When people mention this blog to me nine times out of ten they always say the family travel blogs are their favorites. I have to admit that are some of my favorites too. Not just the blogs but the memories.
The traveling started before the blog, but we didn’t always do the exotic trips. When the kids were younger we went took the typical Eastern family vacation, we went to a beach resort. Five years of Jamaica, St. Lucia, Hawaii, Cancun and the final family beach trek the Dominican Republic. When we came back from that trip I said to Glenn I was done with spending a lot of money to sit on a beach with a bunch of people from New York, where I did nothing but work out and read, something I also did in New York.
From then on I told everyone we would see the world.
My mother taught me to take on the world and her mother taught her. They are some of my best memories of my childhood and well into my young adulthood and they are my mother’s best memories of her years with her mother.
I had already taken Taylor to India twice and Lucy had been to London and Paris, but I wanted them to see THE WORLD.
So the next year I decided we would go to Egypt. Why I picked Egypt I have no idea. But off we went and family tradition took flight.
When I look at the endless albums and photos from these trips they make me so happy I cannot tell you. I told Glenn the other night every dime we spent was worth it as we will never get these years back.
The girls are getting older now, the world is changing. In fact this year after several days in Santa Barbara we are headed to….you guessed it, a beach resort.
I’m sure we will do the exotic again. This year did not feel like the right time for that. We all need to kind of decompress and do yoga, and read and relax. We have a new addition who you will meet in the photos to come.
But for now a look at some of our magical moments on the road.
Lucy and Glenn in the Dominican Republic. Our last beach trip.When I think of our family trips this photo is the one I think of first. Lucy was afraid to climb on the camel. I have a photo of my grandmother in exactly same place. Today one would not go to Egypt with young children Thank heavens we did it when we did..Taylor and me in The Valley of the Kings in Luxor.The next year was a grueling trip, but fun. Tokyo, Bangkok, Viet Nam and Angkor Wat. This was Tokyo.
The family that rides elephants together stays together.All of us in Angkor WatTaylor took this at sunrise in Angkor Wat she was the only one who got up for it.Lucy at the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.The girls heading into the Souk in Istanbul.From there we went to Prague. It was freezing. This started the can’t we go somewhere it isn’t below zero cry. I have this photo framed in my office.Taylor in Prague.Then we took a train to Berlin.The girls in Berlin.Our magical moments on the road.The next year we did Rome, Florence and Amsterdam. Christmas at the Vatican.Roman Streets at ChristmasAll of us in front of the Trevi Fountain.This is a restaurant in Florence. The name we never learned, we refer to it as arm party as the guy who ran it had about a hundred bracelets that went up his arm. When we all conjure up the best meal we have ever had, we all agree it was here at Arm Party.Piazza della Repubblica figuring out the next move.We’ve seen a lot of rivers. Here we are on the Arno.Fun in Florence.Amsterdam.Lucy eating a warm waffle her favorite food in Amsterdam.The next year we spent XMAS here in Santa Barbara then went to Hong Kong and China.The Forbidden City.The Great Wall.ShanghaiThe girls in ShanhaiNew Years in ShanghaiThe next year was a week in Barcelona. We stayed put for once.Here we are at the Familia SagradaThe next year we started in Madrid for two days.
Then we went to La Mamounia in Marrakech. Lucy’s favorite hotel to date.The lobby all dressed up for XMASWe loved the St. Laurent gardens.Then Fez.We had the most perfect New Year’s Day in Paris. Never has it been more beautiful. Less than a week later was Charlie Hebdo. The world was changing in so many ways.Last year was Peru. Lima.Cusco – such a magical city.And adding another Wonder of the World Machu PIchu.
