Lots of people comment about the length of our trips, especially those we take overseas. Why one week? You can’t see everything in that time. If you are going to spend the money to fly, you should stay longer. Etc. etc.

We learned, early in our relationship, that both Bob and I have about an eight day, max, travel limit. Long weekends are perfect, a week is good, but about day 6 we are ready to be home. We want our bed, home cooked meals and the furry creatures. Anything longer than that and we (ok, mainly me) get cranky and tired. I also found that after about six days my appreciation for everything I’m seeing starts to diminish. I know the ancient palace or church, or the gardens or whatever else I’m seeing are incredible, I just can’t enjoy it as much as I did around day three. And honestly, after a while, all the gold foil detail work runs together.

So one week. One week to experience a new country, see some very cool things that we don’t normally see, eat food we wouldn’t cook ourselves, attempt a foreign language and see how far I can get with it, and appreciate where I am, where we are from and the fact that we can take these trips.

A quick recap of the trip:

• Six days
• Five airports
• Two countries (I’m not counting Amsterdam even though we flew threw it)
• Three cities
• ~11: Miles walked per day (estimated average from both Bob’s cell phone fitness app and mine)
• 14.8: Most miles walked in one day
• One new pair of shoes
• Four blisters (including one under a callous, which I didn’t know could happen and not related to the new shoes)
• Three multi course tasting menu meals
• Three beer gardens
• One cat cafe
• Five churches
• Four royal palaces/castles/residents
• One Science and Technology museum
• 343 pictures (don’t worry, I’m not asking anyone to look at them all)

The trip was wonderful and I can honestly say Bob picked well. He gets the credit for the location, I get credit for the planning. But … I am so glad to be home. I am perfectly happy hanging out at home for a while and appeasing the furry creatures.

My one tip for travel: travel how you want and forget what everyone says you should do. Go where you want, do only what you want, and stay for as long as you are comfortable. Appreciate where you have been and the home you return to.