A new "journey" starts Monday!!

What would be your first reaction if you heard that two fairly-well-respected senior citizens were headed to Europe with backpacks and Eurail tickets following their hearts like a couple of teenagers? Before you phone the people in white coats to come and tote us off, think about it…

Who has not dreamed of seeing the world toting a backpack containing nothing but essentials, unencumbered with checked bags and heavy luggage? Well, at 67 years old, we decided if we wanted to fulfill this crazy dream, we had better get with it!

It all started many months ago when we found unbelievably-priced plane tickets from Huntsville, Alabama to Zurich, Switzerland, so Switzerland will be our starting point. We also plan to visit parts of Austria and northern Italy, and will get from point A to point B using the efficient rail system available in Europe. (Did I mention that neither of us can speak a word of German or Italian? You don’t think that could be a problem, do you?)

We won’t be camping. We plan to stay in small, out-of-the-way hotels and bed and breakfast establishments where we hope to meet new people and make new friends, probably using mostly a sort of charade-game type of communications.

So, what does one put in a backpack to make a trip like this? We are not sure. Passports and cameras…a few (very few) clothes…three or four shirts and an extra pair of jeans. We plan to wear the same shoes the entire trip and do hand-washing at night. We’ll take our medicines and toothbrushes. Makeup, hair dryer, and curling iron will have to stay at home, so don’t expect any close-up photos to appear on the blog!

But…we are taking a small laptop computer. Our children (who are making fun of us, but I think they are secretly jealous) are insisting we send back daily reports and photos. Why not give them the pleasure of making fun of our experiences? For them that is cheap fun. So, if you want to join the game and keep up with two seniors who are following a dream, you are welcome to read along. Perhaps this is YOUR dream also, so we invite you to go along with us on a vicarious (and probably hilarious) trip to parts of Europe.