Travel Monday - Europe Again :)

I now know how Matt felt leading up to the purchase of his boat.

Excited.
Anxious.
Eager.
Happy.

Traveling is my passion.  Much like Matt has certain things that he loves to do, I've found that this is really where my heart is.  Experiencing new things away from home, learning about new cultures, exploring a different city and making memories that will last me a life time are the things that drive me to continue planning out of the country adventures.

I mentioned before on a blog post that when Matt was deciding on whether or not to purchase the boat, I was behind him 100%.  I'm a big believer in being responsible, not living outside of your means, and saving for the future.  That being said, I will never let money be the reason that I look back on my life and regret not doing something.  I never wanted Matt to be 50 years old and look back at this point in our life only to think "why didn't I do that when I could"?  I hope that he wants the same for me.  I've been thinking about this pending trip for quite some time.

Back in 2005 I was given the chance of a lifetime (and taught a huge life lesson) when I worked my butt off and saved money to go on a trip to Europe with some of my best friends.  On that trip we SWORE that it wasn't the last time we'd be in Europe together!

Originally it was said that when we graduated college (2010) we would plan a trip.  Clearly we didn't realize how broke we would be immediately following 4 years of fun and irresponsible spending!  Also a few of us really didn't have a break between graduating and starting grad school.  Then came 2011.  I'm not 100% sure why it was decided that we wouldn't travel this summer but I think it had something to do with 2 weddings within our group...people moving...changing jobs...just establishing a year with a job so not much vacation time...and a bunch of other factors.

In short...it's easy to justify why NOT to take a trip.  It's much harder to commit, plan and make it happen.

But guess what?  We're doing it!!!!!!

Summer 2012 (July) we're clearing our calendars and making it happen.

Yesterday we met in Richmond to discuss our options.  We took a lot of possibilities and narrowed it down to 3 possible trips!

1) Prague, Vienna, and Budapest (see more here)

2) Greece, Turkey and the Aegean (see more here)

3) Chocolates and Cappuccino - Venice, Salzburg, Lucerne, Milan (see more here)

*Stay tuned to see what we decide on!