New Europe, Same Family: A Missive

(Charlotte, N.C.)

Welcome to "New Europe, Same Family," the Johnson family blog for their winter holiday trip to Eastern Europe. Why Eastern Europe, you may ask? Well, we are wondering that ourselves. Let's recall how we got here.

While holidays for many people may be about coming home, relaxing with the family and spending a week doing nothing, for the Johnson thing, the opposite is true. Every holiday season for as long as any of the kids can remember, we left home, went to either South Carolina or New Jersey, where our grandmothers live, spent a few days there, and the rest either going to New York, Savannah, Charleston or interesting spots in-between. Late December has always been a time to do things, not to just sit around and think about what things we could do in the following year.

As the family aged, the kids got more restless while the parent became, well, more settled. Every year when the kids wanted to go somewhere, we asked our parents and they said, well, I think we're going to stay in Hendersonville this year. Last year, for the first time ever, we had a holiday apart, with Jeremiah and Martin in New Jersey and Pam, Bob and Spencer in Hendersonville. Everyone, meaning Pam and Bob, was sad. Spartacus, the ever-cheerful dog, and Persia, the ever-bitter cat, were not enough.

So--this year, the kids had a plan. Rather than debate between going to New York, or South Carolina, or staying at home, why not go to Europe for the holiday? The two biggest impediments were first Bob, then Spencer. Bob ,who generally has better sense and Spencer who has a girlfriend, Brittany. Bob succumbing first, thinking it more like a parachute jump where you just went out the door and hoped for the best. Spencer was harder but eventually caved under extreme duress from his brothers and acquiesce from his girlfriend. Adding to the mystery was finding of the passports, three of the five were lost anywhere from two months to four weeks to 12 hours of the trip.

But, we made it. Jeremiah left last week, having spent a few days in Prague before returning to Munich, where he will meet Pam, Bob and Martin––who leave in a few minutes––Tuesday morning. Spencer, after spending Christmas with Brittany and her family, leaves on Tuesday, Dec. 28, and will meet up with the rest of the family in Budapest.

You ask––where are we going? A rough itinerary, using our initials.

PBMJ––Dec. 21-22, Munich; Dec. 23-25, Ljubljana; Dec.26-28, Sarajevo
PBMJS––Dec. 29-Jan. 1, Budapest; Jan. 2-3, Vienna; Jan.4-6, Munich

With, of course, many stops in-between, many of those yet to be determined. More to come––including photographs, of course, very soon.