The Younger Sisters' Five Week Journey Through Europe

Everything is packed. Two girls have managed to squeeze five weeks of clothes and toiletries into one suitcase. Might be the first of many miracles that happened on this trip. This trip is actually happening. In my life, I usually dream up big things, big adventures, wild plans, but never do they actually happen.     About two years ago, as 30 was suddenly not so distant, and my health was becoming increasingly poorer, I had an “its now or never moment”. Still single, with limited responsibilities, and a love for Europe I began to plan a once in a lifetime trip, leaving no desired spot off the itinerary and giving myself no time or budget restraints. I still remember the day that I began to plan the adventure. One afternoon while I was visiting home in California, my mom and I watched another unrealistic but wonderfully romantic comedy, “Letters to Juliet.” The story and characters left me feeling happy and hopeful, but most of all the setting of the film spar...

We are coming up on the one year anniversary of our trip to Europe. Its hard to believe that a year has gone by. It is even hard, sometimes, to believe that we even went. I look at pictures of all the wonderful, dream-like places we went and it feels dream like. I remember coming back last October, literally beginning work (nannying) and life the very next day, and everything was back to normal, back to the same old routine. I'm not sure what I expected, but I guess for all the planning I did and money that was spent, I think I expected life to be changed a little more than it was. Back in Idaho, like I had never drove through the green countryside of Ireland, or rode down the grand canal in a gondola, or ate and ate and ate real Italian food in Italy. After life did get back into a routine and a few months had past, I started working on a photobook of our trip. It took me 4-5 months to search through 10,000+ pictures, edit the good ones and then arrange them in the album. They ...