TRAVEL WITH MICHELLE
Travel has always been a very large part of my life, whether for work or fun, it’s something I love and always look forward to. I have been an IT consultant for my whole career, so about 30 years, which means prior to Covid I traveled over 75,000 miles a year for my job, visiting clients and my teams across the US, as well as in India. So, I was what airlines call, in the consultant world a “road warrior”. I loved it and I still do. I also am lucky enough to take a lot of great vacations with Peter and with my family.
Traveling is amazing in many ways and is always an adventure. We all crave new experiences and traveling for me always delivers. You spend several years in class studying places across the globe, looking at pictures or videos on the internet, or even shows on the television, but they can never truly communicate the beauty of the Grand Canyon, the grandeur of the Taj Mahal in Agra, India, the taste of food in Madrid, Spain or the sight of the Eiffel tower lit up at night in Paris. Reading about it and seeing it in person are completely different from each other. When you travel, you’ll realize how little you know about the world and the people living in it.
You get the chance to do things you’ve never done before, meet new people, eat different kinds of food and experience different cultures. I feel like for me, it’s a key tool in my “self-love” tool kit! When I travel, I feel like I am investing in myself, expanding my horizons, and experiencing learning in “real time”. When I go somewhere I haven’t been before, everything is new, I am open to new ways of seeing and experiencing the world. I am always surprised at how much I learn and discover.
Over the course of my career, I have had the opportunity to travel to several cities in India, Toronto and Calgary, Canada, Paris, NYC, Chicago, which is one of my favorite places, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, and so many others. I do have to be truthful and say, it’s really nice to travel when someone else is paying, but you defiantly don’t get to spend much time sight-seeing, Most times, it’s a hotel room and an office conference room. But a lot of times, I can get a few hours to see things and usually get to eat at some great restaurants.
My love of Europe came from 2 different trips, one was earlier in my life, in the early 80s when my dad took a job with his company in London for 7 years. I was in my 20s living in Colorado but saved my money and went over for a week. That trip was truly an adventure for a young woman who grew up in Findlay, Ohio. The second trip was to Paris. Peter and I went with our 4 kids for Christmas in 2010. The kids were all in their teens and Paris, as you can imagine, was magical at that time of year. Paris has been our favorite European city ever since and we have been back many times.
We have been to numerous other places in Europe since then: Scotland, Ireland, England, Switzerland, beautiful Austria, Spain, Italy and in December this year we will be going to Munich, Germany, and other nearby cities to attend the Christmas Markets! We got a taste of the markets in Austria and can’t wait to go to the ones in Germany. The food, handmade gifts and ornaments are truly so special.
I really love the planning phase of each of our trips. I spend hours reading about what we should see, places to eat that aren’t tourist traps, places to stay on sites like Trip Advisor, finding tour guides, as we like to have our own, so I was excited when I found Tours by Locals. It’s a great site, reasonable prices and we have never had a bad experience. Trust me when I say, plan in advance, do your homework about your destination as that can save you a lot of time, money and energy while exploring the location and getting a better experience.
