Kick Off!

I think it is standard blog practice to write an entry before you leave, so here goes…
Tomorrow we are leaving for Europe. I have waited a long time for this trip and spent the last couple months planning this trip. I took the initiative to plan this trip myself, rather than use a typical tour group. Most of my friends have traveled around Europe this way, but I am worried about my lack of international experience and the millions of things that could go wrong. However, I have found my new favorite thing by planning this trip myself. The thing is actually a person and he is Rick Steves. A few friends have called this planning process “stalking Rick,” but I say I just really enjoy reading about his travels. If you do not know the name Rick Steves, then you are truly missing out. He is the best travel writer and he writes guidebooks for Europe. I plan to own his whole collection by 30, which means I will have conquered Europe and can check one more thing off my Life to-do list. I am sure no one is shocked I have a Life-to-do list. I would call it a bucket list, but I am too young for that.

Before we leave, we did want to give a little shout-out to few special occasions we will miss while we are away: Happy first anniversary to the Elkins, Happy pre-one-year wedding date to the future Bowmans, & Happy Birthday to Colleen! Also, thank you to Amber & Marty for answering my endless questions while I was planning this trip. And last but not least, Moms please don’t worry too much while we are away.
For the next two weeks we plan to update “Away from my Desk” as much as possible. We have never blogged, mostly because we consider it one of those TMI things, but our friends think it will be entertaining. We hope you enjoy our European travel blog and we will return on October 17th!

Here’s our itinerary:
Germany: Munich- 3 days (Oktoberfest!), Rothenberg ob Tauber -1 day
Amsterdam- 3 days
France: Normandy- 2 days, Versailles -1 day, Paris - 4 days


--Lauren