travel log: germany and greece

Tuesday, October 23

surprise! 
i'm off to europe this Thursday. 
to say i'm excited is an understatement. 

for starters, i get to see this little lady. 
{disregard the placement of her undershirt! ha}
my baby sister. 
and one of my favorite people on the planet. 
she's studying living in florence
("studying" might be debatable)
i think they just need to start calling "study abroad" programs what they really are...
"living and traveling abroad programs!" haha
i'm pretty sure I never did any homework when i lived in italy! 

but what's a girl to do when her sister is living in europe? 
i say GO VISIT! 

now, i know i know...
you're probably asking me how the heck I can afford this travel! 
i work for a non-profit on a shoestring budget
and my husband sells bagels. 
we're not rollin' in the hamilton's if you know what I mean...

so how have we been able to do the following travel this year? 
 {May/June Kev and I went to England, Scotland and Ireland}
{August my family went to Alaska}
{and now i'm off to Europe again} 

i'll give you a hint...it's NOT because we're loaded. 

but in order to share my secrets, i'm planning a blog series on 
"how to travel ridiculously cheap and get free flights"
or something like that. 
you'll just have to wait till next month to milk me for all my travel know-how. ha! 

Polly and I decided to go visit some of our family in western Germany in Dusseldorf! 
I honestly think my favorite travel memories are when we stay with friends or family...
it's really the way to go! 
they know the area and are built in tour guides, cook yummy meals, offer a sweet place to stay, and best of all, the memories made are ones I cherish for a lifetime!! 

we then decided, "what the heck! let's go to Greece"
because how can you pass up the greek isles when ryanair is so CHEAP?!?
we couldn't. 

so there you have it. 

and lastly, while I am planning to do a blog series on travel (because traveling is SO feasable if you know how to do it right) the real answer to how i've been able to travel so much is sweet Abba. He has opened so many doors for me and my family, and I can't really take credit for that. God is just SO good to give us the desires of our heart.
 He has SUCH an EPIC spirit of ADVENTURE to Him! 
{don't forget that}

He delights in JOY, in LAUGHTER, and in BEAUTY
and traveling brings about all 3

so here's to the God who is fabulously crazy fun-spirited....
Ephesians 3:20 "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us"

love Katie 

AND...as a shout-out, my other beautiful sister is currently living and working in Costa Rica. Love you Lena Bean and miss you! Wish I could come visit you too:) 

19 comments :

  1. Oh, I am DYING to go to Greece! I pray that God opens doors for me to go there someday. It just looks too beautiful to miss in life. I can't wait to see your pictures and hear about the trip! :)

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  2. It does seem like you hardly ever stay still in one place for long! :P But I've only been reading since June so that's probably why since you've been taking a trip every other month since then. I'd definitely be interested in your cheaper traveling tips--I've got to make it back to the other side of the world one of these days!
    I hope you have a wonderful trip! It sure looks like it will be fun!

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  3. Eeek! So exciting! And I totally want some tips on how to travel for cheap! I love Ryan Air for that. Have a great trip!

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  4. OH MY GOODNESS! So so so excited for you, Katie. :)

    P.S. When I started reading this post I thought "how in the world is she able to afford all of this??" and then I continued to read and saw the series you have planned. Can't wait to learn from your experience...especially since I'm going to be a teacher and I won't be "rolling in the hamilton's" either. Ha!

    Sending much love your way! We MUST have a Skype date sometime after you get back. I want to finally be able to talk to you in person. :)

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  5. that is so exciting and it's great you have the opportunity to see your sister!
    i'm hanging on to read about your blog series, because I would love to travel more, but the darn bills are not emphatetic in the least! have a safe trip!

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  6. Alright, I'm going to have a pad of paper and pen in hand when this series begins. Bestow your knowledge oh wise one! (lol) Have a fun trip! =D

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  7. i'm totally jealous. greece is definitely on the top of my "need to go NOW" list. haha. have fun and take lots and lots of pictures. and hurry up and tell me how i can go cheap :)

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  8. ohhh greece is my dream, too. :) so excited for you and will miss you! xo

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  9. I would love to go to Germany someday! I hope you and your sister have a fabulous time! I can't wait to hear all about it when you get back. :]

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  10. That looks like it will be loads of fun! I would LOVE to go to Greece!

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  11. I will definitely be coming back for your travel series!!! Have a blast on your trip!

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  12. Any traveling advice would be great. I have never been south of my own state because we cannot afford it at all. Although, I think if I ever were to travel it would have to be for mission work, not vacation or anything. :: sigh ::
    +Victoria+

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  13. that is SOOO Exciting that you get to go see her!!! Can't wait to hear all your traveling advice too. :)

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  14. OH my gosh! I am so excited for you! And I need your travel tips ASAP! I can't wait to hear them!

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  15. oh yes, for your travel tips!!! that's great.
    i'm planning to going to Bali ;)

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  16. So excited for you...have a wonderful and safe travels! Can't wait to see photos and hear about your adventures!

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  17. ahh!! have so much fun! and i literally cannot wait to hear your secrets. husband and i adore travel but the money sure can get in the way. just in case i miss it, can you promise to email the links to these upcoming posts when you get them up?! THANK YOU!

    xo

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  18. I'm having to go back and catch up on your blog posts from when i was on Vaca!! I'm SUPER excited for your blog series about traveling. Traveling is SO the desire of my heart, but OBVI as a missionary/Pastor we are not rolling in it either! :) The Lord knows my hopes though, ultimately I want where He leads! I got SO excited when I saw you were on ANOTHER trip and was like WHATTT?!!? What a BLESSING!!!! Miss ya girlfriend (can you miss someone you never met?!? hahaha!) Really though, missed your blogs and our emails! Longest blog post comment ever!! HAVE FUN!

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I LOVE hearing from you friend:) Your comment will make my day!