A Travel Lover Is Born!

Once upon a time, there was girl who had never been anywhere.  At least, that's what she thought.  In truth, she had been many awesome places with her family, her schools, and her friends.  But she couldn't seem to quench the thirst for more.  Call it "Land of Oz" syndrome if you want to, because this girl wanted to "see what lies over the rainbow".  In fact, she was so fascinated, she would hoard postcards of places like Paris or London.  When her parents went on a trip, she would stare at their pictures when they returned home, pretending she too had gone, and memorizing every detail, even the names of their hotels.  If the Internet had existed then, she might have been online regularly, reading about those very hotels too.  Whenever she went to the video store, she rented a movie that was set in some exotic or interesting locale.  When she went to the library, she checked out a book about a country that she might travel to someday.  She even did an elementary school report on Scotland.  She obsessed about Princess Diana of Wales and the U.K. For some reason, this girl was born with a special gene, or she caught a contagious bug, as some call it, and the urge to travel, the desire to see and experience, and the passion for culture thrived within her.  She was a born traveler.

This little girl was very imaginative, and in her mind's eye, she'd been anywhere and everywhere.  She also loved movies, and would transport herself to the settings of her favorites: the Alps (Sound of Music), Venice (Only You), Las Vegas (Fools Rush In), or the real gem, New York City (Big Business, Home Alone II, Breakfast at Tiffany's, You Name It).

 And then something magical happened.  A friend invited this winsome girl to go on a family vacation to Maine.  This was the first time the girl would really understand what the word travel meant.  She would be granted (little did she know) the freedom to experience life elsewhere.  And isn't that what traveling is really all about, for those who truly love it? Her mind was filled with excitement as she boarded the plane!  Maine!  The beautiful, majestic "Pine Tree" state with the rocky coast, the towering lighthouses, and the delicious lobsters. As a sixteen year old, this girl didn't know what she was in for!  She would have the ability to stare at the stars, meet interesting people, and try new, delicious foods.  She would get to breathe in the clear air coming off the Atlantic at the eastern most point in the United States.  She would get a chance to climb a fire tower, lie in the middle of the road (hey, there were no cars for miles), and canoe on the ocean.  She would even get to see a whale, and to taste lobster, and to visit the home of a local artist.  After all of this, which can really be summed up and called experiencing the unknown, the unique, or "how they do it there", the little girl was changed.   And as you can also imagine, that little girl, well, me, never stopped going after that!

This blog is designed as an online journal/memoir for me, but it's also for you.  I hope to share experiences that I've been privileged to have over the course of my life, and I hope to share upcoming travel ideas and tips.  I can't wait to share pictures too, of sights seen, foods tasted, and memories made all over the world.

Here's a comprehensive list where I've been:

1980: Sunset Beach (a lifelong love begins)*
1984: Orlando, Florida (First known out-of-state trip)
1988: Williamsburg, Virginia
1990: Tampa, Florida
1992: Washington, D.C.*
1994: Miami Florida (for a second), Nassau, Bahamas (First time out of the States)
1995: Gaithersburg,Maryland
1996: Lubec, Maine, Canada
1997: Lubec, Maine, Orlando again
1998: Boone, NC (another lifelong love begins)*
1999: Nashville, TN, Charleston, SC (yet another love begins)*
2000: Savannah, Georgia, Lakewood, New Jersey, New York City, Poughkeepsie, NY
2002: NYC again, New Orleans, Montego Bay, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Mexico
2004: Orlando again
2005: (This was THE year) Paris, France, Lucerne and St. Moritz, Switzerland, Venice and Como, Italy, and Salzberg, Austria
2006: Las Vegas, Nevada
2007: Nairobi and Maua, Kenya, London, England
2008: San Antonio, Texas
2009: Negril, Jamaica
2010: Beijing, Nanjing, and Huian, China, Nassau, Bahamas, Pittsburgh, PA*
2011: Palm Springs, California
2012: Washington D.C., Charleston, Boone, and NYC (NYC in Dec 2012)

* indicates places I have been to more than twice

Where I'm Going (if the Lord, and my funds, are willing):
Barcelona
Ibiza, Lisbon
Rome, Florence, Tuscany
Lima, Cuzco
Rio De Janeiro
Munich
Brussels
Atlanta
Key West
Chicago
Napa Valley
Astoria, Portland
Vancouver
Boston
Vermont (as in many places there!)
Bangkok
Sydney
Auckland


AND THE LIST GOES ON!