Last summer, in the Before Times when we could travel, my mother and I spent a week in Europe, our first trip abroad together. We went to London, my absolute favorite city, and Cambridge, but before that, we went to Paris. When beginning to plan a trip, my mom selected Paris, a city she had always wanted to visit. I had been to Paris twice before, the first time for a long weekend while studying in London and again for a whirlwind day trip when visiting London again, but I couldn’t say no to another Paris trip. I still had so many things to do and see there (and honestly still have a long list) so it was a wonderful time to go back, this time with warm weather and summer in the city.

Almost exactly a year ago, I was in Cambridge, England, with my mom and my best friend, Shae. We were in London for four days and decided to go up to Cambridge for one of the days. I had visited Oxford while studying abroad, and Shae had been to Cambridge, so we were a bit divided; we ultimately chose Cambridge so that we could go punting, perfect for a summer day.