Best Mother - Daughter Trip! Life Changing Adventures!!
August 25, 2017
There is nothing like a life changing Mother and Daughter trip to celebrate your bond and bring you closer together! Maybe that is even more true when one is traveling with a teenager who is sweet 16. We've always been close, but now we are closer.
Mozart and I had a spectacular two month trip this summer in Europe ,starting with her amazing Keynote Speech in England and then expanding onto her 10 city solo concert tour traveling in 4 countries over 2000 miles from Edinburgh, Scotland to Marbella, Spain.
First of all, it was absolutely amazing to watch how talented and professional she was and how attentive the large audiences were towards her
and just to see her commanding large audiences with ease on two instruments in gorgeous locations like the Fuerte Hotel in Estepona
as well as how adorable, charismatic and loving Mozart was with huge audiences of kids at two large private schools in London and Newcastle. She was so natural singing for them, doing spontaneous Q&A, signing autographs and doing presentations about her travel life.They treated her like she was Justin Bieber. Suddenly, I saw her future so clearly and how her gifts belong to the world.
I had Mozart handle the whole trip completely. We flew there and back, but then took a lot of trains and she booked and handled all of that and the hotels, taxi's, Uber, booking tours and all of our needs including food. She was totally responsible as if I was not there. I wanted her to learn by doing. She always helped as a child, but this is the first time she had full responsibility and she handled it all like a pro and loved it.
It was a lot of fun for me to see things through her eyes like this view from Roussillon in Provence which she had not seen since she was six years old. Those fading memories are vibrant again. For a girl who grew up in Europe, it had been much too long. Five years from the last time we visited...almost 1/3 of a lifetime for her.
It was a fast paced, intense trip much of the time, so I had to get those mom and daughter shots in as I could as our main focus was getting film and photos of her. Fusspot that I am, I don't like most of the photos of me that we took. Mozart always looks camera ready, me, ......not so much.
It didn't help that I fell on the very first night, tripping over my suitcase because we could not find a way to turn on the lights in our hotel and I wanted to hurry up and catch the gorgeous sunset, so broke a rib and badly injured my good knee, thus was in pain the whole trip and extra handicapped.
We did a lot of train travel which gave us time to talk, bond, watch the ever changing scenery and even meet sweet people sometimes. But getting on and off was a big challenge as we were packed heavier than usual because of her performances. Still just a rolly carryon and a backpack each, plus a guitar for her, but her rolly was especially heavy, weighing 50lbs. She only weighs 88lbs and I couldn't lift with my broken rib! She was also often carrying food & water we would pick up at the store for the train.
But she was a trooper and we managed, sometimes with the help of strangers or friends, but mostly on our own, just working together. It became abundantly clear just how well we work together as a team and how much we can count on the other. Usually, we have our third wheel, Davinci to handle the heavy or hard things if needed, but this time we just had each other. Girl Power!
You can't be in Europe without enjoying the outside cafes, so we enjoyed many good conversations and meals that way. Again, Mozart did all the ordering, asking for check, paying, counting change etc in several languages, so she would have full confidence when she does it on her own in the near future. Here you see us in Paris with our favorite Parisian friend, French/English translator extraordinaire, Nadine Touzet who was a great help and joy for us as we last saw her when Mozart was 10!
We picked one of our homes, Barcelona to be our rest place and spent a leisurely week there both before and another one after heading to Andalucia and Girona. We have dear friends who live nearby and have spent so much time over the many years in this huge luxury campsite, so Mozart has many happy childhood memories here. It's a special place with two large salt water outdoor pools, water slides, great indoor pool and spa, kids club, food and entertainment for all ages, so a great place to unwind after some fast travel.
Our camper van is stored nearby, so it was great to see it again and the memories came flooding back to our home on wheels that Mozart grew up in seven months out of a year from five to eleven. Her first comment was, "Oh my gosh, it is so small!". So typical of childhood memories as I think I said the exact same thing when I went back to see my first home as a child. Mozart was ecstatic to see her books, toys, clothes again and we brought some things home like the photos we had there. Next time, we have to bring DaVinci so he can drive us around and we can use it again as we miss that fun.
Heading back to our ancient white village in Andalusia where we had spent 5 winters and where Mozart had gone to school from first grade to fourth, was a must on our list and filled with memories. For me driving down this road seemed like no time had past, as if we had just done it yesterday. For Mozart and her friends who live here that she went to school with, it seemed another lifetime because they were fourth or fifth graders the last time they were together and life looks so much different as a teen. Nevertheless it was good to be back, see "our village" and the beautiful people, old friends and town. It gave us much to ponder.
It was sweet to just walk around the village, with all the memories that brought up, see the changes, but also see how little had changed. We took lots of photos and video like this one of Mozart across from our first house in the center of town where she took the photo as the "Spanish Dancer" in full flamenco outfit at five or six. We'd never been here in summer as it is much too hot for our taste, but wasn't as bad as most people say, as these villages are built for heat with lots of shade and narrow streets that promote breezes. The lead photo of the two of us at the top of this post, is us taking a selfie together in "our village" as wondered about.
Old and new friends were such an important part of this mother and daughter journey and I will be writing more about that as there are too many people to mention here. Yet, I must mention a dear friend from Sweden who I met over twenty years ago online and who we stayed with in Sweden for several weeks and met again in Barcelona another summer.
Our kids have spent lots of time together over the years and always had fun, but this was an ideal time in an ideal location on the Costa Brava area where their other long time friends own a gorgeous new B&B and there was a perfect gaggle of well-traveled, creative teens and parents to hang out with in an idyllic location. It really was the best of Sweden and Spain combo!
We've been blessed to have a life full of extraordinary, once-in-a-lifetime, mind-blowing trips and we must add this one to the list for sure. Mozart and I came back changed for the better. We thought we were just fine before we left, but there is something about transformative travel and the mother and daughter trip experience that brings blessings and shifts. We've rarely been apart as a threesome, so even DaVinci was transformed by our trip. I wonder if you can do extensive travel and not be changed for the better?
There is nothing like a life changing Mother and Daughter trip to celebrate your bond and bring you closer together! Maybe that is even more true when one is traveling with a teenager who is sweet 16. We've always been close, but now we are closer.
Mozart and I had a spectacular two month trip this summer in Europe ,starting with her amazing Keynote Speech in England and then expanding onto her 10 city solo concert tour traveling in 4 countries over 2000 miles from Edinburgh, Scotland to Marbella, Spain.
First of all, it was absolutely amazing to watch how talented and professional she was and how attentive the large audiences were towards her
and just to see her commanding large audiences with ease on two instruments in gorgeous locations like the Fuerte Hotel in Estepona
as well as how adorable, charismatic and loving Mozart was with huge audiences of kids at two large private schools in London and Newcastle. She was so natural singing for them, doing spontaneous Q&A, signing autographs and doing presentations about her travel life.They treated her like she was Justin Bieber. Suddenly, I saw her future so clearly and how her gifts belong to the world.
I had Mozart handle the whole trip completely. We flew there and back, but then took a lot of trains and she booked and handled all of that and the hotels, taxi's, Uber, booking tours and all of our needs including food. She was totally responsible as if I was not there. I wanted her to learn by doing. She always helped as a child, but this is the first time she had full responsibility and she handled it all like a pro and loved it.
It was a lot of fun for me to see things through her eyes like this view from Roussillon in Provence which she had not seen since she was six years old. Those fading memories are vibrant again. For a girl who grew up in Europe, it had been much too long. Five years from the last time we visited...almost 1/3 of a lifetime for her.
It was a fast paced, intense trip much of the time, so I had to get those mom and daughter shots in as I could as our main focus was getting film and photos of her. Fusspot that I am, I don't like most of the photos of me that we took. Mozart always looks camera ready, me, ......not so much.
It didn't help that I fell on the very first night, tripping over my suitcase because we could not find a way to turn on the lights in our hotel and I wanted to hurry up and catch the gorgeous sunset, so broke a rib and badly injured my good knee, thus was in pain the whole trip and extra handicapped.
We did a lot of train travel which gave us time to talk, bond, watch the ever changing scenery and even meet sweet people sometimes. But getting on and off was a big challenge as we were packed heavier than usual because of her performances. Still just a rolly carryon and a backpack each, plus a guitar for her, but her rolly was especially heavy, weighing 50lbs. She only weighs 88lbs and I couldn't lift with my broken rib! She was also often carrying food & water we would pick up at the store for the train.
But she was a trooper and we managed, sometimes with the help of strangers or friends, but mostly on our own, just working together. It became abundantly clear just how well we work together as a team and how much we can count on the other. Usually, we have our third wheel, Davinci to handle the heavy or hard things if needed, but this time we just had each other. Girl Power!
You can't be in Europe without enjoying the outside cafes, so we enjoyed many good conversations and meals that way. Again, Mozart did all the ordering, asking for check, paying, counting change etc in several languages, so she would have full confidence when she does it on her own in the near future. Here you see us in Paris with our favorite Parisian friend, French/English translator extraordinaire, Nadine Touzet who was a great help and joy for us as we last saw her when Mozart was 10!
We picked one of our homes, Barcelona to be our rest place and spent a leisurely week there both before and another one after heading to Andalucia and Girona. We have dear friends who live nearby and have spent so much time over the many years in this huge luxury campsite, so Mozart has many happy childhood memories here. It's a special place with two large salt water outdoor pools, water slides, great indoor pool and spa, kids club, food and entertainment for all ages, so a great place to unwind after some fast travel.
Our camper van is stored nearby, so it was great to see it again and the memories came flooding back to our home on wheels that Mozart grew up in seven months out of a year from five to eleven. Her first comment was, "Oh my gosh, it is so small!". So typical of childhood memories as I think I said the exact same thing when I went back to see my first home as a child. Mozart was ecstatic to see her books, toys, clothes again and we brought some things home like the photos we had there. Next time, we have to bring DaVinci so he can drive us around and we can use it again as we miss that fun.
Heading back to our ancient white village in Andalusia where we had spent 5 winters and where Mozart had gone to school from first grade to fourth, was a must on our list and filled with memories. For me driving down this road seemed like no time had past, as if we had just done it yesterday. For Mozart and her friends who live here that she went to school with, it seemed another lifetime because they were fourth or fifth graders the last time they were together and life looks so much different as a teen. Nevertheless it was good to be back, see "our village" and the beautiful people, old friends and town. It gave us much to ponder.
It was sweet to just walk around the village, with all the memories that brought up, see the changes, but also see how little had changed. We took lots of photos and video like this one of Mozart across from our first house in the center of town where she took the photo as the "Spanish Dancer" in full flamenco outfit at five or six. We'd never been here in summer as it is much too hot for our taste, but wasn't as bad as most people say, as these villages are built for heat with lots of shade and narrow streets that promote breezes. The lead photo of the two of us at the top of this post, is us taking a selfie together in "our village" as wondered about.
Old and new friends were such an important part of this mother and daughter journey and I will be writing more about that as there are too many people to mention here. Yet, I must mention a dear friend from Sweden who I met over twenty years ago online and who we stayed with in Sweden for several weeks and met again in Barcelona another summer.
Our kids have spent lots of time together over the years and always had fun, but this was an ideal time in an ideal location on the Costa Brava area where their other long time friends own a gorgeous new B&B and there was a perfect gaggle of well-traveled, creative teens and parents to hang out with in an idyllic location. It really was the best of Sweden and Spain combo!
We've been blessed to have a life full of extraordinary, once-in-a-lifetime, mind-blowing trips and we must add this one to the list for sure. Mozart and I came back changed for the better. We thought we were just fine before we left, but there is something about transformative travel and the mother and daughter trip experience that brings blessings and shifts. We've rarely been apart as a threesome, so even DaVinci was transformed by our trip. I wonder if you can do extensive travel and not be changed for the better?
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OMG! The pictures are just mind blowing, i can see the kind of amazing time you guys had, such beautiful views! Thanks for sharing :)
Posted by: Megga | September 04, 2017 at 02:26 AM
Thanks Megga! It was very special, LOTS more photos and stories coming about this wonderful trip!!
Posted by: Jeanne @soultravelers3 | September 05, 2017 at 08:44 AM
Just came across this and wow, it's all just superb to the Nth degree! How fantastic, all of it! Thank you for sharing all this and I surely hope your knee pain resolves well!
Posted by: Margaret Sch | September 08, 2017 at 10:33 AM
Aw, thanks sweet Margaret! Always a pleasure hearing from you!! Thankfully both my knees seem to have healed completely with a wonderful new supplement my nutritionist recommended and I will always be grateful for this special trip!!
Posted by: Jeanne @soultravelers3 | September 10, 2017 at 07:36 PM
Wonderful to see how Mozart has matured, and to see she can handle all the traveling arrangements on her own- you taught her well, Mom! I know that will be a comfort to you and Dad when she's on her own. And special to visit some of the iconic sites (and sights) of her childhood- Thanks for taking us along! Glad your knee is better!
Posted by: Melissa | September 21, 2017 at 06:16 AM
Thanks Melissa!! Yes, it is really a fun aspect of parenting that I never quite expected, watching your choices made manifest once they reach their teens. ;) Time flies when you are having fun! It was a really special trip for both of us and so fun to see our "homes" and old friends in Europe...seeing what is the same and what is new.
Posted by: Jeanne @soultravelers3 | September 23, 2017 at 04:01 PM