#1: Amazing Race, Survivor, & Europe, Oh My!

For those who don’t know me, my name is Raelene Daley. I’m the proud mother of three amazing and beautiful girls, have the best guy ever for my fiancé, and work as an elementary school counselor. \240As a family, we’ve had a lot going on the last few months: after dreaming and planning for years, we bought an RV, we had two graduations, then a family reunion - all great stuff - and it’s about to get even better, as my youngest daughter, Mckenna, and I embark on a dream tour of Europe.

My firstborn, Amanda, is a nurse in the Air Force, stationed in Germany (That’s another whole story.....) and being that I have summers off, we are thrilled to be able to go visit her for a last hurrah before Mckenna goes to college. \240Glenn, and my middle, Hannah, will join us in three weeks.

Thanks to the meticulous planning by Amanda (I have no idea where she gets it from 🤷‍♀️), we will visit at least 5 countries over the next 6 weeks. \240For many reasons, we are so excited!

And a bit nervous.

First of all, I don’t think I’ve ever gone on a vacation longer than a week or two - at most. \240And then there’s the stress that often comes with traveling; jet lag, not speaking the language, trying to catch the right bus or train....I will have to work at not letting anxiety get the best of me. And my youngest and I will get to spend a lot of time together. A lot. And I really, really want things to go well so she has great memories before she goes off to college.

Which brings me back to the title of this blog: Amazing Race, Survivor, & Europe, Oh My!

Anyone who knows our family, knows how much my girls love reality TV. For years, Mckenna, has been counting the days until she is old enough to apply to both shows. (FYI: I’ve made them all promise they will never try to go on The Bachelor -thats where I draw the line). So, here’s my idea to ensure we have a wonderful time.

I told Mckenna we could look at this as practice for the Amazing Race. Like the show, we will visit many iconic places and have to find our way there and around. We will have to help and rely on each other. (Granted, we may have a few advantages contestants don’t have, but just go with it.) I pointed out that we should pretend we’re being taped and the whole world will be watching, so we should be patient and kind to each other. After all, we wouldn’t want to be that team who gets on each other’s nerves and bickers the whole time. \240She laughed knowingly and we both agreed to try our best. I’m sure it’s going to be incredible, and I’m looking forward to the many discoveries we will make together.

But if the whole Amazing Race thing doesn’t pan out, well, that’s when we move on to the Survivor phase. 😁

Here’s to an amazing summer, with my amazing family!