October 16, 2012 Travel
A Trip to Krakow
In 5 weeks, I will be heading on an emotional journey to discover my family’s past in Krakow, Poland.
How did this happen? I entered the Hilton Garden Inn Life’s Ultimate To-Do List contest. And I won one of 10 grand prizes: a trip for two to any city around the world including airfare, two nights in the hotel, and spending money.
My first reaction thought was, “Wait. I’m pretty sure real people do not win these competitions. Companies just want to gain information to market to you.” My next thought was, “Oh my god, I’m going to Poland. I’M GOING TO POLAND.” I may have started crying and spinning around in my chair at work from excitement. This was two months ago.
I worked with the fantastic Dayna Adelman at Emanate PR to sort out all of the details. She was very helpful throughout the process.
My brother and I will now have the opportunity not only to spend quality time together, but also to see one of the only cities in Poland left untouched by the world wars. I’m excited to be able to share this opportunity with him and be with him for his first international adventure. We will be going to the Ryneck together, seeing the trumpeter of Krakow together, experiencing a tour of Aushwitz together, and more.
I can’t begin to say how thankful I am to have this opportunity. I’ll have traveled internationally twice in one year, and succeeded in my personal goal of making my next trip to Eastern Europe. I can’t wait to take off this Thanksgiving on the trip of a lifetime. I’ll be re-activating my Europe travel blog from last winter in the coming months to blog about our experience.
The entry that won it all
My grandfather, Philip White, and his family went into hiding in a small town in Poland during WWII to avoid slaughter for being Jewish. Living under a haystack, they survived for six years. In 1948, Philip moved to the US, married, and had two children. Unfortunately, he was murdered in 1989, before my brother (named Philip in his honor) and I were born. I want us to have the chance to learn about our Polish roots and discover the stories he was never able to tell us.