This was a school trip for eigth graders which two of the teachers hosted every year. My daughter and I signed up, paid our money, and packed our bags. Then life happened and emergencies had both teachers unable to attend. The trip then became a true adventure with the basketball coach and two parents now in charge!

Now, I don't mean to say that we had no help. This was an educational tour with a fulltime guide and interpreter. In addition, we had a huge tour bus and driver squiring us around. It's just that it wasn't as buttoned down and by the book as the school district might have wanted.

London, England

No rain, plenty of shopping, and a freedom to roam and explore unsupervised that they'd never had in their own neighborhoods made London a memorable place for the kids. After a brief bus tour around town to see the basic tourist sights, we set the kids loose. Literally, the only direction we gave the kids was "have fun and meet back here in 4 hours!" Thankfully, that's what they did.

Paris, France

My daughter, her best friend and I skipped the world famous Lovres Musuem in order to practice zipping around town on the undergorund subway. That's not something the girls get to do in Dallas! And, of course, it was much more valuable a life lesson, than the brief view of the Mona Lisa. This is were I understood that my personality lends itself to free flowing exploration not found in a tour package.

Lucerne, Switzerland

Absolutely beautiful! Quaint old small town, complete with swans in the lake. The Pilatus is the most striking landmark in the area, which we did in a unique round-trip: by boat to its foot, by rack railway (the steepest in the world at 48%) to its summit, and by aerial cableway back down to the city. Another lankmark of note was the "Dying Lion of Lucerne" which was hewn out of solid rock in 1821.

Innsbruck, Austria

We stayed at an inn in a small town in the hills. There were no TVs, no phones, not evens locks on the room doors. With nothing else to do the kids decided to have a pool party. Which inspired us adults to crash to party by running full out and jumping in the pool fully dressed amongst all the kids. An absolutely great time was had by all!

Munich, Germany

The one souvenir my daughter wanted was her navel pierced, so we spent time in each country trying to find a piercing establishment. Our last day, last country, our hunt ends in triumph. The kiddo got her navel pierced in Munich, Germany at Cutglass Piercing. She didn't even flinch! You go girl.