And it was everything I hoped it would be. This was a great goal. 3 weeks ago

Everything is coming together. Mr. Wren went to the bank, and they ordered some Euros for us. I let the credit card people know we would be gone. I’m getting everything in order for work. Rawr!!!! 2 months ago

We just got our tickets to Paris Disneyland! :) 2 months ago

I plan to bring my laptop along on our trip to Paris and London because I do want to stay a little connected to work. I did a little online research, and it seems as if I just need to get some outlet adapters so I can plug my North American computer into French and British electrical outlets. Is it really as simple as that, or do I need to do something else? The flat where we’ll be staying has wi-fi. 3 months ago

I can’t believe that we will be leaving in just a little more than six weeks!

Our nephew will be coming out to take care of the dogs, which will be a good thing for everyone and is a big load off my mind. Over the weekend, I purchased some good walking shoes that I’m hoping will allow me to walk pain-free all over Paris.

Now I’m starting to make lists of little details, like contacting the bank, getting a computer adapter, etc.

I’m starting to feel excited! 3 months ago

airline tickets have been purchased! 4 months ago

I am finally feeling certain enough that we will be going to Paris in the spring to decide on an apartment. It is a nice one bedroom apartment in the 10th arrondissement, very close to Canal St. Martin. It looks airy, clean, light & comfortable, has a washer & dryer (so we won’t have to pack so much), and faces a flowery courtyard. I’ve contacted the owner; the price is reasonable, and the place is available on our required dates.

Now we are engaged in list making…what to bring, what to do. Mr. Wren is going to take a cooking class while we are there, which is quite exciting. Of course, there will be much walking, much savoring of cuisine, and much site-seeing. 6 months ago

We always travel with our dogs, but we aren’t going to take them to France with us because I think air travel is too risky for a dog. There’s no way I would leave my dogs in a kennel. I think the best option is to have a pet sitter come and stay in our home. That way Becca and Elbee won’t suffer too much disruption in their lives.

I talked with my dear friend Peter last week. He hasn’t worked in a while and is maybe retired, and he is a great lover of dogs who doesn’t have a pup of his own, so I asked him if he would like to stay at our place for a few weeks. He is enthusiastic about the idea and asked that he be our first choice. I think we will have him stay in our house, unless his life circumstances change over the next few months so that he’s not available.

Mr. Wren has also been in touch with our favorite nephew, and he is interested in staying at our place, too. He is a young fellow and has been working as a barrista, so he doesn’t have anything tying him down. I think he does smoke a lot of pot, so he might not be as ideal of a choice as my friend, but he is a very nice young man, and he loves dogs.

As a third choice, my work friend knows some professional pet sitters who she has used and recommends.

Between those three options, I think our dogs will be well-card for while we are away. 10 months ago

Boss just approved my time off – 3 weeks in April! 12 months ago

We have been having lots of fun collecting information and discussing different ideas. A couple Lonely Planet guides are in the mail, and as it stands right now, we are thinking of renting a flat in Paris for most of our vacation, with a little side trip to London. We can spend the days wandering the streets, visiting all the arrondissements, and visiting cultural and historical sites in moderation. We’re thinking about going to Disneyland, and I want to visit Pere Lachaise cemetary.

I came up with a new game today to help us learn at least a little bit of French. We will each come up with a new word or phrase to learn each day, to be discussed in the evening. We can go over the new words and also review the previous words. I figure this is a good start, and it will be fun. 12 months ago

One of the big stumbling blocks to us living our first European adventure has to do with Mr. Wren’s problems with airline travel. He has Meniere’s disease, and in the past, air travel has left him feeling very ill for days. A lot of people with Meniere’s understandably experience high anxiety since their worlds can turn upside down in an instant with no warning, and Mr. Wren had become phobic about air travel.

He has been working on this for a long time, using different psychological techniques, and he also got some anxiety medicine for travel. A few days ago, he very bravely got on a plane and flew to Las Vegas. This short flight was his test flight. I am so impressed with how things worked out.

Before the plane took off, Mr. Wren told the flight attendant what he was doing. She was very supportive and encouraging. She even took him into the cockpit to meet the pilot, who explained in detail about how safe air travel is. It was a very bumpy flight, but he did fine, and before he got off the plane, they gave him a pair of wings!

Now we can really move forward with our plans to visit Europe! I love the planning stage of a big adventure, when everything is possible. It’s just as much fun as the actual trip and definitely something to be savored.

Right now, we’re thinking of going in the late Spring of 2013. I think I can get three weeks off of work, which will give us time to see a few things. We have to decide if we want to see a little bit of a lot of places or a lot of a few places. We definitely want to go to Paris and London. My brother and my friend also have raved about Italy, so we are interested in going somewhere in Italy, too.

Time to get out the maps and do web searches. It’s also time to start saving money! Oh, and I need to work on finding someone who can stay in our house with our dogs while we’re away. We were saying just yesterday how it’s been years since we traveled without dogs. 12 months ago