Vacationing

I am overdue for a true vacation. I love to travel, apart from the airline stuff. (What a bother that is these days.!!!) While I have stamina and (a little) youth left, there are places I want to go and things I want to see. I think I need to make a bucket list. Not that I'm kicking off any time soon - I just think everyone needs goals. Paris, Russia, Bejing, the Pyramids, The Parthenon... Hell, I'm excited that I finally saw the St. Louis arch!

In my head I tend to plan from major event to major event or bit of travel. It gives me something to work toward and to look forward to. I don't have any such thing on my horizon right now, apart from my son's wedding in a few weeks. This will be fun, but not a vacation by any means. A vacation is a respite. It's an interlude of fun for fun's sake. It's a refresher of the soul/spirit. It's INTERESTING, for heaven's sake. I don't want to sit on a beach somewhere staring either. I want to SEE places!

The economy being the way it is, this is not the year for big travel. My husband is on an expensive fishing trip, but he's worked his butt off for the last several years and has earned the money and needs the rest, frankly. I hope he comes home renewed and happier, because that is what a vacation should do. I do not fall into his category, but I went into downtown Chicago with cousins and my daughter yesterday. It was fun and SORT OF like being on vacation. We walked around, shopped a bit, had a nice little snack in a little bistro and a delicious dinner at a favorite restaurant. It was hot and steamy walking in the city in nearly 90 degree heat, but I didn't much care (especially after I put my hair up, which I should have to begin with.) It was a get-away, and EVERYONE needs a bit of a get-away sometimes.

I went to Europe on my own two years ago to meet up with my son and his girlfriend, who had been traveling for three months there already. We went to some exotic places (well, for me.) Prague, Budapest, Bratislava, Munich, etc. And we drove in their rented Renault. It was wonderful and one of the best times I have ever had traveling. I have been on fancier trips - like to Maui or on a European Cruise, or even Caribbean cruises, but the pace and company of that trip was great for me. I liked everything about it. I loved being with my son for two weeks. I will treasure memories of that trip forever and hope I get to travel with him again some time. He's a med student so time is not his friend these days. Not much to spare. Still I hold out hope.

If I know one thing about myself, it is that I need to look foward to something. I'm a planner and a list-maker. I need to know what I'll be doing next month and the month after. THis year, after the wedding is done July 31, I really don't have anything on my platter that falls into the category of "looking forward to it." It's bugging me. My daughter is going on a cruise with some cousins in October. I am dying to go with, but I want to go with my husband, who won't take the time or spend the money to go this year. And really he is right, we shouldn't spend the money. But it seems there has to be a way to do something together that doesn't have anything to do with running the business of the family or commerce. I am longing for a vacation and need a change of scenery and a few new experiences. And I need time with him.

I think a vacation does not have to be a huge expense. We have a lake home in Wisconsin. I love being there, but I don't want to sit up there alone. I spend A LOT of time alone. I better get cracking on some plans for the future and some trips to break up my (long) year. My sanity and happiness literally depends upon it.