I’d like…….I’d like? I’d like a trip to Europe!

Quality Daffy Duck quotes aside, I really would like a trip to Europe at some point. For a year or two know I have talked about my long service leave plan - when the kids are 15 and 10 to take a two or three month family holiday to the UK and Europe. This is partly so Kath and I can have the holiday of a lifetime, but just as much to open the eyes of Child A and Child S that there is a magnificent wide world out there and that one day they can explore it. Knowing that I still have around four years up my sleeve, this week I have taken the very first steps towards turning this from a dream to reality. I have requested an update on my long service leave entitlements to work out exactly how long I can take while continuing to get paid (might help somewhat, since the mortgage won’t go away by then). I picked up a couple of comprehensive Europe travel brochures so I can start looking at the practicalities of travelling through a series of foreign countries with children. I will have to find a holiday experience that allows us to see the magnificent and famous things, but also allows enough tastes of real life in these places so that the kids come away with some genuine experiences that will enrich their lives. I’m thinking I also need to make sure that we dont’ spend three quarters of our time on buses. Scenery is lovely, but I don’t think a 15-year-old and a 10-year-old would get the same enjoyment out of it as me and Beloved K might. It might be that we look for more “do it yourself” itineraries than grand tours that last a month.

Such are my random thoughts for today.

Cheerio!