It’s taken me almost a year to write this blog because my use of my FUEL this year meant more to me than any before and honestly, I didn’t even know where to start! But before I share with you how I used my FUEL money and my day off, let me catch you up on some key life moments that led up to it.
As a single mom there really isn’t money for extravagant European trips in my budget, so when my brother asked me in Fall 2017 if it was okay if he helped pay for me and the kids to go with him, his wife, and my parents to Switzerland for 3 weeks I certainly wasn’t going to say no!
Fast forward 3 months to January 2018 when my mom was diagnosed with metastasized lung cancer and underwent emergency brain surgery to remove a cancerous tumor. Life seemed to stop in that moment as I had to face the reality that the future is never something that is certain and my entire family started the journey of battling cancer with my mom. Our trip became a lot more meaningful as we all realized it may be the last we take a family.
Saying yes to more opportunities and giving my kids life moments that create lasting memories has been how I’ve lived through messy life moments for the last 6 years! So with those goals in mind, I used my FUEL money to pay for passports for me and the kiddos and used my day off to take 3 weeks off to see Switzerland!
Both my maternal grandparents immigrated from Switzerland and my mom’s entire family still lives there, so seeing and meeting family and being able to see the homes my grandparents lived in was incredible!
So many things happened in 3 weeks it’s not possible to describe everything and how incredible it all was. So here’s the cliff notes version with pics following:
Zurich. Insane views. Great beer. FIFA museum. Boat rides. Incredible pastries. Waking up to mooing cows and ringing church bells. Trams to the tops on mountains. Restaurants built into mountainsides. Cappuccinos to start and end each day. Barbeques with family. A tour of a glass factory. Rodelbahn (Metal Rollercoaster). Aperol Spritz. Family tree archives. Stanserhorn. Chocolate. Alphorns. Lucerne. Swiss Army Knife museum. Rose festival. James Bond museum. Delicious Food. Matterhorn. Watching the sunrise from a mountain top. Chocolate factory tour. Gruyere cheese factory.
It was a once in a lifetime trip with the people I love most in a country that has been at the top of my bucket list. It truly was the highlight of 2018!
