Without further ado, some locations at the top of my travel list (in no particular order):
Italia: I have been to Italy twice (once to Sicily, once to Naples, once to Rome, twice to Florence, once to Pisa and once in the train station in Milan), but what kind of girl would I be to turn down a return trip?! Dan has never been before and it is very high up on his list, so that is definitely a trip worth pinching our pennies for. We are both part-Italian, and I, for one, always love visiting countries where my ancestors came from. Add to that breathtaking scenery, bustling and historic cities, high fashion, and mouth-wateringly delicious food (pasta and gelato, I'm looking at you) and you have the makings for a perfect trip. Is it too soon to book now?!?
Sigh...Positano. via art.com
Toscana. via me1ka
Bruschetta. via Clemmensen-Brok
Hawaii: Those of you who know me will know that I am not a huge beach person. I like going to the beach on a day trip, but there is something about going to the beach for a week or so that I dislike. I think part of it is that, often, when I go to the beach, there is nothing to do in these beach towns besides going to the beach (the exception is The Cape...oh, how I long for New England summers...). HOWEVER, I think that, if I were to be offered a trip to Hawaii, I would be hard pressed to find a good excuse not to go. I love the idea of going to an island paradise and just indulging in pure relaxation. Except, knowing me, I would want to be going for long runs, snorkeling (assuming that no sharks are within a hundred-mile radius of me), hiking up volcanoes to see the sun rise (Dan requested that we go at sunset instead, which I might be willing to compromise on) and doing other active things, obviously. To counter that, though, fruity drinks and couples' massages sound positively peachy!
I think I could be okay with this. via flickr
Cali: I was telling Dan about dinner with a friend and the friend's mother from earlier this week, and, when I told him that Mrs. H had traveled from San Diego, he said, "I want to go to San Diego!". He knows how badly I want to go to Northern California (a.k.a San Francisco and Napa), so we compromised and said that we would do both. Now that that's settled, we just have to pinch our pennies and save up our vacation time! An interesting question came up during this conversation: are there an inordinate number of DUIs in Napa from all of the tourists who go on wine tastings at the many vineyards there? Inquiring minds want to know :)
Lovely San Fran. via UCSF
Napa. I want to go to there! via Travel Guide
Chicago: I absolutely fell in love with Chicago when I visited last year (even though I visited at the end of February, when it was bitterly cold and windy to the point where I barely removed my puffer coat). I am beyond thrilled to be going back again for my college friend Kristin's wedding at the end of June!! I can't wait to see the city in the summer, since I have heard so many amazing things about it! If I love it as much in the summer as I did in the winter, we may have a serious contender for cities to live in in the future!
<3 chicago.="chicago." href="http://trendytraveler.tumblr.com/post/7102650528" target="_blank" via="via">Trendy Traveler
France: I know, I'm such a broken record, since I have now traveled to France three times and lived there for nearly four months. But, for those of you who have never been to France before, there is something indescribably wonderful about France. I mean, American expats went there in droves in the '20s, so there must hav ebeen something special about the place!! All of the sights, smells, sounds, tastes, and the beautiful language leave me walking on air my entire time there. A coworker recently moved to Paris to teach English to Parisian high-schoolers, and I have to admit that I am insanely jealous of her. I am so fortunate to have had the study-abroad stint in Strasbourg that I did, but France is so addictive that you never stop wanting more of it. My ideal French vacation? Driving through the French countryside (first roadblock: neither Dan nor I can drive stick shift cars, which might prove to be a major complication) and staying at quaint little mom and pop B&Bs, eating cheese and bread and drinking wine with reckless abandon, and hitting some cities too along the way.
I am literally in heaven sitting outdoors at a French café. via Yanidel
Musée d'Orsay. LOVE. via bippityboppityboo
With unlimited funds (and vacation time), there are many other trips that I would take (namely, to South Africa, Australia, and the parts of Europe I have not been to- Germany, Austria, Croatia and the Czech Republic). But for now, the aforementioned trips are the ones that are most on my mind. In any event, I am going to start doing some more work travel soon (I'm taking a three-day trip to Philly and Pittsburgh in November for events, which I'm really excited about!), which will hopefully satisfy my wonderlust, however temporarily!
However, since literally none of those big trips are in my budget right now, what I really want the most is to do a trip to an apple orchard or farm near DC. Again, you can take the girl out of New England, but not the New England out of the girl. I was telling Dan the other day how some of my happiest fall memories involve going to a farm that was near our old house in Massachusetts and picking our own apples (Macouns were our absolute favorites). We would pick our sack of apples, peruse the fresh baked goods and vegetables at the farm stand, and then bring the apples home to make applesauce or apple pie. Just thinking about it brings a smile to my face, and he was only being somewhat sarcastic with his "Awww" reaction haha. In fact, if you really want to hear an "Awww" story, my freshman and sophomore years of college, my dad sent away to an orchard in upstate New York (where Macouns are primarily grown) and had them send me an entire box of my favorite apples. That father of mine, so sweet and thoughtful :) Anyway, my goal for this fall is to find an orchard or farm somewhere relatively close to the city. I have been itching to do it for years, and this is going to be the year. It's a fool-proof plan, because Dan LOVES apple pie, so he'll have to go with me, right?!
Sorry for the long post, everyone. I let my travel excitement get the best of me!
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