I know some people don't understand my addiction to travel. I sometimes wonder which I love more the planning and preparation of a trip or the trip itself. I've thought about this alot lately.
I love doing the research about a destination I have chosen to visit. I become so engrossed in reading about the history and culture the customs and culinary delights that I often consider myself a travel agent extrordinaire, albeit just for myself or a few select travel companions. I feel that seeking out as much information on a location as I can get will enable me to have numerous choices of things to do, places to see and food to eat while I am traveling and I just love that!
So this brings me to the topic of this blog entry. I have my 2006 trip planning well under my belt, save for a train ticket that I will purchase when I arrive to get a better deal then if I were to purchase the ticket through a broker on line. So I turned my sights on planning a 2007 trip calendar. There are so many places on my wish list that I was torn on where to start serious consideration. But after much lurking/reading on the Fodor's message boards and watching several of the Rick Steves travel shows I have determined that for 2007 my "big" trip will be to Turkey!
And yes, it will be a solo trip, for now anyway. If a friend decides to join me that would be great, but I am not going to sit back and wait for someone else to suggest it! And yes, it will be another group tour and yes, with Rick Steves Europe Through the Back Door. I put my deposit in last week for September 24-October 6, 2007. It should be an interesting trip.
Now why another group tour? Again, it comes down to a few things. 1. I wouldn't feel comfortable traveling completely on my own in Turkey due to the language issue and with a guide I would have help. 2. Although I like traveling solo, I also like to be able to sit down to a meal with others who have shared daily experiences and 3. I really like the Rick Steve style of travel. So there it is, my first 2007 travel commitment.
I've also planned a long winter weekend trip out to Tucson in January 2007 to visit friends. Believe it or not, I was actually able to use frequent flier miles for this trip and only had to pay the $10 tax for the flight.
Now the big question is...should I plan a spring trip for 2007? I'm leaning toward saying yes to this because of how I am handling this years travel withdrawal I am going through. In 2006 I have only one (albeit a long one) trip planned...4 weeks in Central Europe. But that is not until September and the last time I packed my bags to go anywhere was in November 2005 (the infamous Thanksgiving trip to Tucson). So my thought is for 2007 I need to sprinkle even a one week or long weekend trip sometime in the spring so it will be between my Tucson trip in January and my Turkey trip in September (remember this is for 2007).
A few places have popped into my mind for a spring 2007 (think end of May/early June) trip. I loved Ireland so much last year and I was there the same time of year and it was lovely. I'm contemplating renting an apartment for a week and stay in one place and do day trips. So this would also entail renting a car, which may be an obstacle since I'm not comfortable driving a manual transmission (and automatics are pricey) and I would be driving on the opposite side of the road and in all likelihood I would be going it solo. Plus the airfare will probably be around $800-$900.
The other destination I have been considering for sping of 2007 is the Pacific Northwest, more specifically Seattle. I've checked out a trip with Backroads Tours that would be a hiking/walking trip, but that doesn't go until mid-June and I really wanted to take advantage of the Memorial Day Holiday to reduce the number of vacation I would be taking. So now I am mulling over maybe just doing a long weekend and concentrating on just Seattle. Afterall, my Seattle trip that was supposed to be in January 2006 got cancelled and it would be nice to be in Seattle in another month than January! Plus the airfare to Seattle would be half the price to Ireland. But part of me is just drawn to Ireland and if I could would go back every year!
Decisions, Decisions! I am happy that I will be going to Turkey and have promised myself that I will not start researching/reading about that destination until I am back from my jaunt around Central Europe!
As my mother says "Don't wish your life away"! :)
Happy Travels!
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