Throughout my childhood summer holiday mean Disney World. The inevitability was such that at 11 years old my sister’s Christmas wish was to NOT go to Disney World the following year. You see, my parents’ best friends lived in Orlando and their children all worked for Disney. That meant a free place to stay, free Disneyland passes, and extra attention from Goofy, Genie, Minnie Mouse and their friends.  What I remember most is the unrelenting sun and ceaseless sweating. Florida is not a summer destination. It’s hot in December and unbearable by March. Nevertheless, it was nearly free, and we always went. It was tradition.

No longer a child, I get to make traditions of my own.  Since I graduated from college, my tradition is to travel internationally ever year at least once. Traveling was always something I learned to make time for, whether I had it or not. And this year is no exception. Today is my first of 61 days abroad! I arrived in Paris this morning safely, if not smoothly, and depart tomorrow via train for Montpellier where I will spend the next four weeks in an immersive french language program.  I'll be staying with a French woman, in a French town, spending 30 hours per week in a French school learning French. There was a pretest (I did terribly, thanks for asking) and there will be a post-test (hopefully I will do not-so-terribly). But the true test will be when I am reunited with my adopted French family, whom I saw in March in New York. That visit was filled mostly with hand gesturing (on my part), confused facial expressions (on their part), and their laughing at my dreadful pronunciation of french words. I remember my pronunciation of "bus" being particularly hilarious. 

 From there I will be off to meet up with friends in Namibia for a safari and two-week road trip through south-western Africa. Namibia has been at the top of my list for a handful of years now, and I could hardly be more excited about going. The trip ends, for me, in Cape Town, which I visited last year during the water crisis. At the time we considered canceling our trip so as not to contribute to the tourism industry which kept itself more or less exempt from the water restrictions. This year, Namibia has a water crisis of its own and we will again have to be mindful of conserving water and decreasing our impact as much as possible. Cape Town will be followed by a week in Portugal (Lisbon and Porto) and then back to France, which will be the true test of language retention. 

I am excited for all I will see and do and learn this summer. Not just about these wonderful places, cultures, and languages, but also about myself. I hope you will join me as I share these things with you. 

What travel-related traditions do you have? Which is your favorite and why? Any recommendations for things I shouldn’t miss throughout my travels this summer? Have you visited or lived in a drought-stricken country? What methods did you use to decrease your reliance on water while there?