Globetrotting: The Intro

I was a stress-out, to-do list freakazoid the week before we left. It was a mad dash to get all the critical pre-vacation chores accomplished like getting my bangs trimmed and organizing my shoes. Let’s just say I received more than a few “whoa, you need a vacation” looks. The heart palpitations I was feeling were eased only by the constant reminder that all of my anxiousness would melt away as soon as the “fasten your seat belt” sign lit up.

And, to a certain degree it did. All of the worry about clients, budgets, deadlines, roommates, bills, and the back log of unwatched Biggest Loser episodes on my DVD? Poof! But, I still found myself anxious -- even in my sleep! I would report my weirdo anxiety nightmares to Sarah each morning and she would give me a look similar to the one mentioned above.

I realized somewhere along the trip that I was scared. Maybe reading the travel guide cover to cover was a bad idea after all. But, I suppose fear is part of what makes travel so enlivening. It jolts you awake and puts you off-balance and perpetually on guard. My senses were heightened and my focus was back. And, because of all this, I ended up with a few good stories and a whole lot of great pictures.

Here’s the story of our recent European adventures. I’ll post by day as to not bore you with an excessively long entry.

This is how to it started…

Day 1 -- Above the Atlantic

We may have underestimated the amount of time it takes to get on an international flight. Oops. Either that or we geniusly concocted a way to cut in the long check-in line. After a stern talking to from the gate attendant for being late, we were rushed off to security. A jog on the moving walkways and a shuffle around a few slow moving Asian tourists, we made it to the plane in plenty of time to board. Sweatpants-clad and Benadryl-dosed, we settled in for a long flight. We teased that we were like babies -- sleeping until we were woken up by the flight attendants to eat. But, before we knew it (OK, 7 hours later) we were in Paris!