Traveling

One of my very favorite things is traveling. I love to go to new places, particularly to go and actually see places I have studied. I connect with those places like Gettysburg, Boston and Normandy and the history I have studied becomes more alive and rich. I always wonder which buildings or trees were actual witnesses to great historical events and though it sounds silly, I feel like I can connect to those emotions and experiences of individuals who also stood in that same place. I love to go to new places to experience the culture like Italy, England and Costa Rica. I love listening to the languages, trying the food, observing the people and the way they interact and seeing the buildings and personality of the cities and scenery. I watched a movie once where the narrator talked about feeling nostalgia for a people and a place he'd never actually known, but standing in that spot, they were a part of him. And as dramatized as that sounds, I know what he means.

I dream about places I have never been and a relish memories of I've the places I've experienced. I pour of pictures and journals to remember the little details and I study their histories, longing to go back and see it again. As my "been there" places list grows longer, my "hoped for" places does too. :) I create fantasy vacations, researching places I'd want to explore and the things I would want to do. In fact, I've become quite addicted to this little habit. Having the internet on my phone has further enabled me to search, at any random free moment, the possibilities. A particular favorite is to look up cruises (vacationstogo.com--can cruise for cheaper than getting a hotel!). It's not the best way to really experience "true" culture as the ports are tourist spots and an afternoon isn't near enough to see all I would want to see. But it's a fantastic way to relax, be pampered and get just a taste of several places, without much effort (as in, I don't have to arrange travel plans or even move my luggage). The food is always amazing and the experience feels so luxurious. My first cruise was for our honeymoon and was amazing. A short time later, we did a weekend cruise with my whole family to celebrate graduation and not too long ago, did a weekend cruise for a mother-daughter girls trip, taking along my 9 month old Butterfly. All of these were out of California and were spectacular. But very soon, my husband and I will be embarking on a week long Caribbean cruise for a much needed vacation and belated anniversary celebration. I'm so excited I'm practically giddy.