It's hard to fathom that we have officially lived abroad for TWO years!There was a time when the anticipation of moving to Germany felt surreal, and here I am; two years after taking that long flight across the pond, reflecting upon it all.
*I know quite a few people will shake their heads in disagreement over some of the things I'm about to write, and that's a-okay. These are my experiences, opinions, thoughts and etc,. I don't expect everyone who has lived/traveled abroad to feel the same.
It's crazy to think that two years have gone by since we moved to Germany. Our kids still felt little (I didn't have a teenager then), I had a fire within me to see anything and everything, and Europe was shiny and new. A lot has changed since then. I have changed. We have changed. Europe has changed. Two years doesn't seem long, but in many ways it has been.
 |
| September 2014 |
 |
| August 2016 |
NOTE:My intention was to publish this post on the actual anniversary date of our landing in Germany: August 12th. I was ready to hit the publish button, but reread it countless times, then hit delete. I started over. I could have bitched and moaned about the things I hated, and beamed about the things I loved, but instead I decided to share the biggest smack-in-the-face lesson I have learned while living here; along with some recap pictures of our travels.
Our first year in Germany was thrilling. I was excited to get out and see all of the things one reads about in fairy tales, and our family didn't sit upon the idea: We acted on it, fast.Before our personally owned car had even made it across the Atlantic, we were renting a car; buzzing around Bavaria and taking in the sites. Some of my favorite travels were in that rental ride: Neuschwanstein castle, Heidelberg, Darmstadt, etc,. But it wasn't until our vehicle had arrived that the real adventures began.
 |
| Neuschwanstein Castle~ Bavaria, Germany |
 |
| Altenburg Castle~ Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany |
 |
| Half-timbered Houses of Romer Square~ Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany |
 |
| Schloss Heidelberg~ Heidelberg, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany |
 |
| St. Peter's Church tower~ Munich, Bavaria, Germany |
 |
| Munich Residenz, Munich, Germany |
 |
| Nuremberg Christmas Market~ Nuremberg, Germany |
I will still never forget the first time I saw the Eiffel Tower glitter at dusk in December of 2014. It was beyond magical. They say when you visit places abroad that things will take your breath away, but very few have for me over the past two years. The Iron Lady in her full glory at night was my first real "A-ha" feeling. I was finally in Europe. It was a "pinch me" moment that can hardly be described in words. That moment is what let the travel beast out of the cage within myself. I thought that anywhere we visited would have the same effect.
 |
| Inside of Musee d'Orsay~ Paris, France |
 |
| The Louvre~ Paris, France |
 |
| Disneyland Paris, Christmas Day 2014 |
 |
| Palace of Versailles~ Versailles, France |
2015 was our year of many travels. By February of 2015 {only six months after moving to Germany} we had already visited all but three of Germany's largest cities, and countless smaller cities throughout the country. I was hungry to cram in every place possible in Germany and outside of it, if time allowed.
 |
| Basteibrücke~ Saxony, Germany |
 |
| Konigstein Fortress~ Saxony, Germany |
 |
| Dresden, Saxony, Germany |
Every weekend was becoming a trip; my husband was often requesting 'four day weekends' at work. We even began to plan out our actual vacation days. If a destination was an eight hour drive or less, it was on the list even if I had little desire to see it before we moved abroad. If it was further than an eight hour drive, I was ready to buy the plane tickets.
By our first year mark, we had visited France (twice), Czech Republic, Italy, Austria, England, and Spain, all while still running around Germany between our out of country trips. I was travel crazed; wanting to see more and more without ever completely feeling satisfied. I feel guilty for admitting that, but it's my truth.
 |
| Hohenzollern Castle~ Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany |
 |
| Lichtenstein Castle, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany |
 |
| Surrey, England |
 |
| Hampton Court Palace~East Molesey, England, UK |
 |
| River Thames~ London, England, UK |
 |
| Buckingham Palace~ London, England |
 |
| Tower Bridge~ London, England |
 |
| Tower of London~ London, England |
 |
| Hyde Park~ London, England |
 |
| Paddington Station~ London, England |
 |
| Prague, Czech Republic |
 |
| Prague, Czech Republic |
 |
| Kassel, Hesse, Germany |
 |
| Salzburg, Austria |
 |
| Bayreuth, Bavaria, Germany |
 |
| Barcelona, Spain |
 |
| La Sagrada Familia~ Barcelona, Spain |
 |
| Tossa de Mar~ Costa Brava, Spain |
 |
| Barcelona, Spain |
 |
| Oktoberfest 2015~ Munich, Germany |
 |
| Triberg {Black Forest}, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany |
 |
| Germany's tallest waterfall~ Triberg, Germany |
 |
| Lorraine Mondial Balloon Festival~ Metz, France |
 |
| Metz, France |
 |
| Venice, Italy |
 |
| Wurzburg, Bavaria, Germany |
***The above are a small fraction of the places we visited between December of 2014 and September 2015. I left out quite a few cities in Germany.
By September of 2015, I was beginning to understand that travel wasn't about crossing off a bucket list, but about 'feeling' the place you are in.
I was tired of 'seeing' things just for the joy of saying "Been there, done that".
I wanted to feel them; to fall in love with them.
That's when I went for it, and instead of booking a trip to a random, new 'somewhere' that I hadn't been before just to add to our travel "Been there" list, I booked our second trip to Paris. People thought I was crazy: "Why go there, again, when you could see something else?"
In October of 2015, we were back in the City of Lights, gazing upon that Iron Lady once more. I fell in love with that city, and the proof was in my wanting to return.
 |
| The Louvre, Paris, France |
 |
| Pere Lachaise Cemetery~ Paris, France |
 |
| St Denis Basilica~ Saint-Denis, France |
 |
| Notre Dame~ Paris, France |
 |
| Luxembourg Gardens~ Paris, France |
 |
| Chateau de Fontainebleau~ Fontainebleau, France |
 |
| Paris, France |
It's a funny thing, traveling. I have met countless Americans, who live here in Germany, that are like I once was; ready to get out and see it all. Cross off every city, every bucket list item, and have scores of Facebook selfies in front of any landmark that they encounter.
But my biggest lesson was thankfully learnt early enough: A tiny taste of a large city (or even a country) doesn't do a place any justice. A selfie in front of the Colosseum means squat if you didn't take the time to actually visit inside. Visiting Frankfurt doesn't mean you saw Germany.
Traveling isn't breezing through one place after another. In doing so, you are putting your foot in the water. And there is a huge difference between that and swimming.
We still have our weekend encounters with new places, but now that I fully understand I am only dipping my feet in, I have learned to take my time when out and about. I rush through nowhere. I'm not out to have world traveling records proclaiming I have seen XX amount of countries. That's the true difference between a traveler and a tourist: Travelers don't come back with countless stories about how many places they saw. Travelers come back with stories about what they saw.
After our return to Paris, I knew anywhere we'd visit after would have to be because we honestly wanted to visit. Not because we were in some sort of unspoken "I went here" competition with people.
Since the proverbial light bulb turned on in my head, every trip has been flawless. Now I refuse to go anywhere "just because" and I don't mind being that girl that keeps returning to certain cities while everyone mocks me for it. Our trips are fewer and further apart now, giving us the chance to spend more time in one place, and actually appreciate them before heading elsewhere.
Our first major trip after my epiphany was in December of 2015. Our family went to Edinburgh, Scotland because we wanted to. It was nothing short of amazing, worth every cent and the time spent planning. Edinburgh was gorgeous, as was Sterling and Linlithgow, but looking back, I believe part of our having a great time in Scotland was because we wanted to be in Scotland!
After our return, I was officially done with visiting cities just because, and we haven't revisited that practice since.
It's as simple as the saying your grandmother once said:"Quality over quantity"
2016 has been a bit slower with travels because of my new found respect of the art. For reals, it's an art...not everyone understands it, not all are good at it.
Our spring break trip in April of 2016 was our longest trip to date in Europe {at the time} at eight days long. It also confirmed the "quality over quantity" theory.
We absorbed Normandy. It was like we had found the slow-motion button on the remote of the universe and owned the hell out of it. That was one of the most memorable and beautiful weeks of my life. I still think of Courseulles-sur-Mer (the town we stayed in), daily. Bob Ross words come to mind and I am suddenly at peace. Not even kidding.
 |
| Oh yeah, we also spent some time in Paris (with a bonus of Versailles), again, and it was as wonderful as the first and second time. |
Recently, we visited Italy for the second time; staying in Rome for five days with an added day trip to Florence, and then hopped over to the French Riviera for five days. Again, a dream trip. I didn't return sour, and was grateful that we chose quality.
Since our return, it has been rough listening to other folks talk about their summer travels; 'visiting' seven countries in one week. Others spending two days here, one day there, another day here. Boasting about their growing "Been there" lists. They saw "everything", yet nothing.
So, my biggest lesson thus far while living and traveling abroad is that visiting a place is only worth it if you actually had a desire to do it long before you hopped off that overseas flight.
Take your time.Don't go to go. Go to feel. Go with purpose. It makes a world of a difference when you are standing face to face with a landmark you have dreamed of seeing since you were a kid, rather than a landmark you could care less about and only visited to get that sweet selfie to post on social media.
In the long run, the person who cares the most about your travels is you, not you countless followers on Snapchat, Instagram, or Facebook friends. You. Your friends and family don't walk away with the memories and think back to the places you have been. You do.
I wish I learned this lesson when we first arrived. I would've spent more time in certain places than others, or completely nixed visiting certain cities for that just because, and saved the time, effort, and money for places that really mattered to me.But I am glad to have learned this lesson at all. Some folks never will!
We have one year left in Germany. Soon will come the time where we pack up and move back to the United States. I won't be sad. That's an understatement, and another story...
I will be happy to start a new chapter and continue my travels with places much closer to home. In living abroad, I have also learnt the valuable lesson that I like to call "My Own Backyard". There is so much to see in my own home country that I haven't yet, and I had lived there for (roughly) 94% of my life.*I did the math: I've lived abroad, to date, 6.33% of my life. Yes, I am a math nerd.
Anyway, my point is that I'm ready to explore my own back yard! It doesn't take as much effort to travel in your home country as a foreign one (I know this is true), and us Americans often assume that excitement in traveling means we have to go to far and exotic lands. Why?
It took my moving to Germany to realize how much of America I have yet to see and want to see, and it's about time that I get on it!
We have a few Euro adventures up our sleeve before we backtrack over the pond, but we aren't seeking travel gold medals. I compete with no one.
 |
| The first ever photo I took in Germany on the ride to our new town from the airport. August 12, 2014 |
Comments
Post a Comment