This year my family and I are starting to travel a little more
We are off to The Peak District next week
To Bosinver Farm in Cornwall next month
Bluestone Park in Wales in July
And
Lake Maggiore with Bookings For You in September
I would also like to try our first ever glamping trip this year
And would love to spend some time getting to know our local area better
As well as enjoying a day trip or two to France
The plan is to truly travel and really live this year
And I want to spend as much time as possible outside
Sometime soon
I am hoping to plan a little road trip to Europe
To visit some of the places I lived as a child
To show my own children places I remember from my ownchildhood
Some rather vaguely
Some so very well
Germany
Holland
Belgium
The South of France
When I was little we lived in Cyprus
When it was time for us to return home
Instead of just flying back to the UK
We took a boat to Piraeus in Greece
And then drove back to England through Europe
I do not remember much of it all
I wish so much that I could remember more
The Acropolis in Athens
National Parks in Yugoslavia
With rope bridges and waterfalls
The old town of Dubrovnik
I wish I better remembered those
I have a wishlist of places I would like to see with my children
I hope that one day we will be able to start ticking places off that list
Amsterdam and Brugge are two of the places
The city of Enschede
Cities I visited as a child and a young adult
Cities I would love to go back to as a mother
Cities I imagine changed beyond my recognition
I would love to return to Dubrovnik
Enjoy the beautiful beaches of Croatia
As a tween and teen my family spent every summer
On the Cote D’Azur
I would love to return to Frejus
St Raphael
Port Grimaud
Saint Tropez
Monte Carlo
I have so many happy memories there
Our home from home each summer
So very different now
To how it was back then
We used to drive to France
From our home in Germany
I think the first time we stopped overnight on the way
But after that we just drove on all the way there
Through the traffic of Lyon
And on to The South of France
One year I chose to spend the summer at home
But soon thought better of it
And travelled alone from Krefeld to Paris
And on through the night to our campsite
In St Raphael, Frejus
It was wonderful
An experience I will never ever forget
I want my children to have experiences like that
I want to have experiences like that with them
So if we were going on this European road trip
What route will we take
And where will we stop?
We will first travel to Ostend
Here we will stay overnight
I went here on a school trip in the 80s
Before we moved to Germany
I just remember the clear soup
And riding funny bikes on the seafront
From here we will travel on to Brugge
To spend a day tasting chocolate
And learning about lace
From Brugge to Antwerp
For an overnight stop
From Antwerp to Amsterdam
(via Efteling)
And the house of Anne Frank
Then on to Enschede
Before leaving The Netherlands
And heading home
My childhood home
Germany
First to Munster
Where I went to secondary school
Then to Wulfen
Where I became a teen
And some of my best ever memories were made
On to Dusseldorf
Krefeld
Monchengladbach
The towns that shaped my life
Where I came of age
16, 18, 21
All in this part of the world
Such a very special place to me
On from here to Aachen
To see the war graves there
Then to see Brussels
Before heading home
This whole trip involves less than 15 hours driving
There are some places which would involve a one night stay
Some places a few nights
With days out to places we used to go
Fort Fun being one of those
Places that are probably unrecognisable to me now
But places I would like to see again nonetheless
Places I would like to take my children to
The pool where we used to swim
The parks where we used to play
The ice cream parlour we used to frequent
The ice rink where we learned to skate
The places we used to eat, work and shop
The places we lived
We live where my husband David grew up
Every day for him is a trip down memory lane
Everything our children do
Every place we go
Is something he did or somewhere he went
I want so share some of me
Some of my history
Some of my haunts
And I want to try to remember the wonderful childhood that I had
It is easy to dwell on the negatives
But there were a whole host of positives in my growing up too
I think that taking some time to remember
And appreciate
To adventure and explore
Through my own children’s eyes
Could be a marvellous magical thing
All we would need is some clothes
A few toys and books
Our car
With an up to date service
So we know we are fit to head off on our way
And then we could be off
On our adventures
European explorers
Finding new things
Rediscovering old
And spending quality time together as a family
One day
I am going to make this happen
Would you want to come along for the ride?
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