It’s Wednesday today and I’ve had so much fun sharing the creative side of me with you that I thought today I’d touch on the personal a bit.  So here goes.

If you’ve known me personally, there has been one constant in my life since childhood and probably the number one thing people relate me with – Travel.  The number one question people ask me when they see me is Where have you been or Where are you going next?  Well, this is probably due to the fact that my mom is from Germany, and my father (who is from San Francisco) learned German fluently in his 20s, so we spent our summers in Europe – I know rough life.  Well as a kid – traveling gets old after a while – we were gone 6 weeks at a time!  If I added up the 19 times I’ve been to Germany alone – I’ve spent more than two years of my life there.  And I’m ever so thankful for it (and yes, even going to German School every Saturday morning for 11 years as a kid).  And then of course I married my best friend – Michael, who happens to have a passion for what else, travel!  So much so, that he even owns his own travel agency – Elite Travel Planners.

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In my childhood travels I was exposed to things that shaped who I am and helped me to see that there is so much more than just my everyday surroundings.  The biggest impression from my travels were my trips to Eastern Block Germany before the wall came down.  These trips have such a special place in my heart, and really exposed my brother and I to the harsh reality that not everyone gets to just go whereever they want (like 50 miles to the west) and have the opportunity to do just about anything.

Crossing into East Germany in the 70’s and 80’s was always an experience.  It would take all day to go just a few miles.  We would have to show our passports several times to different guards, cars were searched, and there were endless questions from ominous looking soldiers that could have just shot you on the spot and probably would have gotten away with it.  I was always deathly afraid that the Russian and German border guards were going to take my summer reading books that my dad probably didn’t even know I had with me.  You see, technically we weren’t allowed to bring any printed materials to Eastern Germany, but we went for so long in the summers, I had to get it done somehow – and I was a kid, what did I know?  But my books survived, despite me never cracking under the pressure of their automatic rifles.  They never did like us “Americans”, never mind that I spoke perfect German.  That actually made them raise more eyebrows.

Life was so much simpler there.  There were so many farms and you spent quality time out in the world.  We would visit my Godmother’s family in Eisenach.  They were just over the border, so they still got a little Western German TV, other than that – it was cobblestone streets, a lot of horses, holes still left in dilapidated buildings from WWII, and everything was dingy.  It was a very different vibe from the West which was colorful and bright. But it was beautiful in it’s own right.

We would visit the three main attractions in this sleepy little town – Johann Sebastian Bach’s house, Martin Luther’s home and the Wartburg – a castle at the top of the hill where Luther translated the New Testament from Latin into German.  Pretty big attractions for such a small town in the middle of nowhere.

Of course we would first have to register with the town first and change the set amount of money per person, per day that we had to spend.  Then at the end of our trip we would have to bring in what we bought with receipts to prove that we had not given the money to anyone there.  We had to spend it all – it was so insane!  Of course we would buy Edition Peters Piano books at a fraction of the cost for what they were in the states.  My piano teacher always had a list of what to get.  We’d have a suitcase full!

We would go to symphonies in this culture rich town and just play out in the fields with the kids we got to know every summer.  My brother Matt would go hang out with the pigs – of course the next year we were eating them in various ways – we tried not to think about that, especially since Matt would get personally attached!  I hung out with the twenty or so rabbits in cages, the chickens were just annoying to us.  Ah, the old days.

The food was heavy on pork and sausage with potatoes.  Traditional German.  Unfortunately my memories of visiting my mom’s family were when I was really small – but very much the same.  We did get back to Dresden as we were older.  There are still several cobblestone streets, but with the wall finally down, it’s beginning to look more like the west.  Things are being rebuilt, but my family home was re-claimed by the people in the west, so they are all in new places now.

Such a different life.  I’m so appreciative that I grew up here with all the opportunity and freedom that goes along with being an American.  But half of me is German and I am grateful to have the European perspective and broader sense of history and life outside of one’s own country.  The countries in Europe are so much smaller, it’s so easy to try something totally new.

If you haven’t been, definitely plan a trip!  Life today for me is filled with several trips to Europe to visit my Dad and Stepmom in the Black Forest, travels to the Caribbean, Mexico (one of our favorite spots), Cruises, Cruises and more Cruises, and of course seeing all the great spots here in the states.

So to answer your questions – I just came back from Europe at Christmas, a cruise which stopped in Haiti, Jamaica and Cozumel in the Spring and either the mountains or the beach in two weeks for the summer – we’re not so sure which.  We passed on a trip to Mexico and St. Croix this month – since we do have to work!  I know – rough life, but it is work for us, fun work, but work none-the-less.

Here are some bucket list places for me – the Maldives, Thailand, New Zealand, Tahiti, Banff, Rio and Cuba (hoping travel opens up soon!).

Some of my favorite spots that I’ve traveled to – Dresden, all of Italy, Berchtesgarden – Germany, Yosemite Valley, Paris, all of Vermont, St. Barts, Riviera Maya, Uinta Mountains, Sailing the River Thames in England, Alta Ski Resort in Utah, Maui, Lake Tahoe Bermuda, and 7 mile beach in Negril – Jamaica.  Of course I was born in San Francisco so I love all of that city and the surrounding areas – that’s a great getaway trip for anyone!

Happy Travels to you this summer – of course check my hubby’s blog, facebook page and website out too!

Ingrid

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