My Next Adventure

I'm off on another big trip soon. My nephew/godson, Andy, graduated from high school a few weeks ago and, as a gift, I'm taking him to Europe--and by taking, I mostly mean accompanying. I'm paying for some things, but I'm no Aunt Moneybags. His generous parents are paying for the bulk of it. Once we decided to go, way back at Christmas, it made sense to ask some others to go, so I invited my 17 year old niece, Maria, Andy's younger sister, and my niece Kelly, their older cousin. As time went on, Kelly had to cancel; it's not a cheap trip, even though we're working very hard to keep prices down. So it's just the three of us. Sort of.

We hadn't decided on an itinerary, and at about the same time, my colleague, Eric, and I were proposing a 2012 study abroad trip to the college. We wanted to take students to England and France to study media and literature. Our proposal was accepted, and it became clear that we needed to take an advance trip to plan out field trips, get to know London and Paris, and find accommodations for 2012. Two trips to Europe in one summer were out of the question, so I asked the committee that oversees study abroad if I could take Andy and Maria if every cent of their travel costs were paid for by me or their parents. They saw no problem with that: all the places we'll go in London and Paris will be places Eric and I need to see for school purposes. Happily, many of them are places anyone would want to see in those destinations: Westminster Abbey, Tower of London, The Louvre, Versailles. Frankly, I think it will be a better advance trip because Andy and Maria are there. I keep calling them our study abroad focus group. They are 17 and 18, just about the ages of the students we'll take next summer, so we'll get a sneak preview of students' reactions. Perfect. The kids know I have to work while I'm there, so it will be fine.

We leave in early July, and the kids and I will make one stop, all on our own dime, before we meet Eric in London. Andy is an avid golfer, and he loved the idea of going to Scotland. I've never been there, so I was excited by that destination as well. It will be a short visit, but we'll be there long enough for Andy to play nine holes of golf at a well known public course in Edinburgh. We'll see the sights on the Royal Mile, too. Oh, we'll take one day to travel to St. Andrew's. The birthplace of golf is a must see on Andy's list. Maria and I will enjoy it, too. All that royal wedding footage of Will and Kate's college days let us see how lovely the place is.

So stay posted. My international exploits continue!


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