Photo Essay: European Vacation On Dad's Shoestring

By Orato Editor Heather Wallace , London, Venezia, Firenze & Roma
Date Posted: 10/22/07 Reader Rating:

One year a few moons ago, I fell into some money. At the time (and still) $10,000 was a lot of quid for me. I could have invested it my retirement savings plan or made a dent in my student loan, but after a couple of years grunting it out in the pancake house and feeling trapped by the low-hanging gray clouds of my hometown Vancouver, I could see no better way to spend it than to bum around Europe for six weeks.

Those were some of the best days of my life. I was still in my twenties, albeit late in them, feeling like I still had all the time in the world to worry about what I would do when I got back. What I learned was that $10,000 goes far in terms of memories that will warm you well-into your thirties and of course the rest of your life, but not so far ...financially...over the course of time. I returned home penniless and had to start all over - with a smile on my face and the knowledge that every year, I would have to find a way to do it all over again.

Nowadays I can scarcely afford to take more than two weeks away from work, and so while I have continued to journey afar each, I have never quite matched the indulgence of those six weeks. What I have discovered, though, is that while traveling with one's father, one's dime can go the extra mile...because it's mostly his.

This year, dad outdid himself, treating us to an apartment so close to Firenze's Il Duomo that you could almost touch it from our rooftop balcony. The apartment in Roma wasn't as glamorous, but not even a midday ransack and a stolen computer and knapsack could spoil the spoils. London has always been a home away from home for my family, and this year, we started there - meeting dad at the Hilton and then onto la dolce vita.