Being that I was traveling to Europe for the first time, my initial attempt for advice was to walk into our local travel agency. When I was suggested a specific big box tour, I bought the guidebook (Rick Steves', of course) and compared the recommended itinerary with the other tour. I began to have thoughts like, "instead of kissing the Blarney Stone, I could go on the Irish music pub crawl" and "I can skip the free day for shopping and attend the local music festival". I soon scrapped the big box avenue and decided on the Rick Steves' Best of Europe tour.
After mustering up the courage to click the "submit payment" button, I knew Europe was a not-too-distant reality. Watching Rick on television and reading his books, I resonated with his travel philosophy and wanted to experience similar thrills and surprises. "Packing light" and "buy yourself out of any jams" were now becoming personal mantras. I even prepared by walking around the streets of New York City with my backpack fully loaded.
Well, the big day is finally here and I am on the bus heading to the airport. After eating a panini (served on a bagel) at the airport Euro Cafe', I took relief in that a better meal is less than 24 hours away. On the airplane, I was fortunate to sit between two lovely women from France and Ireland. Both had an incredible zest for life, especially for fine cuisine and world travel; and were really eager to hear about my upcoming destinations and desires for traveling independently. Between the positive conversation and the surprisingly excellent airplane food, my first time on the red eye was a great start to my European experience.