Never look back.

Never look back.
It is without a doubt up there in the top 5 of our life rules, but as they said in one unforgettable line in the first (and only good) Pirates of the Caribbean - they are more like guidelines, and that's how we found ourselves back in Hamburg for St. Patrick's long weekend, 8 years after our last visit, and 7 years after we left Germany.

Last time we were in Hamburg we were young and skinny, the kids just turned 10 and 6, and we travelled like we were on a mission. 
This time we are older and wiser / wider, the kids are coming on 18 and 14, and this trip came after a very stressful and difficult period for everyone and was mainly meant to be walk-as-little-as-possible and eat-as-much-as-possible trip.

You know those questions of "what would you tell your 18/25/30 year old self" or "given the chance would you have done this / that different"? You know, all these questions of second chances to fix the past, I always find them so difficult. After all, on the one hand we are not the same people we once were, so faced with the same situation we should be able to make different choices that will lead to different results. On the other hand, isn't trying over and over to fix something that didn't work in the first place the definition of insanity? 

When is the time where the "chance to heal the past" turns into "banging your head against the wall"? 
It's true for every aspects of life, whether it's travel, or business, or family, and for years we've ben carrying around some of those nagging doubts from all three. 
Every once in a while we are faced with the opportunity to put one of those nagging doubts to rest. And more often than not, it doesn't matter what we do, the result is always the same. 

Which is why, for the trip to Hamburg, we chose a different hotel and created a completely different itinerary to the last trip.
It was only natural that 30 minutes after we arrived we found ourselves sitting in the same cafe we sat at 8 years ago. 8 years ago we were there in one of Yon's toughest autistic breakdowns and one of our lowest points as parents. 
This time around we ate cakes. 
So maybe sometimes it is possible to go back and heal the past.

 Link to post on LinkedIn