June 2022

One of Larry’s many nicknames for me is “Planny Plannerton” because I usually do advance research about places we visit. To me, it’s a part of the trip, itself. I enjoy digging up offbeat and overlooked tidbits, whether that’s history or an actual place.

I’m not rigid with my planning; I just like to get an overview of the place, its history and culture.

This trip, however, is the traveler’s equivalent of an advent calendar. In the weeks before our trip, I was too busy prepping my latest manuscript for the publisher to research Larry’s planned itinerary. (Well, I did look into a few places along the way, but those stops were canceled, so there you go.)

One thing about traveling during the pandemic is that plans change even more than usual. At this point, I’m pretty confused about where we are *actually* traveling this summer versus where I *thought* we were traveling this summer!

For instance, I thought we’d be seeing Paris, Rome, Dublin, and St. Petersburg, but those places have dropped from the itinerary.

Same goes for Spitsbergen. I was quite jazzed to be there on June 21 because they have quite the Summer Solstice shindig. (Looks like we will be at sea that day, instead.)

I’m not complaining, mind you. It’s just hard on a Planny Plannerton to step into a new city or country without having places on my list to see, or knowing how to say please and thank you in the native tongue.

Of course, I enjoy historic cemeteries everywhere we go, and this trip has delivered some beauties!

On this advent calendar itinerary, each day is a new surprise to be revealed. And while I don’t intend to completely ditch my Planny Plannerton ways, I must admit this style of travel is quite fun, too. It forces me to let go of my expectations and focus on discovery in the moment. It’s probably good for me. Maybe it will even build character, as they say.

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