As I am writing, I am on my way to Berlin, Germany…

For the next six weeks, Allyn and I will be exploring Germany and Italy.  I am super excited and look forward to the adventures that are to come. The European Adventure 2018 was dreamed up when in 2013 when Allyn and I were dating. Because of that, I want to discuss how trip came to be, planning and why it is such a LONG trip.

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When we meet six years ago, Allyn and I tested our relationship with a road trip (New York City, Washington D.C., and a few other places) to purchase Allyn’s GTI Fahrenheit.  We said that if we could survive together in a car for a little over week, our relationship would work.  Little did I know the road trip would be a breeze, it would be the next six months that would be more challenging, for Allyn had a new “toy” (car) which he (we) would eventually rebuild.  After our trip to get the GTI, most of our evenings were spent in the garage working on the GTI.  One evening I was sitting in the garage editing pictures, from the road trip we took. Loving our adventure to get the GTI, I asked Allyn if would want to visit car factories around world. He said “yes” of course and listed several.  Volkswagen was of course on the top of his list followed by Aston Martin, Audi, McLaren, Koenigsegg, Mercedes, BMW, Ferrari, and Lamborghini.   Within a few minutes of him listing off manufacturers, I had a basic trip planned.  Allyn was impressed, and after talking about it for a while, we decided it would be our honeymoon if we ever decided to get married.

Two years later we were married.  We didn’t have time for a honeymoon because Allyn and I decided to move to Florence, KY for he could join PC Perspective full-time.  The following fours years would be nothing short from hell – we lost my grandmother (my rock), Allyn’s dad, my dad and five aunts and uncles. Additionally, my mom needed foot surgery, which took me home to Texas to care for her for three months. I messed up my ankle and knee while running a marathon. Allyn’s work schedule had him scheduling every two weeks or so.

While we did travel a lot between 2014 and 2018, our trips/travels were largely connected to Allyn’s work and often resulted in me doing things on my own or involved me running a marathon or visiting family. When I came back from taking care of my mom in March 2017, Allyn and I decided that in 2018 we would finally take our Europe trip. We both felt we needed to do something for ourselves.  I started planning.  Shortly after we started planning, Allyn’s cousin got engaged and decided to have a destination wedding in Florence, Italy, so we decided we would schedule our trip around the wedding.

I started emailing car manufacturers so that we could decide on where we would go and when.  Volkswagen was a must for Allyn – for he was lifelong Volkswagen owner and owner of 3 limited editions Volkswagen models (a Sicrooco, GTI Fahrenheit, and a GSR Beetle).  After several months of email conversations between myself and Volkswagen, the only time we could get in for a factory tour was at the end of May. Driving on the Numbering was another must for Allyn. During my trip planning, I meet Chris from RSN Racing, who helped me schedule a track day for Allyn.  Family was the other things we wanted to integrate into our trip. All of Allyn’s dad’s family is from Italy and several cousins still living there.  After talking with them, we finally settled on a date at the beginning of July, which worked for all of us to get together.

With the major anchors for our trip in place, I went to work on the other parts of our trip.  I wanted to see Berlin, Rome, and the Vatican.  Allyn also wanted to Venice.  I also wanted to show Allyn several places in Germany, most importantly – the Alps. Hiking in Alps is probably one of my favorite memories from past trips, and I wanted to share it with him.

So here goes nothing … I am not sure how I will do living out of a suitcase for close to 6 weeks, but I am willing to make the most of it. Stay tuned for travel updates!