Europe…Ooh la la!

Jill's Journal: When Rob shared his RVing through Europe idea as an epilogue to our US adventure, I about peed my pants!! WHAT a brilliant idea! I’m almost more fired up about that than I was about our North America plan! Unbelievable. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it. It’s beyond brilliant and so very, very doable, especially after a few years of doing it here. And then there’s Australia and goodness knows where else… We could either ship our rig or sell what we have stateside and buy one there more suited to the local roads and lifestyles… Oh, the dreaming and scheming I am going to do!

I thought I was excited about our trip, but now I am ridiculously thrilled about it! What fabulous prospects are out there … the only limits on our future are our own imaginations!

Europe bound?

Last night I was watching Bourne and thought, you know - if we can do the RV in the US - we could really do that in Europe too. That movie shows an awful lot of fantastic sights and scenes and things that I would very much like to see.

I'm sure there are some logitical problems, but that's a good two years or more away, and we'll have to see how everything shakes out between now and then. I am however pretty certain that if we can do it here, we can do it there.

If we were to do it, I'd have to do a lot of research about vehicle length, width, fuel, types, etc. I know that there are differrent laws over there and I'm not entirely keen on all the hoops we'd probably have to jump through, but it'd be worth it if I can put up with it and keep the right attitude.

Personally, I'd like to see all the different things that Europe has to show me and my family, and I'd like to learn and teach the cultures and heritage that the area would have to offer. I could see a good amout of time in Western Europe, and while going into Eastern Europe would be interesting, it would all depend on how much time we wanted to spend. If I think it'll take a long time to move around over here, I can imagine how much time it'll take over there.

I suppose our primary countries would be: Italy, Spain, France, Germany (I mean - the autobahn in a 450 towing 40' of house... oh yeah!), the Netherlands, Denmark and I'm sure England/Ireland/Scotland would all be something to do. Secondary trips could include Monaco, Iceland (I've always wanted to go), Moscow (maybe a weekend trip), and Sweden/Finland/Norway just to see what that area is like. We'd need our passports in hand, that's for sure.

Worst case scenario is that the girls would all be much older, and could understand that they need to survive with less space. We could just sell the rig over here and buy something more suitable to life over there - we'll see. I'd think that over there I'd be very, very interested in a class C or A. Maybe by that point I'll have won the World Series and no longer need to work... HA!

Wanderlust

/Jill's Journal: A new year; another step closer to scratching our wanderlust itch. We think this will be a quiet year for us as we prepare for the RV launch in 2010. We have just two major family goals:

1). Keep the status quo with our little family. In other words, keep everybody healthy and happy as we enjoy every day together.

2). Conquer that tax debt! Barring any unforeseen setbacks, our very aggressive goal is to be debt-free by the end of October. It requires commitment and sacrifice, but we’ve already made some major headway over the past six or seven months. We are dedicated and determined.

By the way, I’ve always loved the word “wanderlust.” I remember discovering it as a kid and thinking it was a positively delicious word! It also sums up an affliction I’ve had since I was very young. I’ve always loved to travel, always craved travel. I remember being 13 and literally begging my parents to let me use my life savings for a trip to England (especially as my fave band, Wham!, had just broken up and planned a farewell concert in London, but that’s beside the point). Naturally, my parents said no (I can’t imagine why!), especially as I planned to go by myself, and I thought I would just die from their stamp of refusal!! Somehow I managed to survive the crushing blow (!) and got a job as a travel agent before high school graduation. I put myself through college on my meager travel agent pittance and was fortunate to do more traveling in seven years than many people get to do in a lifetime.

I finally did get that trip to London and over a dozen more to Europe during those years (and certainly have visited a good portion of the U.S. and a few other countries), but like anyone stricken with wanderlust, I ache for more! I’m fortunate to have a husband who, although he probably doesn’t quite crave travel the way I do, definitely enjoys adventure and seeing the world.