“Are you crazy? Why Egypt?”

And to that I say “WHY NOT!?”

The big 1-0 wedding anniversary is this year… that’s 15 years together as a couple and that is something to celebrate. We desperately miss the ability to travel and decided (with the help of wonderful grandparents who offered to help with the kids) we would set off on an adventure. We didn’t want to just sit on a beach for a week with our umbrella cocktails but instead sought out something exciting- Chris is too much like Clark Griswold to allow for any relaxation.

Our original thoughts were to travel to Peru to trek the Incan Trail to see Machu Picchu. After figuring in the trek on the trail, the time for the altitude adjustment, and flights we simply didn’t have enough time off to make that happen. So it was back to the drawing board. Next up, let’s go to Italy! Just like the book we can eat, pray and …. Well once that idea was stuck in our heads we looked back at the calendar to discover we were traveling on Good Friday and landing on Easter weekend in Rome. Being Catholic, we couldn’t simply land in Rome and not go straight to Easter Mass. Chris panicked a little at the thought of Easter Mass crowds at St. Peters and suggested we start at the other end of the country to which I scoffed and said “Nope. We can’t even be in the country if that is the case. We need a new plan.”

Then we thought of Morocco and the South of Spain. In looking at the map, I saw how close Egypt was and thought well that would be cool and I needed to mark Africa off of the “continents visited list” anyway so I started to research.

Luckily, I came across a travel company called Memphis Tours. Their packaged trips looked really interesting so I started researching their company and reading many, many reviews. Once I was satisfied, I decided to shoot them an email to see if the trip plan could be altered to add an extra day or so. Mohammed wrote right back and worked with me to create a very detailed itinerary (which will be addressed in additional more detailed posts). I simply cannot say enough about Memphis Tours- they were fantastic! They handled every aspect of our trip. We booked the flight but other than that Memphis Tours and their team took care of everything else. We were picked up at the Cairo International Airport, where another gentleman dressed in a suit named Mohammed picked us up, completed our visa forms, handled the customs/immigration desk and put us safely in the air conditioned, Wi-Fi enabled van that lead us through the heart of Cairo to Les Meridian Pyramids.

There is not one reason why I would not travel to Egypt again. It was Spring Break for most who we interacted with and many of them where taking family trips with children of all ages. We never once felt uneasy (well maybe once but that story is still to come) and felt extremely safe especially since we had a tour guide and driver everywhere we went. We loved every minute of the culture, food, sights, sounds, and I hope the series of blog posts that are to come about our trip will help you to fall in love with this ancient civilizations and consider taking a trip to this amazing destination.