Traveling to Europe was unlike any vacation I have ever taken. I’ve traveled extensively throughout the United States, but my trips to England, France and Switzerland brought a vastly different experience. Life took on a new feel. Having time to reflect, I realized there were many reasons for the difference.
The River Thames
Partly, I think, it’s being so far away from home. It was stunning to think that in only a matter of hours I could go from my sleepy town in southern Wisconsin to standing on the banks of the Thames. But there was more…
I stopped resisting change. Once I was in Europe I didn’t have a rigid schedule anymore. I stopped having a dog to walk, work appointments to keep, grass to mow. The truth was, and one of the advantages of not traveling with a tour group, I didn’t have much of any schedule. Sure, I had trains to catch, but if I missed one train, another would available in short order.
Enjoying a nice leisurely breakfast with my travel partners in Hotel Blumental, Murren Switzerland.
The things that dictated my daily life stopped existing. My usual out of bed by six, breakfast at seven, lunch at noon, dinner at five thirty, turned into breakfast at 9 or 10, lunch whenever hypoglycemia struck, dinner at gasp, eight o’clock and went to bed hours later than my usual bedtime. After a couple of days, I stopped resisting the changes and simply found joy in discovering a new schedule. But there was more…
The guard dog at The Kings Arms, “Pastel.”
It was the people I met and the way they lived. 
While staying at the Kings Arm, a five hundred year old former coaching lodge in Stow on the Wold, England, I discovered that people in the English countryside take their dogs everywhere. They take them into most public places like restaurants and pubs (the well trained ones sit between their owner’s feet), local stores, even the pharmacy. There was the man with his son-in-law I met in a tiny laundromat in Murren, Switzerland. Though they spoke French, it wasn’t long before our conversation resulted in raucous laughter. There was the frustrations and joy of trying to communicate in German. While I was inept for the most part, I did try and was rewarded with the thrill of asking a question and getting a reply in German. “Wo ist der Bahnohf?” “Danke schon,”
But there was more…
The Wedding Feast at Cana by Veronese
It was the unexpected discoveries. While waiting in the crowd to see the Mona Lisa at the Louvre, I happened to turn around and wham. Situated on the opposite wall was a huge painting of The Wedding Feast at Cana by Veronese. The details of the work were overwhelming. Though we arrived too late for the official tour of Westminster Abbey, we timed it just right for the Evensong Service—a musical and spiritual treat. I happened onto the Crisis Skylight Café in Oxford, England, a café with a mission of helping homeless individuals. I can’t remember a more relaxing breakfast with delicious food and a street side view of bustling Oxford.
View from the Crisis Skylight Cafe, Oxford England
This was a trip of letting go, meeting people and making discoveries, and it was a boon for my creative soul. The daily viewing of beautiful landscapes, ancient cathedrals, galleries with famous artwork was an invigorating experience. It’s easy to see why writers, like Ernest Hemmingway, traveled Europe. It’s a treasure trove of places and experiences waiting to find their way into an author’s story. On top of all of that, my trip gave me a needed reset for an appreciation of humanity and the world we share.
For anyone who has ever considered traveling to Europe, stop procrastinating. Grab a travel guide book and start planning/dreaming now.
Westminster Abbey
Traveling is such an important part of growing in spirit not older. Keep the adventures on paper with photos. Thanks