This month is our 20th wedding anniversary. Brian and I have traveled to 16 countries since we have been married. This month we’ll visit four new countries to make it to 20 countries in 20 years of marriage. Most of our traveling was done before children through study abroad programs and backpacking in Europe before the days of cell phones and the Euro.
In 2013 we went to Norway to visit friends living abroad for a year. In 2017 we went to the Dominican Republic for spring break. In 2018 we went to France for Lydia’s French art exchange program through school, and to London to visit old friends. As we move past the years of having babies, family travel feels like the next best thing. I’m calling this next chapter of parenting, Adventures for Six.
For 24 days we will travel to five destinations and technically, four countries.
The itinerary is:
Iceland and the Golden Circle
Faroe Islands (technically owned by Denmark but runs as it’s own country and is not part of the EU)
Copenhagen, Denmark
Tallin, Estonia
Stockholm, Sweden
Reykjavik, Iceland
How did you pick these destinations?
On a boat ride yesterday through the rocky waves of the North Atlantic ocean in the Faroe Islands, I met a lady from Czech Republic who looked at my family and said, “That is not your typical Europe trip.” No it is not. Because we have done the typical Europe trips, I am seeking out places we have never been. Pre-parenting days our typical trips included overnight trains to Prague and Budapest with only a guide book and a pay phone to figure out where we would sleep when we arrived. We were adventurous travelers then, and we want to be adventurous travelers now.
I picked these destinations and planed this whole trip two weeks before we boarded the plane to Iceland. I like to be spontaneous but really I was having a hard time committing to a big trip for other reasons. The backstory is my girls were begging to visit a new continent this summer. I considered Australia but two of my girls failed my cold water test in May when we visited spring fed rivers in Florida with 72 degree water. Visiting the Great Barrier Reef during their winter season was going to be a bust. Visiting Africa and South America is going to take getting extra immunizations. We are working on that so we can open more travel doors.
Therefore we decided on Europe because it’s the only continent we can easily visit four different countries. Iceland is the cheapest way in and out of Europe. It’s summer and we traded in beach time for this trip so I wanted to always be around water. But I wanted to avoid the heat and crowds of Europe on the coast in July. My blonde headed daughters blend in perfectly with the Scandinavian countries, known for being family friendly. When my Brazilian friend decides to visit Brazil, we’ll tag along. For this trip, I decided for a safe adventure plan. On the day before the trip I presented this itinerary to the girls and told them what to pack.
We pack carry on luggage only, which sounds impressive but really it’s still a lot of stuff to shlep around. Everyone carries their own load. Sometimes even little Esther Kate pulls her weight. It’s probably the last trip for the 14 year old Bugaboo stroller. If we don’t find it useful we’ll give it away somewhere on our journey. The last stroller found a new home in Normandy when it didn’t fit in our rental car. A soon to be aunt was happy to pass it along to her expecting sister. It was a happy ending to that stroller we bought in Norway when LJ couldn’t keep up with the walking at age 4. EK is not much for the stroller life. She’s got too many people willing to carry her. She rolls well with our lifestyle as we expect a lot of her to keep up with older sisters. But that stroller has been through all these girls, so a final spin around Europe felt like a perfect ending to our baby days.
Here’s a link list to each post from our Scandinavian Trip
2o Countries in 20 Years, Adventures for Six
Amazing Family.