Travel Paper

Travel to Europe

The historical Grand Tour was a way to expose gentlemen of the noble class to new ideas and cultures. As Daniel Kilbride states, “for many, a Grand Tour was a ritual of cultural legitimacy, not an opportunity for engagement with people from other lands” (560). I agree that in many ways the Grand Tour was a rite of passage for young men, but in this more global age, the goal of the Grand Tour should be to engage with people from other cultures in an attempt to learn more about them and hopefully about ourselves. My husband and I have agreed that we would like to pursue a version of the traditional Grand Tour of Europe for our fifth anniversary, and to that end we have been working out a savings plan and an itinerary for what we would like to see and do once in Europe. The purpose of this paper is to explore what we should pack, what travel and lodging options are available to us, what political or other legal precautions will need to be undertaken, and what cultural points and sites we would like to see while in Europe, along with an overall budget for the trip, to make saving easier.

The first thing to consider is what to pack. Do we want to take a large suitcase and pay the bag check fee to the airline, or would we rather try fitting what we need in carry-on bags, and just doing laundry while in Europe. Since the point of the trip is to experience the culture of Europe, it strikes me that having to find a Laundromat and wash clothes could be a fun cultural experience. Rick Steves recommends packing as light as possible and remembering that you can usually buy what you need, including toiletries, in Europe (43). He also writes that “if you can’t find one of your essentials, ask yourself how more than 700 million Europeans can live without it” (Steves a 44).

After discussing with my husband what cities we would like to see, and in what order, the first thing to do is to figure out how we are getting to Europe. Obviously, driving is...