Europe marked the start to our first official international trip together — the inaugural backpacking adventure that has kicked off our decade of joint travel. The gist of our trip was to see as much as possible while spending minimally. This meant we skipped a lot of tourist attractions. We didn’t go up in the London Eye or take a gondola ride in Venice or climb up Notre Dame. We sometimes stayed outside of each city, which worked well most of the time but sometimes didn’t (looking at you here, Paris). We rarely ate at restaurants, and 1-2 meals a day were Nutella sandwiches, but this meant we shopped at local markets and often experienced the savory local cuisine of croissants, baguettes, wine, olive oils, meats and cheeses, which were beyond fulfilling. We carried our packs everywhere and walked on foot to get across the cities (including Rome in a day – doable but not recommended), so we stayed in great shape. We stayed at hostels, but would increasingly book a private room, typically with a bathroom, for a few dollars more per night – and it saved us from experiencing typical hostel experiences like in Amsterdam, where a girl pooped on the floor of our shared bedroom in the middle of the night. Because of all of this, we felt like we really saw each city, almost behind the scenes, and we never felt like we were missing out.

Of course, now almost 10 years later, I don’t remember the museums we visited or skipped, or the few meals we actually ate at restaurants. I remember staying in a local Sicilian’s guest bedroom with a balcony overlooking the coast, where we drank local wine, made our own caprese salad from the market and communicated with our gracious, non-English speaking host through dramatic arm/hand gestures and enormous smiles. I remember playing Rummy 5000 (yep, you read that right) on our 24 hour ferry ride (yep again) across the sea from Italy and up the coast of Croatia, sleeping sideways on dining booths and having a local English-speaking Croatian lady give us fruit from her garden at home to make sure we were well nourished. I remember getting so severely lost and frustrated trying to navigate Paris’ multiple subway systems and finding that literally no one could help us or wanted to speak English, and how elated we were when we actually made it to our elusive room. I remember getting lost in Venice’s flooded streets and not caring where we ended up or if we were going in circles. I remember hiking to the top of an enormous mountain in Interlaken with grazing sheep bells as our soundtrack, unsure if we’d survive the steep incline and celebrating at the top. I remember the warm sun on my face in Nice, the floral limoncello tasting in Ravello, almost driving off winding cliffs on the Amalfi coast, hiking through olive and lemon groves in Cinque Terre, taking an overnight ferry to Sicily where they literally loaded our train onto a boat, visiting my grandmother’s tiny Italian hometown and being stared at relentlessly for our foreignness, and I remember the people. Those who wanted to help us, even when we couldn’t speak a lick to each other. The smiles and warmth of our hosts. Those on the side of the road trying to offer us directions. All of them, even their faces, have stayed with me.

Those memories are the sweetest to me. Mainly comprised of the things in life that are free, but stay with you 10 years later. Sure, I recall a few of the big indulgences we made (beers and pretzels bigger than our head at Oktoberfest, pinxtos bar hopping in San Sebastian, renting a car on the Amalfi Coast, excessively craning our necks upward in the Sistine Chapel, or eating the best pizza in the world at Pizzeria da Michele in Naples). But those are much harder to list, and I certainly don’t look back and wish we saw more. We saw it all, and we did it our way, and it felt like the local way. The unfiltered, raw and gritty way. The most rewarding way. And here we are a decade later with yet another reminder that the journey is almost always the destination.

Cheers to budgets, youth, and adventure!

Highlights: The beaches and food in San Sebastian, Belgian beer and waffles in Brussels, the tiled buildings of Lisbon and the castle on the hill, Port wine in Portugal, everything in Interlaken (such a magical place, especially for active folk), all the Gaudi stops in Barcelona, swimming in the super salty Mediterranean in Nice, getting lost in Venice, hiking the coast of Cinque Terre and its olive/lemon groves, eating spicy Italian food in Sicily and watching local kids’ football games, Oktoberfest (kind of kitschy but a must-do), all food in Paris, esp. Pain du Chocolat (seriously), wandering around Prague and eating/drinking super cheaply, the Vatican/Sistine Chapel/Rome, exploring Dubrovnik’s old town.

Hindsight: Wish we were a bit more prepared for the lack of English speaking in Paris, as well as the train system(s). Driving in Italy was madness and dangerous at times, but also necessary to see what we saw. Naples is seriously sketchy, but the pizza makes it worth the trip. Rome wasn’t our favorite (it’s big and dirty), but it’s a must-see. Very few places in the world have massive, ancient ruins on every corner.

Date: 2006; Timeframe: 6 weeks

Itinerary: London > Brussels > Paris > Interlaken > Munich > Prague > Amsterdam > San Sebastian > Lisbon > Barcelona > Nice > Venice > Florence > Cinque Terre > Rome > Taormina > Naples > Amalfi Coast > Atella > Bari > Dubrovnik