Written by guest contributor Dixie Cote, Mill Spring Travel
As a travel advisor I am often asked “What is your favorite destination?”. Many times in life when asked to choose our favorite, we stumble and hesitate because we don’t really know. What is my favorite color? Where do I want to go for dinner? Do I really like these curtains? There are so many decisions to be made, so many choices offered to us. But, for me, when asked about my favorite travel destination, the answer is easy.
My husband and I have been blessed to travel to many beautiful, exciting destinations. But since I was a child and saw the movie “Heidi” for the first time, my heart has longed for Switzerland. The beautiful Alps with the sun-drenched meadows, the majestic snow-capped peaks … I ached to visit this magical place I had dreamt about my whole life. Finally, in 1991, my husband surprised me with a trip to Switzerland to celebrate our anniversary! It was literally a dream come true!
Oftentimes when we imagine something, we create a fantasy which reality can never quite live up to. However, upon our arrival in Switzerland that first time, I realized that the reality of this beautiful alpine country far exceeded the dreams I had carried in my heart for so many years. It was breathtakingly beautiful. The alps were beyond anything I could have imagined, and I cried the first time I saw them. The tiny, storybook alpine villages sat gracefully on the hillsides as though they had been waiting for me.
I have been blessed to visit this beautiful country four times since then. And each time I return I feel as though I’m coming home. Of course, Switzerland is not home. Home is here, where our precious family is and where we have been blessed to build a beautiful life together. But a piece of my heart will forever be in Switzerland. I long to return, to stand atop a mountain peak again and take in the glory of God’s masterpiece. I long to sit on a little balcony in a quaint mountain village and watch the sunrise over the towering peaks. I long to walk along a hillside and hear the gentle lowing of the cattle and their bells that echo through the valley below.
So, when asked my favorite destination the answer is easy for me. We hope to return to Switzerland one day soon. In the meantime, I find joy in sending my clients to experience that which I have come to love. But I also am grateful for the opportunity to help my clients fulfill their own travel dreams, to visit the places they have carried in their hearts for so long. It is truly a blessing to help make someone’s dreams come true, and I am grateful to be able to share in this with them.
Dixie Cote
Mill Spring Travel, LLC.
Instagram: @millspringtravel
Email: [email protected]