Where do you want to go on vacation?

I live for vacation. I am either planning a vacation, preparing for a vacation or taking a vacation. I love to research cruises or trips on the internet. I call this a ‘virtual vacation’. Expedia and Travelocity get about 1000 hits from me a month. I love to visit the tourism websites of distant places. The anticipation of planning the vacation is almost as important to me as actually taking the trip. Everyone loves Christmas. Christmas Day is the grand finale but the anticipation leading up to the big day just as special. The same feelings are generated for me while researching a trip.


Vacations are important to me because they provide a sense of adventure. You get to explore places unfamiliar and unknown. Traveling gives your body a little element of stress. This is good stress however- this is the stress that lets us know we are alive. It is good to get out of your own little corner of the world and see how others live. The best way to open up mind and be understanding of others different from you is to realize that you are indeed not the center of the universe.

I love to cruise because I find it very inexpensive. You pay for the room and food at one time – usually months advance so you don’t have to worry about running over your budget. You stay in a cabin the entire vacation moving to different ports of call. My husband calls the ship a ‘floating hotel’. You unpack one time but you still visit different areas throughout the week. The meals are included and this is important to me because one of the greatest stressors for me while traveling is worrying about where my next meal will come from and if it will be palatable. Room service is free – and you can order 24 hours a day. The ship itself is an ‘adventureland.’ There is something for everyone. Ping pong, swimming, rock wall climbing, sports tournaments, casinos, shopping, theater and shows….the entertainment is nonstop – 24 hours a day. I suggest getting a balcony cabin on the ship – this way you have your own oasis – your own piece of the ocean. We love to hang out on the balcony while the ship departs port - watching the land disappear and looking out into the ocean. I probably spend the majority of my time on the balcony while we cruise. I love to order room service and eat on the balcony. Seagulls will often fly in and land on the rail – begging to join in on my meal.

My husband and I to do something challenging and new during each vacation. I swam with a beautiful dolphin named Madonna in Cozamel and snorkeled with manatee and stingrays. I have traveled a zip line over the ocean from the top of a mountain to the beach below. I have parasailed 400 feet above the Caribbean blue waters and climbed over steaming lava rock in Hawaii.

I acted like a huge baby while skiing down a ‘bunny trail’ but took it like a champ rappelling off a side of a mountain. I braved a helicopter ride to land atop a huge glacier in Alaska during a sleet storm. My family has panned of gold in the Yukon and watched thousands of salmon desperately swim their way upstream to die at their place of birth. 

I traveled to New York to watch my beloved Yankees win a game. 

I've watched violent lava pour out of a vent in the Pacific Ocean.  I overcame an intense fear of flying when we flew in a small plane to the Grand Canyon and gazed down upon the mighty Hoover Dam. We traveled to Red Rock Canyon outside Vegas to experienced 115 degree weather. I stood near the launch pad for the NASA Space Shuttle at Cape Canaveral.

                                             

My family woke up at 3am one night to venture outside to brave 40 degree below zero temps while staying at Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We have ordered breakfast in a Puerto Rican restaurant where no English was spoken and climbed to the top of a Mayan ruin in a rainforest outside of Belize.

I have stood yards away from a massive moose nursing her young and experienced the ‘endless days’ of Canada during June. My hubby and I ‘survived’ an intense weeklong “Survivor Camp” in Canadian Rockies and learned that I can endure way more than I ever fathomed.

The list goes on and on….this is life. Some of it was scary –all of it was exhilarating. This is why I work so I can experience life.   So my question for you is....Where do YOU want to go on vacation?