Anticipating the Winter Blues

Please do not let my negative-sounding title steer you away from this post :-)

Yesterday I mentioned that I get a little down in the winter here in the Arctic. I mean, the Midwest. Don't get me wrong...I love the cold and the snow during Christmas and New Years. But pretty much the moment that the last bit of confetti hits the floor on New Years Eve, my spirits seem to follow suit. They, too, hit the floor. I don't like to be cold. I don't like to drive in the snow and ice. I don't like that that is the time in the school year when I start to burn out. And I don't like that everything in nature is pretty much dead. Let me go ahead and just throw myself a pity party now.

One thing I DO like, is to travel. I find myself passing the long snowed-in hours doing something very nerdy. I look up fun destinations that I'd LOVE to visit. I look up pictures of luxury hotels, inns, bed and breakfasts, etc, in those areas. I spend hours on Trip Advisor. I read articles, look at pictures, and research rates for all these places. I even read the Theme Park Insider blog daily because not only do I love traveling, but I also love amusement and theme parks. I plan these elaborate dream vacations that I hope to someday be able to take to exotic WARM places. Such a weird pastime, but by now I'm sure you know I'm a dreamer, so you can see why I like to do it.

Along with traveling, I also love to-do lists! I thought today I'd make a travel to-do list. When I'm down I can look at my list, and know that there really are warm places in this world! :-P I imagine Luke and I being big travelers when we're retired, so hopefully we can save up some dough, so that some of these destinations can become a reality. (sidenote: My sister is going to Italy and Greece this spring. I had to leave the room for a minute while she was talking about it on Friday because the green monster got the best of me. Pathetic and immature, I know!)

So without further ado, here is my travel to-do list:
(Red = complete)
In Ohio:

1. The Great Wolf Lodge in Sandusky, OH. Close, but I've always wanted to go there!

2. The Couple's Paradise cabin in Hocking Hills, OH. So close to home and so romantic (at least the online pictures look nice!).

3. Kelley's Island, OH (again). - July 4-5, 2010

In the US:

1. Vermont in the fall

2. Boston, MA

3. New York City, preferably at Christmas time

4. Chicago, IL (again)

5. Baltimore, MD

6. The Florida Keys

7. Orlando, FL (DISNEY WORLD!! Hopefully multiple times)

8. New Orleans, LA

9. Arizona...Luke's grandparents live there in the winter. So I'm SURE this one will happen sometime :-) - January 12 - 18, 2011

10. California. More specifically, San Diego, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

11. Colorado Springs, CO

12. South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore

13. Washington D.C. (again)

14. A cabin in Pigeon Forge, TN...to relive our honeymoon.

15. Hawaii! Anywhere in Hawaii, I don't care where!

16. Alaska. An Alaskan cruise would be great. My mom was born there because my grandpa was in the military, so I guess I feel connected :-)

17. Any B&B, anywhere

Outside the US:

1. Nova Scotia, Canada

2. A Carribean Cruise

3. Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

4. Paris, France

5. Italy: Florence, Rome, Venice

6. Madrid, Spain

7. Turtle Island, Fiji (basically a private island. Only 14 couples can stay on the island at any given time. I bet it costs a fortune!)

8. Greece

I tried to limit my international picks because I know I'll be completely lucky to visit even one of these places in my lifetime! And yet somehow I couldn't do less than 8 :-P

So there you have it, a travel to-do list. Are there any destinations that you think I should add?? :-)

So jealous of Samantha Brown right now!!!