Next Thursday I am leaving on a two-week tour through Europe. My traveling companion? My dad! We plan to visit Hungary, Poland (where my grandparents grew up), Austria, Switzerland and Germany for Oktoberfest. Nothing like drinking a few beers with your dad in Germany! I am really looking forward to the quality time with my dad. I have been very fortunate to have a close relationship with him, and this trip is something we have always wanted to do. I can’t believe the time is already here! Planning, etc. for the trip feels like just yesterday, and I can’t believe that a week from today we will be in Budapest! Over the course of two weeks, we will be roadtripping. Landing in Budapest on September 12 via Malev Hungarian Airlines, we will spend a day there, then fly to Berlin on the 13th. After 2 days in Berlin, we are picking up a rental car and heading to Warsaw. From Warsaw to Krakow, where we will reconnect with my dad’s aunt who lives just outside the city. While in Poland, we will also visit Czestochowa and Auschwitz. Then it is off to Austria with stops in Vienna and Salzburg. Back to Germany, this time to Munich, for Oktoberfest (I hope I can keep up!). There will, of course, be stops all along the way as driving will afford us the luxury to control our own timetable. After Munich, it is a quick trip to Zurich and then back to Berlin for the return journey home. Whew, I’m getting excited, but a little tired, just thinking about it! As a teenager, my dad and his brothers spent a few months touring Europe with his mother, and he has always wanted to take me around to the places he saw. I spent 3 months studying in London, and when I mistakenly booked a trip to Edinburgh for a month after all my friends, it was my dad to the rescue again, flying out to join me. That was a much shorter trip, but we had an awesome time, so I am definitely looking forward to this trip! At the end of my studies, my mom, dad and grandmother joined me for trips around England and Italy. After traveling solo or with strangers (who become friends over the course of the trip) so much recently, it will be great to have a trusted traveling companion. Look out for lots of stories and reviews in upcoming blogs and GT issues. -Kimberly Krol, circulation and PR executive