I was having lunch today with my BFF, and she was giving me a little shit for the routine in our travel. She said we should branch out beyond cruises, the annual trip to Cedar Point and going back to Seattle. She also said we needed to see more of Florida, to which I responded that I vacationed around Florida for my whole life before moving here, and if I'm being candid, most of the state does not interest me. I love the theme parks of course, and I've grown to love the city of Orlando as a place to live and work, but there isn't much outside of The OC that I'm really anxious to do. Miami and the keys are all I haven't seen.
I think we have different priorities and goals when traveling, but aside from her assertions that I'm boring and bound by routine, and my dickish responses, the conversation did challenge me to think about where it is that we do want to travel. Diana and I certainly have talked about a ton of places. The hardest thing right now is that Simon is at an awkward age. While we've never avoided travel since having him, we have tried to stick to itineraries that made sense for him in recent years.
In terms of domestic travel, I don't think there is anywhere that we couldn't go, provided we budget for it appropriately. That's why we didn't buy too much house or expensive cars, so we can do stuff, not have stuff. A lot of these have been deprioritized to an extent because of Simon's age. Either he wouldn't appreciate the things we see or do, or we'd be stuck in our hotel at 9 messing around on the Internet, something we could do at home. The list includes:
- San Francisco, lots of wine touring. I always figured I would get there as part of a tech conference, but it still hasn't happened and that annoys me. I almost went to a conference last year on my own dime, to the tune of $4k, but I came to my senses.
- The national parks. Mostly I'm thinking Yellowstone, Glacier, and Rainier again, and certainly as part of a big driving trip likely originating out of Seattle.
- Las Vegas. Shows, food, light gambling, Diana and I had our one brief visit there messed up by a crazy and wrecking sinus infection I had. I want a re-do.
- Washington DC. Yeah, historic and government stuff. It just seems ridiculous at my age that I haven't done that.
- New York City. Diana lived there for awhile, and while I'm not a big fan of big cities (I tolerate Chicago, but can't say I love it), it would be excellent to spend a few days there.
- Charlotte/Carowinds. This is the one deliberate coaster trip we want to do. We're hoping to do it in the fall.
- Puget Sound. We haven't been back to Seattle in more than two years, and we miss it. That's not so much a vacation effort as much as a chance to reconnect with family and friends, but we also wanted to spend more time exploring the islands.
- Hawaii. It's my favorite place on the planet. A former co-worker in Seattle tends to go every year, which makes sense when you live there. This is actually a very doable one in my mind, because even with Simon, it aligns well with my vacation goals (more on that later).
- Alaskan cruise. Technically, it's international since it starts in Vancouver. This one is high on the list, and doable with Simon.
On the international list, we have a lot of ideas, but I think they largely have to wait if we intend for Simon to be a part of them. These I imagine need at least a year of planning and saving for.
- UK. Diana lived there for a semester, so that's part of the reason to visit. But you know, castles, churches, royalty.
- Scandinavia. I'll admit it, I never thought much about it until Frozen was a thing. The more I see it in photos, the more I feel like I need to see it in real life.
- Italy. It's hard to nail down a specific agenda there, because everything I know about it so far varies a great deal from one end of the country to the next.
- River cruises. Of course I'm a big cruise fan, but the appeal of these is that you end up stopping in a lot of small towns in the various countries they sail in, which are presumably a lot less touristy.
- European cruises. I like the idea of sampling many countries to get a little flavor in each, yet sleep in the same place every night. Then you can go back another time to the places you liked most. A great starter for someone who hasn't been there. Not sure if I'm more anxious to do the Northern European or Mediterranean itineraries.
- Japan. I had a Japanese roommate for a month one summer in college, and his description of living in Tokyo (the parts I could understand) were fascinating to me. Then when I saw Lost In Translation many years later, I was fascinated at how different everything is, even though there's a clear western influence.
- Australia and New Zealand. What's not to love about those two countries? The latter is flipping Middle Earth! Seriously though, everyone I know who has gone has just glowed about the places and the people.
So what are my priorities today, and what do I want out of a vacation? Put simply, I want to not think about anything and just be taken care of. That's been my m.o. for the last year straight, so you can understand why I've been a big fan of the cruises we did. Right now, I'm not in it for the adventure or the variety, I'm in it for the ability to turn off my brain. Most of the places in the list above don't really fit that mold.
Still, it's good to have a list, and I think next year we can start thinking more sincerely about that domestic list. The international stuff, maybe a few years after that. I would love for Simon to be a part of it, but in the near term I don't think he would really appreciate what he was getting to see.