That sounds like a fun trip! Have fun exploring colleges – how exciting. The Cinque Terre region is so special, so glad we got to go!

As for Cinque Terre, my husband and I were driving around Italy in the 80’s, happened upon it and pretty much thought we’d “discovered it.” We decided not to tell anyone it was there. I do miss that place, it was so gorgeous.

Hey there! Thanks for sharing. Italy is wonderful! I feel like it gets a bad wrap for being a cliche, over-touresty or basic european destination. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I thought it was a place that only retired vacation goers visited (which they do) – but it’s for everyone, and it’s amazing. I would love to go again – and I agree, going new places after you find a great place is hard, I feel that way after visiting Ireland (going there our third time this summer). I hope to get to Japan someday too! I think you’re doing it the right way by starting out with vacations that center around your kids. We did similar stuff, like going on train trips and visiting Lego Land. Thanks for reading!

Of course, thanks for reading and following along!

I was so blown away by Italy. I too would love to go back someday. Here is the link to the villa, it was so great.

Hey Sheree! Your tips for me that you shared for traveling with a picky eater were so great and helpful. Thank you! It was pretty easy to find french fries, you’re right. There is always something that goes completely unplanned, isn’t there? Your mishap sounds so rough. Glad you were able to get that bag back. Thanks again for your recommendations – we hiked the same cinque terre trail as you but only my oldest and husband made it to the abbey on the top (so it goes).

Hey Paige! That sounds like such a fun trip to you, your friend’s and the kids!
We planned our trip ourselves, and I don’t think we did the best job, but we did pretty good. We were very unsure of a lot of things, and knew that we’d have to respect the kids tiredness/adventure levels. I made a google map that I shared with my husband of all the potential things we might want to do in each city. That way, when we were out and about and we wanted to go to a restaurant, I could check my map and see what I had already found that was nearby. My husband booked all the train travel in advance because he’s good at that. Paris was so amazing, I want to go back. We didn’t go into Notre Dame, we just looked at it from outside, I was impressed by how much they had accomplished already with the shoring up of the building – there is so much engineering involved. I was bummed we didn’t go to the catacombs. I’m sure it would be pretty cool, even if it was scary. Have a great trip!