(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

In two days, I will be arriving at a new destination.  It’s special in many respects:  not only is it a new country for me, it is also a new continent.  Even so, I find myself thinking most about the format:  for the first time in my life, I’m going on a group tour for (almost) the entire trip.

I grew up visiting Europe every few years with my parents.  By the time I was old enough to make my own travel arrangements, I had the confidence to deal with travelling in (European) countries with different food and where different languages were spoken.   After being directly immersed in Europe so many times, taking a group tour there would have felt limiting…maybe even a step backwards.

However, when I started to think seriously about visiting my next destination, I felt somewhat uncomfortable with the prospect of doing it myself.  I wanted to have a safety net in case something went wrong.  Frankly, I also felt that I could use a break from planning every detail of every trip.  Between trips, I am generally planning ahead several months and taking care of details so that I can make the most of each trip (and keep my costs down).  I thought it would be nice to “coast” a little and just savour the moment.

Part of my discomfort was likely the result of negative media portrayals of this country in the not-too-distant past.  It hasn’t always been economically healthy either.  As it turns out, however, its economic indicators are stronger than at least one of the European countries I have already visited (alone) this year.

While my apprehension may have been misplaced, I still think it will be useful to view travel through the lens of a group tourist at least once…and maybe determine if there is a future destination that would be best visited with a group.  If nothing else, I am sure that I will meet some interesting fellow travellers.

If you’ve been following this blog, you’ll know that I have kept this destination a secret.  In addition to the clues in my previous post, I can say this:

(1) The country is soccer-crazy but is not competing in this year’s World Cup.  I have no doubt that I will be able to follow the progress of “my” Dutch and Swiss teams.

(2)  It’s winter there!

(3)  German will be essentially useless and English won’t be nearly as widespread as it has been in my travels to date.

I may not be able to blog in real time on this trip, as I may not have WiFi access.  However, even if I do have access, I don’t know if I will have the time to blog.  The itinerary is packed with activities as we are only spending 8 days together (including arrival and departure days).   At the very least, I hope to post the occasional update on Facebook and blog about the trip extensively upon my return to Canada.

One final clue:  I think the photographs from this trip will be spectacular!