Germany and Beyond

Neuschwanstein Castle

Don't you just love it when you accidentally erase emails, or blog updates? I did that last night, so this is my MINI condensed update from yesterday. (If you saw the update pop up for a fleeting second last night, and then disappear, now you know what happened!)

MINI VERSION:

I've been working on trying to get caught up on my blog updates, but have been distracted and extremely busy -- well, to be entirely honest, I'm distracted with my garden.

This past month my husband and daughter have returned from their trip to Germany.

Since we've tried to integrate travels as part of our home school, I wanted to turn this next trip into an opportunity for my daughter to practice some math and life skills. With a very tight budget, my daughter was to pick ANYWHERE she wanted to go in the world, and PLAN, RESEARCH, BUDGET, as well as select her itinerary. She could go ANYWHERE (well, within reason.) She had to read travel reviews and select hostels or cheap hotels, look up the currencies pertaining to whichever country she selected, compare flight tickets, research the history, languages, transportation, visa requirements, etc.

We have to count pennies, so I was holding my breath. This was a trip that would make me wait for another year to replace my carpet, skimp on certain repairs, and shop second hand.

She wanted to see castles!

I asked my husband if he'd like to take her backpacking (so he could share in the home school travel experience) and to my surprise, he agreed! He already travels plenty for his job, so I knew he was being a trooper to take this trip.

Munich

Berlin Wall

Each day I looked forward to them calling me via the computer on Skype. I enjoyed hearing about the meals they ate, their train ride from Munich to Berlin, (how my daughter's backpack came open when they were walking down the street and a gentleman handed her back her underclothes) as well as them getting lost in Berlin during a snowstorm. What an adventure!

 After they arrived home I congratulated my daughter on a job well done. They had spent less than she'd budgeted. I looked at my worn carpet and knew we'd made the right decision.

Fifty years from now, I wouldn't have remembered the carpet I had replaced, but the memories that my husband and daughter shared together in Germany will last them a lifetime and beyond.