summer travels 2014

i love the month of june (after SIFF finishes and my homesickness dissipates, of course). june means time to countdown the normal teaching weeks and dream about summer travels to come. for the second year now, we’ve been planning three trips each summer. the first, a shorter trip at the end of june (4-7 days) somewhere generally accessible by road or rail to us. last year it was the salzkammergut lake region of austria, this year it’s slovenia! secondly, our annual karlovy vary trip for the film festival– a tradition i will keep as long as i live here. and thirdly, in august after summer camps are finished, it’s time for the biggie: the ten plus day trip wherever we’ve been pining for the most on the european continent that year.

and the place has been decided, no going back now…

we’re going to poland in august. everywhere in poland. for several weeks. backpacking. the word gives me flashbacks of college summers spent hopping from one country to the next, when i was into doing that sort of thing. hostel showers and flip-flops. train schedules and check-out times. but this time it’s going to be in only one country. it’ll be different. that’s not so daunting… right? 

upon telling friends and students here our travel plans, i’ve been getting only blank stares when it comes to the poland part. “poland? why?” they ask… after the shocked expression fades. poland is a completely unexotic place for czechs. and from those i’ve talked to, czechs seem to have a few preconceived notions about poles. (last time i was in poland, zgorzelec, 2009)

we’ve definitely got our reasons to go to poland. my maternal grandma was polish and she can trace her family back to a tiny village just north of warsaw, where i quite hope to visit. we are polish and are somewhat proud of our heritage, however much my aunt gayle likes to deny this fact. alex wants to go and see what it’s about for himself, while doing the family proud, as his stepdad is half-polish.

poland is the only country bordering czech republic we haven’t been to yet on this particular adventure. and it’s got great food (PIEROGIES 4 DAYZ), thrilling history, great cities, and fabulous beaches! the dark and lovely baltic coast with white sand beaches will be near the end of the trip and i hope to spend many a happy day by the sea there, as it’s been said to rival the french riviera. i’ve popped into poland before a couple times, but this trip will be to see what it’s all about. i hope to turn off my acquired-frowny–czech face and turn on my happy-go-lucky-rick-steves-traveler face.

(do you ever notice how cheerful rick steves is? he’s never lived abroad in central europe before, i can tell ya that much)

those big block letters from the title of the michener book that i’ve always procrastinated reading (but will read one day, mom!) have been boring a hole in my mind lately. i’m really looking forward to it, as i hope you can tell, but dang if planning a backpacking trip in a big country doesn’t make me in over my head a little bit. so far i’ve got my first rough draft i’ve drawn on a map of which cities i’ll be going to (read: most of them) but i’m definitely open to suggestions. poland or bust, dudes. happy travel tuesday!

question: how far in advance do you plan your travels? and do you have a favorite place in poland?