21 Adventerous Days in Europe on a
Rick Steves Tour
Europe Bound!
When my husband and I sat down to decide which tour to participate in we had a few factors to consider. I absolutely knew that I wanted to go to Italy. I was interested in the culture, food, and art of Italy. I also knew I wanted to go to Paris. That was my childhood dream and I was curious to experience it. As I researched travel to Europe I discovered I wanted to go to Switzerland, primarily because I am a nature lover and Switzerland is kind of the queen of all things nature…at least in it’s own right. My husband Mike was not as certain about where he wanted to go but he knew he wanted to see Europe and get a taste for a variety of places.
We narrowed our choices down and ultimately picked "The Best of Europe in 21 Days." We really liked how this tour saw many different countries, some of which we would not have visited on our own. We liked that it was longer. We figured with this trip being our first visit to Europe we wanted to go big. Additionally, we are kind of sticklers about money and saw that this tour had one of the best prices per night. Our decision was made - we were headed to Europe!
If you are wondering if a tour is a right fit for you, or if you want to explore Europe without help, visit my other page: To Tour or Not to Tour?
Why the Best of Europe in 21 Days?
Making our dreams
come true
As a mental health therapist I can’t help but include some of that in this website. I wanted to share a piece of my journal that I kept while in Europe. I wrote this on the plane going home. Just food for thought on making your dreams come true:
May 27, 2013
“On the plane home. Oh it’s sad to write those words. But it is also so happy that I can write those words, it means my lifelong dream of going to Europe has come true. I sit on the plane writing and reflecting about our time in Europe- what an experience, what a blessing. I have many different thoughts and feelings about the trip. One is- my dream came true- since I was a little girl I wanted to go to Paris, in college that expanded to Italy and now when I’m 27 I got to go. When I first arrived I had some weird feelings because part of me was like- I’m here- that wasn’t that hard- I wonder why it seemed so hard to get here? I think sometimes when we want something really bad we think it can’t happen because of that. So once I got to Europe it was like that bubble was burst and what was left was reality- reality being- you often can do what you want and it is often much more difficult in our heads then it is in real life. I hope I can remember that”
You, too, can make your dreams come true!
I wanted to include a piece about why we chose Rick Steves. I'm not trying to sell you on it - more just trying to inform you. There are a lot of companies that provide tours of Europe but there are none quite like Rick Steves. From what I understand the philosophy of the company is to teach you how to truly immerse yourself in European culture. If you search the Rick Steves website you will know what I mean. In Rick Steves' videos and books he is constantly talking about traveling as a "temporary European" and traveling "through the back door." This was something that was important to me and my husband. Although we felt that we needed the help of a tour for our first visit to Europe, we felt that if we traveled with the Rick Steves' company we could be traveling as temporary Europeans.