Backpacking Through Europe (with my Parents)

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

My parents were a couple of visionaries when it came to traveling with young children in the late '80s/ early 90's. Long before giant, gas-guzzling SUVs with built-in split-screen monitors for the kiddies, my brother, Scott and I had our 1980 gas-guzzling (with the tendency to try and break down in the middle of the Nevada desert) maroon van with plush velvet-like seats that we melted into (sometimes literally... the air conditioning liked to break as well). One sat in one of the middle seats and the other in the back row (usually whoever wasn't as prone to motion sickness at that point) and we watched movies during the entire two-day trip from the northwest to sunny SoCal or the Oregon Coast. During that time my father, who worked at a local tv station, would set up our abnormally large video camera (one of the first meant for home use, the kind that used to use VHS tapes to record and you had to sling over your shoulder like the tv camera men of today). He'd hook it up to a five-inch portable tv we had and my parents would enjoy the relative silence as Scott and I watched hours and hours of the same movie over and over again. Sadly for my dad, who was stuck driving most of the time, we weren't technological enough to think of headphones so he got to listen in as well. Dad still talks about how he could quote Homeward Bound (oh, Michael J. Fox and your "Bat dog!" line) from beginning to end before he ever saw the movie a few years later.

.....

Fast forward a good 20 years or so. I am now 24 and Scott, just shy of 22. We still like to travel with our parents now and then, something you don't see everyday with people of our generation. Scott and I went away to the same university 300 miles north of where we grew up. Even after moving out, we still did two trips down to Disneyland with our parents to celebrate various milestones. (P.S. Mickey Mouse + margaritas + not having any young kids with you makes Disneyland truly the happiest place on earth). Now Scott is living outside of Rome, studying Italian, and having the time of his life. And finally after many, many years of trying to get our parents to travel over there (plus countless hours/days of justifying the expense), we have convinced them to spend three weeks speed traveling through Europe. The added bonus is Scott is already there and I have a job allowing me to take some time off, so all four of us will be trekking through seven countries in 21 days. Let the fun begin :D

Mom has never been to Europe. Dad lived in Germany for a summer when he was 17 (the same summer man landed on the moon). Needless to say, travel through Europe has changed a bit since he was there last. Scott and I are becoming pros at navigating through post-9/11 airports, crazy-dirty hostels, and not getting mugged by gypsies. Between the two of us we've been to at least twenty-three countries and still have all our fingers, toes, and wits about us. We've done the traveling with one carry-on bag before. This time we're doing the full-on backpacking experience with my 50-something parents and 60 liter packs. They're stoked, I'm stoked, and will be ready with a camera for every priceless moment (including every time my mom's going to squeal when she sees various landmarks like the Eiffel Tower). My parents rock my world.

We leave in about a week. Barring any man made or natural disasters (I'm looking at you, Icelandic volcano, which I can't pronounce or spell) we will be back sometime in June.