blog@cliffdweller

When I was in the fourth grade, my dad and step-mom decided to take the whole family to Europe. It was my first time there. As soon as we got out of school that year (maybe even a day early as I remember it), we sauntered off to Houston's Intercontinental Airport to fly to the UK.

From there we toured seven countries in twenty-one days. Here are the first things that come to mind when I think of that trip:

1.Under Dover Castle there are tunnels. Scary white tunnels where my step-brother scared the bejesus out of me by jumping out at the appropriate time.

2.They don't serve French Fries on the Eiffel Tower (at least they didn't that day) and for some reason the waitrons thought it was appropriate to bring fried green beans to a fourth grader who was expecting fried potatoes.

3.Lucern has a cool covered bridge and a sweet cogwheel train that went all the way up the side of a mountain that starts with the letter P.

4.All of Venice is not canals and museums. And it was the first haircut I ever got that was 100% done with scissors.

5.When you're racing your brother down 5 floors of a building and you're in the elevator, he's gonna push the call button on each floor to make sure he can prove the stairs are faster.

6.When you are on a bus tour with an agency (American Express in this case), pay attention to where the bus driver eats.

I also remember the family telling stories about that trip, but those are the things that stand out for me. Remember, (1) I was just a fourth grader, (2) The 3 week trip started 36 years ago this week and (3) chemotherapy – the old standby – destroys memory cells.

Was it worth it?

For the financial part of it, you'd have to ask the folks that paid for it. But even though I don't remember a lot of the details, I do know that much of what I believe today comes from my family's fearless treks into the 'out yonder.'

Some truths that got etched into my brain from that trip are simple things, like how a three week trip lasts for twenty-one days. Others were not so simple, like how people (in this case, the company lead tour guide) don't always speak the truth (we found out somewhere along the way that the company got kickbacks from the places we visited – hence my memory of eating where the bus driver eats instead of where the tour guide eats). I learned that subways don't run 24 hours a day in big cities (London big enough for you?) and that my dad would get really worried when my brother and step brother didn't come back to the hotel until after 1AM (both of them under the age of 16, they had decided to ride the tube all the way around London – see my last note about the tube not running 24 hours a day).

So I say, it's a good thing. Take your kids with you when you go places. Even if they don't remember all the Fodor and Rick Steve's info, they'll get a lot from it and you'll all be better people.