Travelling Lumsdens

Where…

So I have a couple of “next trip” ideas rolling around in the hopper! Normally, our potential destinations have a hook… that other “real” reason to make it happen. When we went to Cuba we were looking for somewhere warm, but knew we’d be surrounded by a big hunk of Cold War history, a passion of ours.  Munich is absolutely gorgeous, but there may have been no more influential moments in our travel experiences than a powerful Third Reich Tour or the deafening quiet of a morning at Dachau. Gettysburg, Shiloh, Appomattox, Petersburg, Antietam, Richmond, Andersonville… the sheer solemnity of a walk in these fields of the Civil War that swallowed men by the tens of thousand were “hooks” for us!

I’m presently focusing on three potential visits… firstly I’ve long coveted a tour of countries/cities in the British Isles. The connections here are numerous. Janie and I are both of Scottish/Irish heritage. Sitting in a pub in Dublin, sipping Guinness and listening to session is only a dream. Couple that with a dram somewhere in the Scottish Highlands, marching to the drone of pipes, and we move from dream to heaven. I like this option a lot! It holds many advantages and has many personal links.

More exotic is the lure to explore Athens and Istanbul. Janie and I are, in no small way, history buffs. To visit the heights of the Acropolis and Parthenon, or explore the markets and mosques of old Constantinople, would be a walk in the past. What better way to experience history than to bucket list this cradle of civilization? Tempting the farthest reaches of Europe and brushing the tip of Asia is so enticing.

Lastly, I’m a student of European history, a focus of my undergrad studies at the university level. I intend, whenever I can piece it together, to prepare a focused examination of World War I & II sites and attractions in Europe. Normandy’s D-Day beaches, Canadian battle sites in Dieppe and Vimy, and the surrounded Bastogne will be essential stops. The fascination with these wars and the veterans who fought in them has been lifelong for me, and to experience them on foot and in person is a must do excursion!

In reality, however, options for travel may only be limited by your imagination (and pocket book). I guess these descriptions are meant to indicate that we select trip ideas that have a personal attachment. We seriously consider our destinations and we take great care to be educated prior to arrival.

Time, interests, family, safety, bucks… There are no shortage of things to consider when you commit to planning a new trip. Where? Who will be going? How to get there? What to do? Where to stay? How much can we afford? These are up front questions that need to be answered before you swipe the card!

Right now I’m trip free! Nothing scheduled, booked… Reservation-less! However, I do have a couple of seeds for trips that I’d like to begin planning.

So… I’m going to try and chronicle my next planning effort, from start to finish, and somehow give word to the process I use for trip creation from the first inklings to Day 1.  My thinking is that this sort of examination might support my understanding of organizing a trip and isolate efficiencies to be used in the future! The nature of this warrants a “work in progress” status, so I expect lots of posts. Here we go!