About
I guess it’s safe to assume, if you have gone as far as to read our about page, you have some interest in travel, or you’re wondering how you happened upon a blog that isn’t written by someone in their 20’s. Well, welcome to our travel blog! Let me introduce myself. My name is Liz and along with my husband Dave, we have caught the travel bug in the worst way. Some might say we are a little late to the travel game as we are both in our 50’s (early 50’s…just need to get that out there) and never traveled outside the US (except on a cruise ship) until just a couple years ago.
Our first overseas trip was actually to live in Germany for a couple years. Talk about culture shock!! Here we are a couple who grew up in Kentucky, who had no experience when it came to dealing with other cultures, now finding ourselves in a country where we couldn’t read the signs, couldn’t speak the language, nothing looked familiar and didn’t know a living soul within 1000 miles. Needless to say, it was terrifying and we quickly wondered if we had made a huge mistake. But we toughed it out, and before long realized this was going to be one of the best experiences of our lives. Once we returned back to the US, we couldn’t wait to plan our next trip.
Let me tell you how this blog actually came about. Dave and I were talking one afternoon about our “bucket list” of places where we wanted to travel. With both of us around 50 years old, we estimated that we could have approximately 20 years to get our traveling done and still be in good health. At first, we were like, twenty years is a long time, so no problem getting through our list. Then I thought, most of us only get to take one vacation a year and most of the time that happens in the summer. Now I am thinking, we only have “20 summers” to get through our list. Suddenly, time seems much shorter. It was then we started to prioritize what we wanted to do and where we wanted to go. We think a lot of people near our age are asking themselves those same questions. It is our hope that we can share with you the places we are going in hopes that it will encourage you to come up with your “20 Summers Plan”. To get started creating your own “20 Summers Plan”, click here.
Back to living in Germany. It’s strange being in a place where you don’t know anyone. We found ourselves not really looking at anyone face to face as we walked along the streets. I guess subconsciously you know you will not recognize anyone so there is no real reason to make eye contact. There was actually a level of comfort when we would run into a McDonald’s or a KFC because it felt like home to us. Just being able to walk inside and have something to eat brought familiarity and a sense of home.
If we learned anything during our time abroad, it is that we as human beings are more alike than we are different. We all want the same basics, of safety, security, love our family and friends, and have a fulfilling life. We may go about it differently but that’s what makes us all unique. No matter where we traveled, we tried to get out of the tourist areas and go where the locals would go. By doing this we were able to see how another culture lives their everyday lives. We would eat in the same restaurants and shop in the same stores. We were able to see how local families interacted with each other and not just tourists.
Our goal in starting this blog is just to share with others the joy and rewarding experience travel brings to our lives in hopes that it will inspire you to take a leap of faith and start planning your next adventure. Don’t get me wrong, not every trip needs to be on another continent to be a great experience. There are things to do no matter where you live. You just have to look for them.
We discovered that travel is more than just going to the touristy areas and doing the touristy things. By all means when in Paris see the Eifel Tower or when in Rome go to the Coliseum, but the key is to look beyond that and find those little things that you love. Maybe it’s a cooking class in Italy or a painting class in France or maybe it’s walking through an ice tunnel in Iceland. The point is to look beyond the obvious and find those things that will make true memories.
I am not a professional writer so you won’t get fancy words or a lot of fluff. There are plenty of magazine articles and travel books for that. Instead you will get ideas and stories from two down to earth people who are wanting to share their experiences with you, and hopefully, we can become friends along the way.
So, glad you are joining us!!
Liz and Dave
