Teen Takeover in Switzerland, Germany, and Austria (1987)

When I think back on my first trip to Europe, my immediate thought is “God Bless Mrs. Smithburn for taking a bunch of teenagers overseas every year!” My Junior High English teacher was clearly a saint. Or a glutton for punishment!

Every year Mrs. Smithburn took a group of students from Speedway Junior High, and an adventurous group of parental chaperones, across the Atlantic to various parts of Europe. Each year she selected a different set of countries and cities to explore for about a week and a half.

My year to go was 1987.

You probably figured out the general timeframe based on my big 80’s bangs and the oh-so-stylish fashions!

This trip was not only my first time to visit Europe, it was also my first time to ride in an airplane, which I thought was extremely cool given that my family’s vacation preference was educational road trips.

What made this trip even more special was that my mom was going. For her first trip to Europe. During her 40th birthday! (30 years later she got to go back to Europe for the second time when we took her to Paris for her 70th birthday!)

While I admit I was like most teen girls who don’t always want their mom hanging around, going to a whole other country was a pretty big deal to me. So I was actually happy she was coming along! And she wasn’t about to miss a trip to Europe that someone else was basically doing all the planning for, and she just got to enjoy the journey.

Two of my closest friends, Tammi and Heather, also went on this trip, and even though we are now wiser and have seen much more of this world, we still fondly reminisce about the European memories we made in 1987.

Given that our trip was over 30 years ago, there are a lot of details I don’t remember clearly. And probably a lot about the trip that I didn’t truly appreciate as a self-conscious, boy-crazed 13-year-old!

Recently my mom and I sat down with our photo albums from this trip. Yes, those old-school albums with somewhat dingy prints from a film camera with each photo slid under a clear plastic sheet. (If you are younger than 25 you may have to google film cameras and photo albums to have any idea what I’m talking about!)

We couldn’t quite recall the exact locations in all our photos, but God bless my mom for writing descriptions on the back of each photo (yes, that used to be a thing!) and it helped bring some of those memories into better focus.

We traveled through Geneva and Lausanne, Switzerland and then on to Munich, Germany and ended in Vienna and Salsburg, Austria. We visited several castles, including Neuschwanstein, Chillon, and Habsburg, and the the Nymphenburg and Schoenbrunn Palaces.

We took a cable car up into the Swiss Alps, and while we were bundled up in winter coats we marveled at all the people in bathing suits trying to get a tan on the snow covered mountains!

We didn’t always like the exotic food options, but we loaded up on the hard rolls that seemed to be served at every meal. We all bought Swatch watches as they were extremely popular at the time…I wish I still had mine!

While I can’t remember our exact itinerary or all the historical sites we visited, I do remember the excitement I felt to be somewhere new.

The sites and sounds and tastes were exotic and foreign to me, yet very intriguing. My world view expanded on that trip. A seed was planted.

Little did I know then that the seed would grow inside me…and fertilize a desire to see more of the world…and ultimately lead to Traveling Tanya!

I have no idea how much my parents spent on that trip. But it was worth every penny.  And I realize a lot has changed since 9/11 and some are cautious about international travel. But I believe there has never been a better time to learn more about the billions of  people we share this planet with!

Now as a mother myself, I encourage my daughters to take advantage of every opportunity they get to travel.

And you can bet if a school trip to Europe is presented, I will be the first parent to sign up as a chaperone!

Comment below and share a favorite vacation from your childhood that had a big impact on you!

Wherever the road takes you, make it a joyous journey!
Traveling Tanya

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