On the road again

Emboldened by our success this summer, we’re gearing up for our next adventure.  This time, we’re off to Italy!  So it’s not a “getaway van” so much as a “getaway plane/rental car”.

This is a big step for us.  Bob and I haven’t been to Europe since our study abroad days half a lifetime ago.  The kids have never been.  Their only experience outside the U.S. was not exactly a culture shock (Day 2: O Canada!).  Despite the fact that our 5-week cross-country road trip required LOTS of planning, it also seemed to me less intimidating than a trip that involves passports, foreign languages, different currency, and a six-hour time change.

While last summer we were engaged in laying in supply of beef jerky, peanut butter, and approximately 597 travel games/books for the car, this time our needs are somewhat different.  Where should we change currency, and how much should we bring?  What kind of rental car insurance do you need in Italy?  We’re buying money belts, a power adapter, a cheap European cell phone.  We’re listening to Pimsleur Conversational Italian CDs.  (We've been impressed with these, but I also think they are designed for a certain kind of traveler.  We've spent a lot of time learning such things as, “Do you want to come back to my place?”  The kids are fond of pointing out that we've learned the words for beer and wine, but not water or milk.  One particularly hilarious lesson involved a man repeatedly trying to get a woman to go back to his place, and her escalating series of refusals.  (I guess the Pimsleur folks feel that a visitor to Italy is likely to be able to use either one side of this dialog or the other.)  In any case, it’s entertaining listening to your 5-year-old dutifully parroting back such gems as “Would you like to drink something with me?” and “I’ll have two beers, please.”)

My friends Nancy and Julie with our ubiquitous backpacks

I’m the only one who’s been to Italy before, but under very different circumstances.  It was my friend Julie and I (and sometimes her brother Jim, and possibly our friend Nancy – was Nancy with us in Italy at all?  This is the kind of trip it was, where fellow travelers came and went, and the details fade after 20+ years).  We were carefree college students rambling our way around Europe, carrying only our Eurail passes, passports, remnants of various currencies, and whatever small amount of clothing would fit into our backpacks.  We rented bunk beds in cheap youth hostels and made meals out of bread and cheese bought from street vendors and rated museums by their “life-suck” potential.

This is the sort of scene that most likely will NOT occur
on this European vacation.

The regular American tourists we saw back then – people like we are now, with kids and rolling suitcases and rental cars – existed on a completely different plane than we did.  Despite the fact that they had private hotel rooms and regular hot meals and various other creature comforts, I wouldn't have traded places.  To me, they were Tourists with a capital T, seeing the sights but not really feeling the life of whatever city we were in.  For the most part the only locals they spoke with were those who were selling or trying to sell them something.  Though we were often visiting the same sites they did, we felt like we were in a different world – immersed in the crowds of young multi-national grungy backpackers, riding city buses and striking up acquaintances from all over the world.  (Also, given our appearance after weeks on the road, certainly no one would have bothered trying to sell us anything.)

I think this is the Spanish Steps in Rome.
When Bob saw this picture, he started
shouting, "The puzzle!  The puzzle!"  It seems
we spent several months of our lives this year
working on a puzzle of this very scene.  (No, I
didn't recognize it.)  We had to get out
the box to confirm it.

With three kids in tow, and rather higher standards for safety and hygiene, I have no illusions that I can replicate this earlier experience.  But I’m hoping to travel (relatively) light just the same.  This passage from The Joy of Less by Francine Jay made me think of our earlier travels:

Think about what a pain it is to drag around two or three heavy suitcases when you're on vacation.  You've anticipated the trip for ages, and when you disembark from your plane you can't wait to explore the sights.  Not so fast -- first you have to wait (and wait and wait) for your bags to appear on the luggage carousel.  Next, you need to haul them through the airport.  You might as well head to the taxi stand, as maneuvering them on the subway would be nearly impossible...When you finally reach [your hotel], you collapse in exhaustion...

This is the sort of classy accommodations
Julie and I stayed in.  This was in Venice --
I wonder if they have any vacancies?

Imagine traveling with only a light backpack instead...You arrive at your destination, leap off the plane...jump on the subway, catch a bus, or start walking in the direction of your hotel.  Along the way, you experience all the sights, sounds, and smells of a foreign city, with the time and energy to savor it all.

So my old friend the backpack is coming down from the attic.  And we’re asking the kids to fit all their stuff into their school backpacks, so they can carry it themselves.  We won’t have a car while we’re in Rome or Venice.  Certainly we’ll do a lot of walking, and maybe we’ll take a city bus or two.

Our friends the Brookses, who we’re spending most of the trip with, certainly have this down.  They've spent much of the past 8 months biking around Europe, lugging all their possessions (including camping gear) along with them and having fabulous adventures.  Surely we can survive a 12-day trip with substantially less.