Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Another dream

You want to talk about making other people’s dreams come true? I know I talked about my husband making my dream a reality while in the process of a previous blog, but what I didn’t mention was that my sister just about fell through the floor when I invited her to go on this trip with me.

Karalyn is a lucky girl. It’s just as expensive for one person to travel as it is for two. If you want to go on a guided tour alone, like I did in Eastern Europe, you have to pay what is called a “single supplement.” It’s to make up for the fact that there is a price difference between a double room and a single room, especially in Europe. The single room is cheaper, but not quite half the cost of a double room. My favorite tour company is great about really low supplement costs, so I still tour on my own.

But cruise lines are different. On a cruise, you pay per person. There are no single rooms, because they can make twice as much if they require you to pay for double occupancy. So even if I were to go alone, I would still have to pay for another person, whether I bring them or not. My sister is simply lucky because she tends to be the only one with the available time to go with me. And she’s lucky that she’s a good travel companion, minus the bathroom hogging. She needs a lot of rest, just like I do, and won’t go at the insane speed I’ve seen people her age go at on these cruises.

The bonus? I, thanks to my husband, get to take her to see the world, bit by bit. Up until two years ago, she’d never been on an airplane. I’ve taken her to the Bahamas, California, and Mexico. And now, I’ve taken her to see something that had her speechless. Yes. That’s a miracle.
We all have something we love, some subject we love to study more than any other. It’s the reason my husband tours Civil War battlefields. It’s the reason why I’ll give in and watch hours of WWII documentaries on the History Channel. And it’s the reason why my sister took several hundred pictures while we were at Olympia. She’s a Greek mythology fanatic.

We arrived at Katakolon after our stop in Corfu. Olympia is an archeological site where the first Olympics were held, and now there is a museum and acres of ancient ruins. And Karalyn quickly lapsed into a trance when we walked through the doors of the museum.

This is a satisfied kid.



Doesn’t she look at home among the ruins?



And who is this cranky woman roasting in the sun?


Today’s lesson: While getting away on your own can be relaxing and fulfilling, there’s something about bringing along someone who can share in and appreciate all the amazing sights this world has to offer.

2 comments:

Feisty Irish Wench said...

Keep talking...I'm still traveling vicariously through you and Karalyn....

Barb said...

What a wonderful sister you are! Just came across your blog ~ can't believe you live in Valrico. I lived there for 5 yrs (moved across the state to Melborne 2yrs ago). I miss Valrico though.