Countdown for Europe Adventure 2008

The Prequel – from 33 years before
Soon after we were married in 1974, Kiyomi and I started saying, "wouldn't it be nice to take a really long trip together to see Europe?" We agreed, that "someday, maybe after retirement" (at that time, about 30 years in the future) we'd do it, for sure. So we started our life together, with a dream that "someday" we'd have the trip of a lifetime. With that dream in the back of our minds, we bought a house and started on our family. As the years passed, we took many short vacations, cruises, tours, excursions, etc., each time trying to decide to which of the places we'd like to return for our dream. As the children grew to adulthood and the time to Stan's retirement approached, the dream started to take a more palpable form, and became a frequent topic of conversation as we watched Rick Steves, Rudy Maxa, Samantha Brown and other travel show hosts.
In 2007, Stan finally decided to retire in January 2008, and started the retirement process. At the same time, Kiyomi started researching and deciding where would be most interesting for us to go, and where we should stay after January. Then suddenly in November, Stan's mitral valve failed, and he had to undergo emergency surgery to replace the valve. The outcome was uncertain, and for a few moments it seemed the dream was over. Thanks to the great skill of the surgical team, Stan's operation was successful – but the question of whether he would recover enough for an extended trip remained in question. After several months of convalescence, Stan's strength and stamina had returned to the extent that we decided we should do it now, if possible. The surgeon and cardiologist agreed that if his recovery continued as well as it had been, Stan would be up to the trip beginning in mid-March. So we finalized the beginning and end of the trip with a trans-Atlantic cruise from and to Miami, starting 22 March and returning 25 November. We also made a reservation for Tuscany & the Venetian Countryside - Heart of Italy 16 day tour with Grand Circle Travel (GCT) for 19 October to 3 November. With the trip's endpoints set, we started to fill in the first month by making reservations along the coast of Spain, at interesting small inns in the heart of the old town areas. We also made reservations in luxury resort hotels, or famous grand hotels. We also decided that we would make the theme of our travels The Gardens of Europe, and try to visit as many notable or famous gardens as possible.

A month before we leave for Europe, and the preparations are getting rather hectic. It seemed like a lot of time to do things before we left, but the time passes quickly, and many things need to be done.
We leased a car from EuropeByCar.com, a Peugeot for 120 days (4 months!) to travel around Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, perhaps Germany, Austria and Switzerland from April to August. We figured the convenience of a car made the extra cost over public transport worth it; plus luggage concerns made it even more worthwhile.

After August, we'll travel on public transport: cruises on the main rivers of Europe (Rhine, Main, Mosel, Danube) if we can get cabins as stand-by. We're trying not to commit until we're ready to go.

So retirement was 31 Jan 08, and now I'm setting up payments from pensions, social security, 401k and other investments so we'll have cash to draw on while we're there. Also getting the medical and dental checks done, and getting enough medicine for 8 months. Also setting up a living trust, just in case.