I am sure I’ve talked about this before, but since this prompt came up in the list, I’m going to talk about it again. Though I have been on a mission to see all 50 US states with my mother because that’s always been her bucket list item, I have only ever had one dream trip.
When I was probably around eight or maybe ten years old, I found a bag of bodice rippers under my grandmother’s night stand. Thus began my love of romance books. At fourteen, one of my aunts bought me a copy of The Duchess by Jude Devereaux. Other than the collection of picture books I had from my early childhood, this was the first book I owned. I had always been a library girlie. Needless to say, I went to the library immediately after devouring that book and proceeded to read my way through the romance section untethered.
Well, during this process, I became obsessed with historical romance set in the time of knights and castles. I dreamed of being a princess and running up and down stone stairs and getting lost in elaborate garden labyrinths. As such, my dream trip became a castle tour of Europe. Not the big named ones where royal families still lived today. No. I wanted to explore castle ruins and imagine what life was like when tapestries hung on the walls blocking hidden passageway. I wanted to dance with the ghosts of long-forgotten servants who had never been invited to the elaborate parties but enjoyed their own revelry outside the huge halls full of visitors. My imagination ran wild with thoughts of clandestine trysts and daring duels.
In 2019, I got the opportunity to make that trip happen. A friend had her own vacation and needed a pet sitter in Scotland for two weeks. I immediately jumped at the opportunity and bought my ticket. Mom decided to tag along, and we expanded the trip to include Ireland, a train ride through Wales, and two days in London before we made it to Scotland. In the meantime, I bought us tickets that allowed us entry into so many historical sites that there was no way we’d be able to see them all.
Not only was this the furthest I’ve ever traveled, but it is a trip that will never be matched. So many of the poems posted here on my website are inspired by this trip. We visited each of the highlighted sites, I climbed nearly 35k stone stairs, and I took hundreds of photos. Here are just a few of my favorites:
