Chris and I are off to Egypt and other places not yet determined. I’m excited to drop into a place where we’ll smell cook fires and spices; listen to foreign tongues and call-to-prayer bells; maybe see livestock wandering the streets, definitely see exotic clothing and fantastic tombs, pyramids and mummies.

I’m curious whether I’ll be a bit underwhelmed by the pyramids this time (I’m embarrassed to say I was last time. I kept thinking,”I thought they’d be bigger.”), and If I’ll be as blown away by the Cairo Museum (MUMMY ROOM! MUMMY ROOM! MUMMY ROOM!). I think I’ll follow Buddha’s teachings and not cling to the positives or negatives of my past experience so as to have fresh feelings about the Egypt I’ll see in a few days. 

We’ve only booked a hotel the first four days, and then we’re winging it the remainder of our three weeks overseas. Those four days are just enough, I hope, to recover from our jet lag and get turned around time-wise. We’ll see the pyramids, visit the museum, day trip it on the Nile River, and then fly to Luxor to see the tombs. From there we may wander off to Pompeii, Rome, Paris, the Greek Isles, Tunisia or Algeria. We’re going to see which way the wind blows us. 

My worry is we’ll spend too much time researching flights, hotels and guides, but we won’t know that until we’re well into the trip. Post trip we’ll talk about whether we felt overwhelmed by having to research, or relished the freedom of choosing how to spend each moment of the day. We’ll know in a few days!