A Look Back, part 1

It's barely been 48 hours since our return and we're still not on central standard time. So maybe it's a little early to look back and judge how things went in detail. But I want to share some random thoughts anyway;

We always plan things early and in some detail, but this year was even more so. The trip was about 80% locked in six months before we got on the plane. That may sound a little extreme to some, but with children and all the changes of location involved, we wanted to remove as much uncertainty as we could from the trip. I have to give myself some credit for the fact that everything that could be planned ahead went pretty much exactly as planned. What we did on day 32 was exactly what we had planned months earlier. That's not to say everything was perfect, but the planning payed off.

That said, There were a few too many transitions on this trip. We stayed in twelve different locations. I thought that since we stayed at least two nights in each, and at least three in most, that each location would get the attention it deserved and we wouldn't feel rushed. To that extent, I was pretty much on target. I can't think of a location that I would have wanted to stay in longer than we did, except perhaps Amsterdam. One more day there would have been useful. But what I didn't expect was that by the time we got to location number eight, the memories of location number one began to get fuzzy. By the time we got to the end of the trip, much of the first half seemed like so long ago it might have been part of a different trip entirely.

It's would be easy to blame the length of the trip for this. But five weeks was only a few days longer than our trip to France last year and that trip did not feel too long. Why the difference? The month in France included three one-week stays. Although there were several other short stops, the three one-week stays gave a greater sense of stability and cemented the memories better.

It would be easy then to blame the number of stops, and to wish we had cut a few. But which ones? We could have cut out all of the stops after Salzburg and not gone farther east, but those stops were among the most interesting and meaningful since they are less commonly visited. Not seeing them on this trip when we were so close by would mean not seeing them at all for at least several more years. I can't go so far as to say I regret adding them to the itinerary. I think we made the best of the opportunity we had. If we got a little tired at the end and the memories got a little muddled, that may have simply been the price we had to pay. There are too many other places in the world we want to see to say we should have broken this into two or three trips instead of one.

I think some of the fatigue was simply caused by the weather. Amsterdam was a challenge because it was so cool and gloomy that it was not pleasant to linger outdoors. Then within a span of two days temps rose 25-30 degrees, the sun came out and the heat became borderline oppressive for most of the next 30 days. It takes a toll, and that is nothing that can be planned for or controlled.

More tomorrow...