The draw of a European escape
Ifirst arrived on the fair shores of Aotearoa in 2004. An Irish backpacker on what was meant to be a one-year working holiday. Well, that one year has been extended somewhat. It was a dream come true to travel as far away from my homeland as I could possibly get. Even though I have now lived in New Zealand longer than I ever lived in Ireland, I will never shake off the shamrocks completely.
While I certainly miss my family back home, there is another element that I completely took for granted when I lived there – the absolute ease of travel to different destinations and cultures.
Don’t get me wrong, I darted about the continent when I could. From strolling the streets on a sublime winter’s day in Copenhagen, to sunning myself in a host of Spanish resorts, my short trips into Europe have always been memorable.
But here’s the thing – with everywhere so close, there is just so much to explore, and I curse myself that I didn’t utilise my spare time more when I was over there.
I never made it to the electric blue sea caves of Capri (see page 40), or visited Europe’s biggest alpine national park in Austria (pages 42-43).
And huge parts of Italy, including Puglia (pages 38-39) remain a mystery to me. I wanted to visit all the Scandi countries (of which I do only have Norway and Finland to go), explore the historic Baltic states, or just simply grab a custard tart in Lisbon, Portugal.
I still get back to Ireland as often as I can, but getting the time to visit the rest of Europe just isn’t as easy as it used to be.
Correction:
A Stuff Travel story on new cruise ships, published on February 6, incorrectly stated that the Wonder of the Seas was launching this month, when it is already sailing.