Meet Insight guests Sue and David Cain: the ultimate traveling couple

Incredible Insight guests Sue and David Cain have just completed their 38th Insight tour. The ultimate traveling couple, they already have their 39th and 40th tours booked for later this year.

From Italy, France and Spain, through the Balkans and Peru, to Egypt, Jordan and Israel, they’ve been all over – even visiting places more than once on different types of tours.

We had the pleasure of speaking to Sue and David to hear more about their adventures as a traveling couple, as a traveling family, and why they just love Insight Vacations. Plus, we learn about a very special friendship they’ve made along the way.

Sue: We met in our first semester of college and married the next year. Over the next five years we had four children and both finished college. Then we went on to law school together. We’ve been married 58 years now.

David: We have always loved to travel, and as they were growing up, we would take our four children around the US and Canada as much as we could afford.

David: My family is big, and we were inspired to travel overseas by one of my brothers (who was 16 years older than me). He told us about how he and his wife went to Europe, got the rail pass and visited various cities and did lots of things. So, it got us to start thinking hey we could and should do this.

When our daughter went over for a semester at the University of Madrid in Spain back in 1989, we decided to go as well. That was our first trip going overseas. Sue planned this trip and, with Eurail passes, we went to Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Spain and France. It wasn’t easy organizing everything for ourselves, but that gave us the overseas travel bug.

Sue: When we started to seriously travel, we just took a guided tour to see what it was like, and it was so much easier than a Eurail pass!

Sue: We’re both fairly strong personalities. So, as a traveling couple, we thought rather than having to make and agree on decisions, such as which route was faster and which hotel was better, we’d be better off taking a tour where some of those decisions were made for us! Where there wasn’t going to be a problem.

My advice is that when you get into these foreign countries, and say you’re travelling with your spouse or your partner, it is so much less stress to have someone else deciding which route to take, which method of travel is to use, where you park, how you get to the place you want to see, where the restaurants are going to be, where the hotels are going to be, making all those decisions plus where you are going to leave your luggage.

Every single one of those is stressful, but if you’re taking a tour, it’s not. All those little things that drive you crazy, are all taken care of for you. The Travel Director is doing all of that.

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David: Since we both enjoy traveling, the traveling that we have done is a big part of our lives and continues to be. We always have a trip to look forward to taking. And the biggest enjoyment of being a traveling couple is talking about the trips we have taken together.

Sue: While many of our travels with Insight have been with friends or family members, 18 of our trips have been with the two of us. We spent many years working and raising our wonderful children, and now we have time to just be together with each other. These times remind us that we have had a partner throughout our life – one that enjoys and appreciates the opportunities we now can now share. We have fun with each other and enjoy that person we decided to take as our partner all those many years ago. Hopefully, we will be able to continue those times for many more years together.

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Sue: We had taken several tours with various companies, but they weren’t quite what we were looking for. Our travel agent recommended Insight as she thought it would fit well with us. As a traveling couple we are curious and we also like our comforts and can treat ourselves when it means improvement. Changing to Insight has worked out very well, so well that we have booked our 40th tour!

We find the hotels are much nicer and are in the center of the activity. The tour directors are great, we haven’t had the one tour director that we thought didn’t do a good job. And we liked the layout of the Insight itineraries. And a huge difference is the coaches, they are so comfortable and spacious. The extra leg room is non-negotiable for me now!

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Sue: Our first Insight tour was a combined Italy and Sicily trip in 2004. We took two of my husband’s older sisters with us. It was a good trip, and everyone enjoyed it a lot. We had fun together.

David: We like that each tour shows a different view of a country. We’ve been to Portugal once just to a couple of cities, so this year we chose the Country Roads of Portugal tour, which was pretty much new for us in terms of places we visited and the view of the country.

We’ve been to Ireland five or six times, and again this year chose Undiscovered Ireland. I’m half Irish so love visiting there. I’ve kissed the Blarney Stone so many times that I don’t think it’s fair for me to do so anymore!

David: We just love the Country Roads of Scotland; we’ve done that twice before. The first time as a traveling couple, the second with two granddaughters and now we are going again in September with my wife’s cousin and her husband.

My wife’s Boyd family ancestors used to have two castles in Scotland – one that is in great condition and one that is in fairly good condition. They’re historical sights and no longer in the family, but they were way back when, so we feel a strong connection and know our grandfather Boyd would be proud.

We’ve also taken three of our grandsons over to the Emerald Isle on Country Roads of Ireland, to visit a castle that was in my Cain family many, many years ago.

Sue: It’s great to be able to connect with our past. I’ve done a lot of research on ancestry.com so I can show our children and grandchildren where and when many events took place. It gives them a sense of history and the sacrifices our ancestors made leaving behind all they knew to travel to the United States. What I want them to see, what we want them to feel is that they’re part of a bigger world than just right here in in the USA, and that they have a responsibility that goes with that.

You may also enjoy reading: A wee treat: 4 ways you’ll taste the very best of Scotland with Insight

Sue: We met a wonderful couple in Turkey in 2010, called Jim and Dee. We got along so well that about half of our trips after that meeting we took with them. We just had so much in common – raising our families and working hard to be able to travel. It was an instant connection.

Very sadly, Dee passed away three years ago, but her husband still travels with us. We still have fun together and we always imagine Dee is at the table with us to honor her memory. It was very special to meet another traveling couple that we got on so well with and we have taken a total of 15 Insight tours together.

David: We met on Treasures of Turkey, and for neither of us had that tour been our original destination. Each of us had something happen to the planned trip that caused it to be cancelled. We both just happened to choose Turkey and to arrive a day early. We met on the transfer going to the hotel. So, it’s a complete accident, all the way around and has led to an enduring and beautiful friendship.

Pictured, from left to right – Jim, David, Sue and Dee

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Sue: When I was in third grade, my teacher had been to Holland. She said we must all go and see the Holland tulips. She described fields of all one color of tulips, side by side and told us that it’s just beautiful. I always remember her saying we must see it, so we did.

We took an Insight Country Roads of Belgium, Luxembourg & the Netherlands tour. From the airplane we were fortunate and could see the fields as we landed. It was just spectacular. We also toured the areas as part of our tour.

My husband and I did this before we started travelling with Jim and Dee. Then when Dee was ill, and we knew that she was declining, we did the trip again with her so that she could see the tulips. We used a wheelchair through the gardens, and she loved it and was like always, cheerful and happy.

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David: We took a trip, Winter Wonderlands, in December 2021 and during the tour Austria suddenly shut down (due to COVID alerts). I really appreciate how hard people back at the Insight office must have been working night and day to find places for us to stay, and things for us to do. Our Travel Director, Philip Orna, did a marvelous job. We decided we could call it the Surprise Tour, where you don’t know where you’re going until you get up in the morning!”

We weren’t sure where we were going to spend the night on some nights. One day we were driving along in the mountains of Switzerland (beautiful!!), looking for somewhere to take a break and the coach driver said, ‘I know somebody up ahead that owns a little spot.’ And he called her and sure enough the lady opened the place up, had coffee, tea and pastries and everything was great. We were not able to get into Austria, but we had one of the best trips ever and a great time.

David: Ever the traveling couple, we have a trip booked on the Country Roads of Scotland tour in early September and will be going on Irish Elegance later in September. That will give us a total of 40 Insight trips!

Sue: We tell people frequently – take tours, take Insight. For people who have their bucket list, if you really want to enjoy the things that you want to see, it takes the pressure off you. The rooms, the meals, all the sights are all laid out for you by someone who knows what they’re doing and with inside information. It’s not a shot in the dark. And the price is far better than you could do on your own. Hopefully our minds and bodies will allow us to take many more trips with Insight and I am looking forward to those times.

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