Summer vibes
Back from Europe and prepping for Kindergarten
We recently returned from our 2.5 week Eurotrip to France and Greece and have been settling back into the mundane routines of daily life while reminiscing about our adventures.
I have much to share regarding our trip (and a side project that’s been taking all of my time since we got home). But first, I want to tell you about a special pair of souvenirs that I bought in Greece.
My grandmother, Mary Bell, a world traveler with a weird and wicked sense of humor, visited Greece a dozen or so times in her life. It was her favorite country in the world, and I really needed to know why. So when I was pitching summer vacation ideas to my husband, Greece was at the top of the list.
Mary often traveled with my step-grandmother, Lynn, one of her besties, and they visited Greece together many times. They both loved Santorini, so I was excited to visit this magical place that stole their hearts.
I’ve had their ashes sitting on my mantel in plastic condiment containers and a plastic baggy for YEARS. It was time to upgrade their resting places. One of my goals of the trip was to find some nice Greek containers that I could put their ashes in.
While we did not necessarily have the same lovely experiences in Santorini that they did (read our saga of the Santorini donkeys here), I did find some nice clay pots to move them into, so it was a successful day and now these ladies have lovely little resting spots. Aren’t they cute?? Now they sit on top of our piano, under the world map, probably bickering about where to go next and cackling over too many glasses of wine. <3
We spent two and a half weeks of pure PTO trekking about Europe. This is unusual for us since we usually take workcations; we never take off more than a week of work at any one time. But I have to say how amazing it was to truly disconnect and shut off that part of my brain for 18 straight days (technically 20 since we had a weekend on the backend to recoup before returning to work). The Husband works for a company with unlimited PTO, but I have a specific number that I can use each year so I have to be strategic. By planning our trip around two American holidays (Juneteenth and Fourth of July), I only had to take 11 days of PTO. And it was FABULOUS!!
I actually felt refreshed when I came back to work instead of suffering from a vacation hangover, which happens when I haven’t had enough time away. It can take several days for the mind and body to settle into Rest Mode and really start to decompress. So, if you ever have the opportunity to give yourself more than a week’s break from work, I highly encourage you to do so! #worklifebalance
Why we went to Europe
My husband and I will be celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary this fall. As we talked about how we’d like to celebrate, the idea of a cruise kept coming up. We’ve taken two cruises together – to Alaska, for our besties’ wedding, and around South America with our baby – and loved them. I also really wanted to take a European trip this summer since some of our financial goals will prevent any expensive overseas travel for a few years. So we decided to combine them!
What did we do for 2.5 weeks in Europe? We crashed with my dad in Paris for 5 nights, giving our son the opportunity to spend time with his grandpa in his favorite city in the world. Skyler was most excited to see the Eiffel Tower and the sewers (les égouts), which he’d been talking about for months.
Then we headed to Athens for one night before going down to the port town of Piraeus to board the MSC Opera. We spent 7 nights on the cruise, visiting Katalkolon, Corfu, Santorini (all in Greece), and Bari (Italy). Skyler had a blast on the cruise flirting with all of the Italian moms and ordering spirit-free Pina Coladas every single day. Then, we spent three nights in Athens before flying home. (See all of our Instagram posts from our travels!)
I’m currently outlining a few other posts related to our Eurotrip 2024. If you’d interested in a further breakdown of our itinerary and the costs of the trip, let me know! What other questions would you want me to answer?
Upcoming travels
This may shock some of you but…. We have no other travel planned for the rest of the year. 😱
So why the travel slow down?? One reason is that our son is entering Kindergarten! This means we have to now abide by a school calendar to avoid truancy court 😆 which limits our travel to the same times that everyone else and their kids are traveling: Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring breaks.
We already have some fun ideas in the works for next summer and some long weekends but please send me any ideas for day trips or weekend getaways from Nashville!
Our next planned trip will be in Spring 2025. Our son turns six in March, so we thought that a trip over Spring Break could be a fun birthday celebration. He’s obsessed with legos so we were hoping to take him to Legoland in Florida in spring of 2025 or 2026, depending on if/when I could find a home exchange. It usually requires dozens of exchange requests and many back and forths to find an exchange that will work. But unexpectedly, the FIRST PEOPLE I reached out to in the nearby area said yes! So we’ll be heading to Legoland in March 2025 (and the kiddo doesn’t know yet! I am on a total high from making this happen so quickly and can’t wait to surprise my Lego-lovin’ little guy.
Interested in learning more about Home Exchange? Read my 101 guide here!
Do you follow me on Instagram? I post a lot to my stories there, especially when traveling, and I post tips and tricks and little anecdotes from our adventures in my feed. Some recent highlights include:
The thing my kid was MOST excited about seeing in Paris (hint: it’s underground)
The big project that’s been taking up all of my free time since we got home
Have you read my latest blog posts?
The Donkeys of Santorini: A Unique and Challenging Journey to Fira
Can you buy peanut butter in Mexico? And other questions about life in Playa del Carmen
If I could ask you one favor, it would be this: if you like anything that I’ve ever written, have learned anything from any of my previous posts, or have ever enjoyed my Instagram feed, I kindly request that you share my blog link with one other person. Share my blog with someone who you think could learn something new or be inspired to push themselves out of their comfort zone and seek adventure. Forward a previous newsletter to a friend, a coworker, a family member who might be needing some travel inspo in their life, someone to encourage them and support them as they work through anxieties or fears holding them back. Suggest that they sign up for this newsletter. If you would kindly share any of these things with one person in your life, I would be so appreciative.
I would also love to hear from you. Tell me what questions are on your mind and what kinds of stories you would be most interested in. I want to write things that you care about. So tell me where you want to go, what concerns are top of mind, what do you want to know about workcationing or traveling with a kid or fighting through anxiety to do the things you want to do. Tell me what kinds of information you would find most interesting or useful.
Until next time, friends and fellow travelers! Safe travels!
