Eight months in to Europe-ing and the travel adventures continue – the good, the bad, the weird. This past weekend was definitely weird.

It seriously boggles my mind that I could drive 100 miles from my house in 4-5 different directions and be in 5 different countries with different languages, signs, even different names of cities (Bruxelles = Brussels, Londres = London, Ypres = Ieper, Lille = Risjel, Den Haag = The Hague).

I grew up in Tennessee and spent most of my weekends playing softball, not traveling. Never in my life did I think, I would spend my weekends traveling this much or being this adventurous (though the “adventure” has left me overwhelmed and thinking about becoming a hermit). And honestly, I’m not adventurous, it’s all Justin.

London was super spur of the moment. My SIL’s family was stuck for the weekend due to closures at JFK. So since it’s relatively close, they asked us to pop on over. Justin being Justin and unable to turn down anything new, we immediately started packing and trying to find car ferry tickets. Justin has been wanting to “try” the drive over for awhile, and his British friend suggested the ferry was the way to go (not for us 😬). So London’s Paddington station is where we headed off to, pretty much smack dab in the middle of London – 187 miles from our house.

To start, it’s a 2 hr drive to the car ferry port. We arrived an hour and 45 minutes before our “sailing” but sat in the border patrol/customs line not moving for a solid hour and a half. Luckily our “sailing” was delayed by an hour or something otherwise we would’ve missed it because of the border control line. So we left the house at 14:10 and got on the ship at around 19:45. Once we were on, it was another 1:30 travel time with which you can not return to your car (would’ve been good to know before we got out without a diaper bag). The other fun part is that the ferry is FULL of kind of scary people.  I was 95% confident a group of men were planning to kidnap my kids  😳.

Once off the ferry, it’s a 2 hr drive to London. The 2 hr drive turned to 3 ish hours because our GPS constantly wants us to drive INTO buildings…that and they drive on the OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD. I can’t take any amazing credit for manuevring that because I didn’t 😬, Justin did.

The really fun part is that the driving rules/signs/speed limits are different everywhere we go. So the signs are in English (yay!), but we drive on the opposite side (boo!), and the speed limits are in mph (would’ve been great to know beforehand) though they look EXACTLY like the kph signs through the rest of Europe. Thank goodness we live in a time with readily accessible internet on our phones and that our phones work from country-to-country (at least in the EU, Switzerland not included).

So, 187 miles took us 10 hours 😳. We left at 14:10 and arrived around midnight our time and about halfway through the journey there, we realized it probably (definitely!) wasn’t the best decision for a weekend trip.

Next morning, we got up to get some quick sightseeing in before we basically turn right back around to relive the previous day, except sick kid derails plans. Some sightseeing was accomplished with me and girls, so I’d still say it was a mini-win for at least using our Tower of London annual pass.

As the day progresses, we’re getting updates from the ferry that keep pushing back the ship time. By 15:00 we’re leaving London only to get another update that states the ferry will be delayed at least 3 hours, not leaving until at least 22:00 our time, then we’d have a 1:30 ferry time + 2 hr drive home with sick kid. OMG NO! What a boondoggle!

My anxiety is taking over at this point, but I quickly figured out how to book the eurotunnel train – a cargo train that we drive onto. After officially booking the train, I was able to sweet talk my way into a refund for the ferry (win!).

The train – pulled up to the station with NO wait at border control. Hallelujah! And then we check in. The guy tells us we can even make the train that leaves 30 min earlier than our scheduled train. Yes!!! Quick restroom break and immediately into the line to drive onto the train. And that’s what we did. We DROVE ONTO A TRAIN! And you get to sit in your car (no wrangling children) and the total travel time is 35 min. Win, win, win.

 

So, some more travel lessons learned this weekend, along with just basic life lessons.

• London is likely too far for an overnighter (with 4 kids).
• Spur-of-the-moment planning maybe not best idea (especially in winter with variable weather)
• There are 5 ways to get to the UK. We’ve done all of them, and now I am sure, the ferry is not for us
• Car train through tunnel is the best for us (albeit more expensive, but still cheaper than the Eurostar or flying)
• Traveling with little planning after 15 days of guests and Christmas and other traveling is TOO much for the kids…and me

Ah, souvenirs. The tears. The drama. The briefly lived joy.

As mentioned in my last souvenir post, souvenirs are really the bane of my existence. It feels like literally all my children care about – items to collect dust, to leave in a restaurant, to break 25 min later. We might as well take the Euros and literally throw them into the street.

Sometime in the early fall, I decided I had had enough of the souvenirs and I needed more tears 😂. So I flat refused to let them buy anything else. But, when they weren’t looking, I puchased most of the things they swore if they got, they’d “never ask for anything else again”. I saved them and decided they would make good Christmas gifts.

“The box of tears”

This year, each kiddo got a box of souvenirs for Christmas. Coined by Justin as “the box of tears,” it was the stuff they asked for, cried for, begged for with the addition of some other souvenirs I just thought they’d like.

I was pretty excited about the box of tears. Honestly though, the reaction was a little along the lines you would expect – they’d forgotten about most of them already, which just proves my point that they JUST want to spend money for the sake of spending money.

What were the items, you ask? Well, first Natalie only really asked for a rock from the zoo and a Belgium keychain. Also, she doesn’t get too upset when told no. Thank goodness, because we need some stability to balance the other two’s instability. And Benny doesn’t count – he just wants a sucker or a car.

So Natalie got her rock, her keychain, a glass perfume bottle from Italy, Earrings from Italy, clover earrings from me on my Ireland trip, the Alice in a wonderland notepad that she saw while digging through my bag (in May! So I withheld it all year), and an Alice in Wonderland pin for her Disney necklace.

Meredith’s box held her rock, a strange fake bird clip/hair clip (not even sure what it’s really for), Italian glass perfume bottle, Italian earrings, a Disneyland pin, and a coin purse and earrings from Ireland.

Wesley’s box held the most tears. That 0 euro bill really, really made him mad. He wanted that bill because we “never give him paper Euros”. That and the rock from the zoo – you’ve never seen a 6 year old boy lose his mind like that.  Over a rock – a freaking rock! He also got a Napoleon statue, a souvenir coin and a ball from Ireland.

Goodbye, money

Since the last post on souvenirs, we’ve said goodbye to a few more, forgotten about the “must haves” that I did allow, found some misplaced ones, and cried desperately over new ones.

Napoleon, you were a great hat. You made it 6 solid months and 3 visits to Waterloo. Overall, not disappointed in the purchase. Sad it’s gone, but we got some decent enjoyment out of you. Also sadly we said goodbye to your sword (Benny!!!) but we loved you so much, we bought you AGAIN.

Handmade Italian ponchos, I loved you. My girls, not so much. I begged and begged for them to wear you after Italy, but to no avail. It didn’t fit the day or it was raining or they had PE or they are had to wear a coat and it didn’t work. Sigh. (Side note: I’m forcing them to wear them today on our car ride).

Handmade Dutch wooden clogs – after one day of wear, you were replaced by boots for the winter (so I like to think).

Paris-themed manicure kit – procured with Meredith’s OWN money! She loved you sooooooooo much. Sooooooooo much she couldn’t put you down. Within ONE day, your super awesome nail file that was her “favorite thing ever”, just flew out of her hand into some sort of black hole (some perfectly small and unreachable, invisible spot in her aunt’s rental car).

Hello, old friends

FOUND: the knight’s helmet and lance from The Tower of London. Thanks to my last post, our friends realized Wesley had left them in their house! Yay! Similarly, the Guinevere-type dress Meredith “must have” from the Tower of London, also reappeared in her dress-up closet. London souvenirs reunited!

Worst mom ever

DENIED: A diary “just like Anne Franks!!!!” from the Anne Frank House Museum in Amsterdam. Not even a week after Christmas and the presentation of the box of tears and reminders of past souvenirs, and I’m the worst mom ever again. I wouldn’t let Meredith get ANOTHER diary 🙄. She honestly must have 25 notebooks/diaries/notepads that she NEVER touches. She stomped out and threw a fit like a toddler. She’s 8.

It’s really our (my) fault 😂

As for us, we like souvenirs too. That’s part of the problem. I’ve created these “ou venir” monsters (Name of a Belgian souvenir store – Ou Venir). I enjoy browsing for small items to remind me of where we’ve been and what we’ve done.

We have a pretty random collection of stuff we’ve picked up – plates, little statues, city drawings, etc – pretty typical tourist stuff.

We’ve also been collecting Starbucks mugs for years. They’ve changed designs at least 3 times since our first mug. We don’t always buy one when we go somewhere, but we do have a decent collection (maybe 20-25?).

But, we’re not immune to breaking souvenirs immediately either. In 2008, Justin and I took a Space A (space available military flight) to Europe. Nothing quite like being completely unprepared. First, we stupidly packed for a country we didn’t end up in. Second, we packed huge rolling suitcases. Third, we ended up trekking on cobblestone streets (because cars couldn’t drive into the city in Seville) with the huge, ill-packed suitcases, that didn’t roll and easily tipped over… thus began our “ghosts of souvenir’s past”. 😂😂😂 RIP original Starbucks’ Paris mug. RIP Paris plate. Lessons learned.

As cliché as it is, it’s hard to finish out a year and not look back on the highlights, lowlights, and lessons learned. In broader terms (longer terms), I also tend to look back on Justin’s military order “tours” and  see just how much each place has impacted the “rounding” of my character (not sure I’m at “well rounded” yet 😬), and this set of orders is definitely impactful.

Eight months in to our jump across the Atlantic and I’m still kind of all over the place. One minute it all feels like it’s going too fast and I need more time. The next minute I’m stuck in what feels like groundhog’s day that will NEVER end (the rain! Make. It. Stop. There will be a whole other post on that). Sometimes I feel like I just hopped off the train here and congratulate myself for trying a new store alone but then I realize I’ve been here closer to a year and I can’t keep using the “I’m new” excuse.

Highlights from 2017

• The obvious: all the country-hopping  – ten countries for me this year
• Waffles! Frites! Beer! Chocolate! French bread! Chocolate croissants!
• A work sabbatical! The anxiety over what to do with sick kids has calmed for the time being
• Personal development: I think I read SIX whole books in 2017! I think that’s more than than the last six years combined! And I got to take 2 day trips alone!
• New friends, new sports, new activities
• Kids “learning” a second language

Lowlights:

• Losing my independence – both from a professional career standpoint and from leaving my home country
• Struggling through the my “personal development”/identity crisis (still struggling!)
• Losing my Ikey
• Constantly feeling inept and overwhelmed
• Feeling anxious about EVERYTHING – travel warnings, people staring, my car, how “American” we look, how loud we are, if the food is cooked 😳
• The weather! SADs really is a thing!
• No air conditioning (hard to remember this now, but 3-4 weeks of 93 degree weather with no A/C and no screens (the flies!) is the pits)

Lessons learned: (oh soooo many!)

• First and foremost, I love America 😍. As cool as this experience is, I am blessed to have American blood and even more blessed to have American facilities over here (post office with Amazon!, commissary)
• Almost as important of a lesson as how much I ♥️ America…is that I NEED and VALUE my career and all that comes with it. It was a lot of blood, sweat and tears to earn it, but I didn’t see the other values it had until now – independence (leaving the house sans kiddos), the feeling of being good at something/helping people/knowing what you’re doing, and of course, the money 😬
• My calling was not as a SAHM
• I CAN cook (but have learned some lessons like to not over cook rice and never cut garlic and put in fridge uncovered 😳)
• I still don’t love to cook 😂👆🏻
• I CAN live without eating out and especially without fast food (though I did seriously binge on Chick-Fil-A while in Nashville in November)
• Even staying at home, the cleaning/laundry will never be actually DONE
• Not a new lesson, but one that constantly repeats itself – I’m thankful for the other very helpful military wives and other friends that always step up to help in a new and scary place, which leads to 👇🏻
• ALWAYS take the help! If someone offers help, take it!
• Its ok to put yourself first sometimes – trying to be the best at everything for everyone doesn’t make anyone happy and just makes me overwhelmed and irritable
• And sometimes you just have to slow down. Life does not move at the American pace over here. Patience is a virtue I don’t have, but am working on

Traveling lessons learned

• History is amazing
• Wifi and cellular service are not to be depended on
• As much as it may seem like they are, no two churches are the same (swing and pool?!?)
• Always have cash – it’s super frustrating and embarrassing to be trying to purchase something when they don’t take card and you never know if you’ll need to pay for a bathroom, which takes me to 👇🏻
• Never pass up the bathroom, especially one that is free
• Always pack a water bottle and probably always have snacks
• A cross-body purse is a MUST
• Leggings (while not suited for my body 😳) are really the easiest and lightest to travel in (though no pockets sucks – that’s what the cross-body purse is for)
• In this area of Europe – never leave home without the umbrella, raincoat/hat, which leads to 👇🏻
• December (and I’m SURE winter in general) is NOT a good season for traveling! The weather is THE WORST and nothing but miserable to be outside in, and lots of fun attractions are closed Nov-March. (We think they promote the Christmas markets so much because without those you may have to go into hibernation)
• It pays to be nice (except when flying RyanAir – just knock all those a-holes down). Really the only way to get things done here is by being nice. My natural disposition to get hot and angry doesn’t help anything 😳
• Souvenirs are the way to my kids’ hearts (souvenir update coming soon)
• Ice cream and/or lollipops can calm a crazy kid in a heartbeat
• So can a good old-school playground
• This is not necessarily a new lesson learned while here, but is worth mentioning – buffets are terrible with 4 kids (my kids anyway!). It’s too much up and down and carrying plates/kids trying to make their own and carry plates/one person sitting at the table while the other makes 6 plates. Table service is usually faster and tastes better 👍🏻
• Pizza restaurants are the best for big families and small children. They’re loud, quick, relatively inexpensive, usually seat large parties, and most kids will eat pizza or spaghetti. That being said, we’re about Pizza’d out over here (hashtag – things I never thought I’d say)
• And finally, some times (actually most of the time) the less known cities/areas of cities are the coolest. People travel to the famous cities to reinforce what they want to believe about a city, which can make it much less fun and way too crowded (think Times’ Square in NYC). A few examples:

1. Amsterdam, NL overwrought with marijuana, like just absolutely unbelievable amounts. Gouda, NL was just as cute but without the overwhelming smell and puff clouds of pot.
2. The back side of Venice was amazing. It was filled with quiet streets and quiet canals for easy gondola rides and local shops hand making Venetian papier mâché masks and glass blown items, where the main drag was an uncomfortable tourist trap with shops and shops of mass produced items, and bumper-to-bumper gondolas. And neighboring cities Vincenza and Verona were also amazing!

So what good would it be reflecting on 2017 if I didn’t try to up-the-bar in 2018? So, my goals for 2018 are as follows:

• Read more than 6 books!
• Continue to try to find my “self” and what I was meant to do
• Exercise (obligatory “resolution”)
• Mission trip
• Budget, budget, budget (and don’t use credit card!
• Spend less on food and unnecessary clothing (sloooooooow to a stop on shopping 😳)

And finally, I’m going to learn French. BAHAHAHAHAHAHA. JUST KIDDING! (Never going to happen). Let’s go, 2018!