didn’t get to see Venice with the kids, let’s do it! Icelandair has a great stopover ticket, we’re in!

Well, it’s not as easy as we would have liked. The weather will be all over the place and we will only be bringing backpacks. We have to go to Stuttgart and Lisbon to see friends. And Greece…why are you so far south???

A plan starts to form and we start booking. Then the flights don’t work so need to we rework our plan. This type of issue happened so many times but eventually we figured it out. 87 days in the EU, a second cruise, an overnight train, the Camino Portuguese and another hike in Ireland. Cause, why not? All ending in Iceland and a flight to Seattle to see my brother and my husband’s friend before picking up our sweet pup and seeing my parents.