My first taste of real travel was when my sister and I spent 6 weeks in Europe one summer during college. I was 21, Marsha was 18. We were lucky to go. Looking back, my parents were selective visionaries for things that ended up really counting in my life and for which I am forever grateful. Like fronting the money for our summer trip to Europe (with an interest-free commitment to repay them when we got “real” jobs…and it did create incentive for that), and the time when I was 11 years old and completely in love with The Beatles, the hypnotic fab four that had parents everywhere then stunned and confused. My dad saw beyond the hysteria and the controversy and took the whole family to see them in concert at the old Kansas City Athletics stadium on Brooklyn Avenue. That is still unforgettable. And unlike today, travel then was mostly limited to family vacations in the station wagon to spend a summer week in Minnesota with our grandparents. Airplane travel was considered elite and luxurious. Passports were exclusive to the rich and famous.

At that time, Arthur Frommer’s bible for the thrifty traveler, “Europe on 5 Dollars a Day” had been updated. It now cost 10 dollars a day to see Europe with the same restraint. But, we took it to heart. Marsha and I bought, in advance, second class Eurail passes which meant we could ride with the commoners anywhere the trains went, even through the night to save on lodging when we could. We crafted an itinerary that covered nine countries, including visits to our cousin in Germany, a friend in Norway, and family in New York. We applied for those coveted passports and bought our first ever plane tickets to Paris on TWA. There were no cell phones, no internet, not even rolling luggage. Phones were rotary dial, a single computer occupied an entire floor of a building, and with about 25 pounds of belongings in our backpacks, and filled with anxious excitement, we went to the airport where Mom and Dad waved goodbye to us.

We knew in advance the Paris Air Show would have overcome the city when we arrived, so we had the foresight to make reservations at a hotel for our first night, intending to ease the shock of leaving home and give ourselves a smooth, restful start. But, when we arrived at the hotel, wearied and naive, we were unknown strangers to them and no amount of desperate pleading could change that. So, we took to the foreign streets and finally found alternate lodging late that night. We learned a lot that summer. Charles Dickens best described our experience when he penned, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness”. Our summer was filled with unexpected adventures. We were bitter adversaries and best of friends and became more than sisters. Wherever we went, we mostly stayed in youth hostels for 2 dollars a night and were so grateful for the respite and kind hospitality of family and friends we had arranged to visit. We learned a lot about each other, the world, and especially ourselves. It opened my life to the realization that the world is smaller than it seems. People everywhere live, love, are happy, sad, and can communicate in the universal language of face, hands, body.

My life was forever changed because of that one summer. And it gave me the sweet and addictive taste for travel. I want every trip to have some of that same magic.

K & M Trip Itinerary

The Beatles Ephemera