Why would my Mother let me spend 2 months backpacking Europe when I was only 20 years old? So glad she did not read my diary!

    My blue diary came with me on my wonderful European adventure. As I looked back on my diary in

1999, it was a marvelous reminder of the places and people taking part in the adventure. I traveled

again with my daughter in 1999 visiting some of the same places from my 1977 trip.  The writings in

my diary were an inspiration and a path for our trip. Without the diary, we would have missed so

many recreations of places visited in 1977.

          Writing in my travel diaries has been my main form of writing my entire life.  My Mother had

encouraged me to keep diaries through my daily life.  I wish I had done that. Instead I would start a

new travel journal for every special adventure.  Some of the facts in the diaries would never be

held as memories without the reminders in my writings.

   On both of these adventures we spent several nights sleeping on the trains. When I was 20 years old,

I would write in my journal. As a parent, I spent my nights on guard that no one would come into our

sleeping car. My daugher did write in hers as I watched over her like a mother lion.

I found my diary last night from 1977! All my other diaries are missing in actions. How fun to read

through my days in Europe!

                                           Munich, Germany June 1977