In planning a big family trip to a foreign country it is easy to get caught thinking that every city and sight can be included, especially if the trip lasts three weeks. But when the dreams start to become decisions about what is realistic, the question of what to see and what to skip are quite important.
Having been to Germany on a tour in the fall of 2007, David and I know what it is like to go, go, go, and see, see, see. And although our trip was wonderful and we absolutely loved our time and all that we did, we don't want that same pace for our family trip. For one thing, three weeks of fast pace would not be fun, and for another we don't want to do it. But, when we sit down to make a list of the places we would like to see, it grows and grows and grows.
The other side of not going, going, going is the thought that this is the one time we'll get there as a family, and we want to experience as much as we can, to give our children as many sights to see and memories to have as possible. The fear of missing something is a big motivating factor.
It does come down to what sort of experience do we want for our family? Do we want a whirlwind European tour where we see London, Rome, Paris, and parts of Germany? Although that would be fantastic and we would all love to see London or Rome, and yes even Paris, we've decided that for our family, this isn't the trip we would like to take. But narrowing it down to visiting only Germany doesn't make the list of what not to see any easier.
There are the Luther sites, the Bach sites, the WWII sites, the family heritage sites, the tourist sites, and on and on. We know we can't see it all, but it is hard not to think that is possible when making the list. What to leave out is not easy, remember the fear of missing something is a strong motivating factor.
But we can't live in fear, so we made a calendar and have begun putting on it where we would be on each day. I got out our map of Germany that we picked up at a hotel on our trip in 2007, spread it open on the floor while David sat on the couch with the MacBook open to Pages and Mapquest. How far it was between cities, where to fly in and out of Germany were the first questions. Those quickly led to more. How many days in each place? Is it realistic to see Wittenberg in two days? Do we want more time at Salzburg? Do we want to take a Rhine River cruise or see some of the castles another way? Which museums in Berlin do we want to tour? Do we want to walk around Oberammergau? Should we see a concentration camp or only the Holocaust museum? Where do we want to be on a Sunday in order to worship in a SELK church? These plus many other questions aided us as we filled in the calendar.
This has been the best thing for making it realistic that we can't do everything. As we learn about flights, how to travel, and where to stay, it will change. But it is a fantastic starting point for what to do. Now we feel like we have a good beginning, a very good place to start.
