Never Thought – The Bucket List
Looking back, if someone told me 20 years ago I would travel for pleasure as much as I do, I would have laughed. Because people save for years to travel to Europe.
As a kid I loved geography. I would study maps and flags. Some relatives thought I was trying to cheat and memorize Trivia Pursuit questions to win, but I just studied them because it intrigued me. I also enjoyed collecting coins from various countries. I still have my collection in my closet of various coins people brought back to me during their incredible trips.
I would look at the coins for hours. Nerdy. But there was something mesmerizing about the foreign money. I’m not sure I collected it because I longed to go to these places, but I think deep down, there’s always been that longing.
I remember my sister Lori buying me a jigsaw puzzle in elementary school of various pictures of Ireland. The green hills. The majestic cliffs. The Celtic cross. I’m not sure if I liked Ireland before, but I still remember that puzzle.
I had a relative, cousin Jeanette, who traveled to Europe when I was young. Sightseeing through various countries. She brought me back some coins and an Oxford sweater that is still in a drawer for safe keepings.
Growing up, I knew friends who would travel with school trips. They would save their money, sell fruit and chocolates and anything else the school recommended, to have enough funds to pay for the lavish trips.
I always thought it was too expensive, so I never really considered going abroad.
In college I took an art history class and fell in love with Italy and the renaissance artists. I would sit in the darkened class as the professor flipped through photographed slides (this was before PowerPoint presentations) and I would take notes upon notes of the breathtaking works.
I made a pact in that class that I would go to Italy someday.
Well, I started working and life happened. Car payments. House payments. Health insurance. So I traveled within the U.S. because it was cheaper and there were so many places I hadn’t seen. Chicago, Charleston, DC, Boston, Las Vegas, San Francisco, New Orleans. I started traveling and I got bit by the bug.
I told myself that since I was single I would travel to Italy when I turned 30, a birthday present to myself. A few months before my 30th birthday I got my passport. I was going to do it.
Well, 30 came and went but I couldn’t let go of the funds since it was so expensive.
Sadly, my grandfather passed away and gifted each of the grand children $1,000. I decided to use this money on a flight to Italy.
And that is what I did. I couldn’t find anyone to go with me, so I floated on the Venice Canals alone. I saw Michelangelo’s David and the rest of the Uffizi Museum in Florence. I toured through Pompeii and saw Mt. Vesuvius and ate a pizza at its home in Naples.
Then I went to Rome and stood under the Sistine Chapel. I looked in awe at Adam’s finger almost touching God’s. I too felt the closeness on that trip through the many church visits with only God as my companion.
Some may have dreaded going alone, but it was a trip I will never forget. Roaming the streets at night, getting lost without a care. Eating gelato anytime my stomach churned just a little.
It was a once in a lifetime trip.
I started cruising to see other countries. I even road-tripped up to Canada just to see a new place.
I wanted to return to Europe, but thought once was enough.
Until I found a cheap flight to Ireland. And then this time my sister and niece wanted to join. We went to Ireland, London and Paris on that trip. Paris mainly to see Disney Paris.
Once again, I thought this was a once in a lifetime trip and it was much cheaper. The flight was very cheap, which in the previous trip was the most expensive part.
A friend told me about a website that alerts people on cheap flights all over the world. So I decided I would give it a try. That year I hit Ireland and Italy again. Because family members wanted to see it. And the flights together were cheaper than my original first flight to Italy.
The years have passed and it seems Europe keeps beckoning me to come visit.
People ask, “Why go to Europe when there is so much to see in the U.S.?” Which is true, but my response “Why not?”
Why not see the tulips in Amsterdam or the Anne Frank House if a cheap flight was found? Why not see the Alps or taste a real Belgium waffle if the flight was cheap enough? Why not tour the Iberian peninsula and experience the original Sierra Nevadas if it’s cheaper than seeing the State of Nevada.
It’s been an interesting journey thus far.
And I hope this is still just the beginning of a very long, sightseeing trek.
May you too knockoff some of your bucket list places…and may your bucket list never run dry.
Because if I can do this…you can too. It’s not as out of reach as you may think.
Peace
