Once, in one of the many travel books I’ve perused over the years (so many, I can’t remember exactly where this bit of wisdom came from–perhaps one of Rick Steves’ many tomes on Europe?) I read a passage that said something along these lines:
You’ll never see it all. It’s better to just assume you’ll come back–even if you never do.
This sentence completely changed the way I travel. I felt myself relax, and my desperation to see.it.all fade a little bit. It’s hard to completely let go of the fomo-mentality, but it’s really made me enjoy my travels so much more.
This point was driven home when, recently, planning a trip to Europe in November, E and I began to reminisce about our trip to Europe last November.
(November, by and by, is a totally underrated month to hit the road!)
As we talked about the highlights of that trip, where we visited Finland, Estonia & Denmark, I realized most of my favorite moments from this trip were the simple ones, the ones where it was just the three of us–me, E and baby A–hanging out and exploring.
Our first lunch in Copenhagen at a random “activity church” we stumbled upon–it was one of our best meals, and I still don’t know even know what we ate. Just that it was crazy delicious.
There was dinner with our Danish friends, watching our little girls run around together.
Taking long naps with baby A, thanks to jet lag.
The ferry ride between Tallinn and Helsinki.
Running out in the dark, cold evening, to watch them light up the Christmas tree in Tallinn.
The three of us getting coffee in an atmospheric, cellar coffee shop.
Baby A passing out and sleeping on the window sill of a restaurant while we got in a lunch date.
Strapping baby A to my chest and finding our way to a local coffee shop in Copenhagen.
Baby A saying “Mmmm!”, to the delight of the entire café, at her first taste of a Finnish butter-eye bun, voisilmäpulla.
Stumbling upon a beautiful trail to Helsinki’s train station from our rental flat.
The sauna at our flat in Helsinki.
Baby taking her first steps in Helsinki.
Getting cute hand-me-downs from baby A’s little friend in Copenhagen.
E riding the moving sidewalks in the Munich airport with our tired baby, trying to keep both of them awake and entertained.
The list goes on and on.
It made me realize that sometimes the most special moments of a trip are the little ones, the ones that didn’t seem very significant at the time.
And, really, isn’t that what life is all about, too?
Love this – so very true! And so many cute photos of the three of you 🙂
lovely post
That is so true! I think as bloggers we often want to do it all and do ‘best of’ but sometimes best of is the small moments that you as a person will remember and cherish!