“The horse is eating an orange”. I have turned to Duo Lingo these past 2 weeks, cramming in as much French as I can before our next trip to Europa. Looks like comms are set to be a breeze, especially when we spark up conversations around equine or citrus content!

It’s been 3.5 years since we’ve been on a plane. The covid panic that was in its infancy when we flew out of Vienna on January 30, 2020 has obviously meant that travel has been off the cards.

Instead, we’ve worked, studied, and planned this next adventure.

I now have a master’s degree in teaching English to speakers of other languages. My yearning for hearing other languages and accents, and learning about other people’s lives has been fed through the amazing students I’ve met through two new jobs teaching English; to young, adventurous, excitable students from Colombia, Brazil, Thailand and Turkey who are in Australia to perfect their English and offer their strong work ethic to fill skills gaps we have post-pandemic; and to Syrian and Ukrainian refugees here to begin a new chapter in their lives.

Cam has been fixing computer issues across the country at all hours from his laptop. Avalon is at uni studying animation after blitzing her high school studies, and Milana is still at school and producing and recording her own music. We’ve kept busy.

 In our planning phase, we considered the languages the girls had been learning at school; Avalon, Italian and Milana, French. They’ll be our translators for most of this trip.

We booked our flights as soon as they were released 12 months ago. Just shy of $7000 return for all four of us, flying Singapore Airlines. There will be some lengthy stopovers in Singapore, but we’ve decided that having that reprieve mid-trip and a chance to walk around, do a mini-explore and a rest is actually a better way to go than arriving absolutely trashed.

We started packing rehearsals 3 months ago. (a) Because we’re so keen to go “on tour” again, and (b) to remember that it will be hot this time. No beanies, scarves and thermals required. This is unfortunate. We loved our winter trip and are kind of dreading doing a European summer considering the post-Covid hoards that are about to descend.

The itinerary: France (Paris, Burgundy, Annecy), Italy (Brescia, Venice, Treviso), and Germany (Munich).

Cam and I have been to many of these places before. I visited Paris in 1997 with my then-boyfriend Clinton, and with Cam in 2000. I’ve been to Venice and Treviso many times since my first European trip when I was 18. We’ve also all been to Munich, but Cam has an affinity with Germany considering his ancestral roots.

We’re visiting Disney Paris, the catacombs, the Louvre. Chilling in Burgundy, going canyoning in Annecy, renewing our wedding vows after 20 years in a stunning abbey in Brescia, celebrating Milana’s 17^th birthday in Venice, catching up with cugini in Treviso, and doing a last-minute second- hand clothing haul in Munich.

Everyone is pumped.

Can. Not. Wait….now, back to Duo Lingo to see what else can “mange une orange”!