Paris and Amsterdam, Together
When Erik Torkells told his sister, Molly, he’d take her anywhere in the world as a 40th-birthday present, she picked Las Vegas. Clearly, there was work to be done.
by Erik Torkells
My sister and I spent our formative travel experiences together, most of which involved long family RV trips around the western U.S. But while I got bit by the travel bug, even becoming the lucky editor of this magazine, Molly never traveled much. She found plenty of excitement in getting married, moving across the country (and back), having two kids, and starting a teaching career.
For her 40th birthday, I thought it’d be fun to take her somewhere. After all, the only times she had left the U.S. were on a graduation cruise to Ensenada and a family drive to Vancouver. “Think about where you’d like to go!” I e-mailed her. “London? Iceland? Tokyo?” I was feeling like Brother of the Year. A few days later, she e-mailed her choice. I took a few deep breaths, and pointed out that while, yes, it was her birthday, and yes, I’d said she could choose the destination, the idea was to go somewhere she’d never been–basically, anywhere but Las Vegas.
Molly thought about it some more and realized she was intimidated by the unknown: different languages, passport bureaucracy, foreign currency, and so on. She said she needed to get over her fear, and that we could go to Europe. She’d let me decide exactly where.
I chose Amsterdam because it’s so easy to navigate, making it the perfect place to dip a toe in–besides, it’s where I went on my first trip to Europe. And then we’d go to Paris, because it’s Paris.
If you were to ask her about the experience now, a few months after the trip, she’d probably say that it was discombobulating being the student, not the teacher–let alone having her little brother be the one in charge. For six days, I was a cross between George Patton and Napoleon Bonaparte. We didn’t just see Amsterdam and Paris: We conquered them.
Any little brother worth his salt torments his sister long after he should’ve stopped. In that spirit, here, for her review, are my 11 lessons on how to explore a city.
