More fun today from the Land of Post-Holiday Denial. I mentioned yesterday that I am in the process of booking a warm weather getaway for our family. It will be a lot of fun, no doubt, but the reality is that you just can’t (or at least I just can’t) take trips like I did before I had kids. And that’s OK — for now. But someday, when sippy cups are not on the packing list, I will cut into my Must Visit List again. At least in my mind. How this idea co-exists with college tuition is TBD.
We all have such a list, right? Even if some of it is sheer fantasy. So, if budget and logistics (aka Real Life) were not factors, I would be sure to see these places in my lifetime (in no particular order — and, yes, some are more specific than others):
- Ireland
- Australia
- Dubai
- Hong Kong
- St Petersburg (Russia, not Florida)
- Sweden/Denmark
- French Riviera
- Tuscany
- Greek Islands
- Seychelles
- Mauritius
- Maldives
- Grand Canyon
- Buenos Aires
- Angkor Wat
- Montreal
- Napa Valley
- Anguilla
- St Bart’s
- Rio de Janeiro
- Thailand
With all the cash I’ll have left over after those trips (as if), I can’t forget the must-do return visits. You know those places that strike you in such a way that you must go back at some point? For me, those places are Spain (yes, the whole country, repeatedly, or even permanently), Paris, Tahiti, The Amalfi Coast and Rome.
And there’s no elegant way to insert this but I’m itching to go back to Vegas at some point. Yeah, I sort of love to gamble — but in a low-roller, don’t-lose-my-house kind of way. Well, how else am I going to pay for all of this travel? If you want to compare roulette strategies, drop me a line sometime.
How about you? What destinations, first-time and return-trip, top your list?
{On a related note, last night’s winning Mega Millions numbers for $355 million were 4, 8, 15, 25, 47 and 42.}
Put Anguilla on your short list. That’s where we went for our honeymoon and it’s amazing. The flight is short too — a little under 4 hours — so you can techically go for a long weekend. Our hotel wasn’t children friendly but I believe the Cuisinart hotel is. I strongly recommend it!
Thanks Lisa. It’s indeed on the short list. We were actually just looking at it for part of this upcoming trip but couldn’t make the logistics work. It will happen, one of these days…
I live in Australia and have a house in Italy, nearLucca, so Italy is the place I love to visit most. We are going to Spain in April for a couple of weeks. We have only been to Barcelona before, which we loved, so we are keen to see more of Spain. What do you recommend?
Barcelona is fabulous but, I have to say, I prefer Madrid. It may be my favorite place in the world. Very cosmopolitan with lots of amazing traditional architecture. And of course amazing food, wine and culture. Another part of Spain I have not visited in many years but is gaining huge popularity is San Sebastian, up on the Basque coast.
And if you need someone to look after your house in Italy, I’m sure we have some takers here 🙂
Enjoy your trip!
I suggest we leave all the kids with our in-laws and take a trip to Vegas. I might have to bite the bullet and let MF sleep in my bed (wrapped in layers of saran wrap…my bed, not MF!)
I’m in!
It’s in writing here that you threatened to wrap our MIL in Saran Wrap 😉
I’ve been to Italy twice now, and I love it!! I would live there in a heart beat, maybe live in Rome and sell Gelato, or move to Tuscany open a B&B and raise sheep..oh to dream..My eight year old has a wish list of places to travel, she’s bitten by the travel bug and loves to fly and loves hotels.. YIKES!!
A kid with the travel bug — oh, Jan, you’re screwed 🙂
When you open your gelato shop in Rome, let me know — I’ll be your top customer. The sheep, you’re on your own…
How funny, I just came up with my short list today as well, but restricted myself to only three places: Iceland, New Zealand, and India.
Of the places on your list, I’ve been to Ireland, Australia, Tuscany, Montreal, Napa Valley, and Rio de Janeiro, and would definitely recommend them all. But if you go all the way to Brazil, you should see more than just Rio. We wanted to go to the Pantanal, but it would have required shots I wasn’t comfortable getting while pregnant. (It turns out that traveling in Brazil while pregnant isn’t exactly comfortable in the first place, except that I was seriously craving fresh fruit juice and red meat, which is pretty much the menu at every restaurant there.)
I definitely have a travel bug, but have neither the funds nor the time to satisfy it at the moment. I go wherever I can manage to convince someone to pay me to present at a conference. (Next up: Montreal!)
Ah, India. I went twice for work and it was mind-blowing. Really just another world and so worth seeing.
Thanks for the input on Brazil. I do sort of imagine it like a giant churrascaria.
Definitely let me know what you think of Montreal. That’s a trip I’d like to make soonish, as it’s not prohibitively far.
Montreal is a beautiful town, like visiting “Europe” without going to far. It’s bilingual and “Old Montreal” is the nicest area, cobblestone streets, riverfront, beautiful traditional architecture etc.
Thanks Jo — I’ve heard amazing things about Montreal. I’ll get there one of these days.
Tokyo doesn’t make the list, huh? Guess I’ll have to meet you in hong kong, which somehow found it’s way there….
If it was a People I Must Visit ASAP list, you know Tokyo would be tops 🙂
I may be going back to Madrid in June. My cousin is studying there for 6 weeks. Em is heading to Australia for 3 weeks in June, and Ben and Ryan are going on a midwest bike trip, so why should I be the only one home? Although that really isn’t SUCH a bad thing…
OK, first of all, staying home alone in a kidless house — that’s its own vacation and not to be easily dismissed. Until you bring up Madrid. I am dying of jealousy (see item towards the bottom of page here: http://fordeville.wordpress.com/the-ultimate-to-do-list/).
GO (and take me in your suitcase)! Book it now! When else will you get such a perfect chance? If you can smuggle back some authentic churros for me, even better, and some Maria crackers for Reb 🙂
Seriously, could you come?
And you can buy Maria cookies in the grocery store 🙂 My kids love them!
I traveled to Edinburgh, Scotland last August with a bunch of writers while the Fringe Festival was going on. It was spectacular. We rented a 17th Century church that had been converted to a vacation residence. The stained glass windows spanned two floors, so the bedrooms had a small area of glass floor/ceiling so you could appreciate the full window while lying in bed while still having privacy.
This year we went to Gaeta, Italy with side trips to Rome and Pompeii. It was my third time to Italy. I’ll return another dozen times, I’m sure.
That Edinburgh gig sounds fantastic. When I make it to Ireland, I may have to do a quick side trip over that way.