Tag Archives: vacations

Vacation Planning

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Ever wonder how I come up with my ideas for vacation? A former co-worker said she couldn’t imagine the things I’ve done and plan to do! Poor thing must not have much of an imagination because if anything, I have too many things I want to see and do.

I thought of this because my most recent issue of “Vacations” just arrived.  What’s the Headline title? 83  Great Escapes for 2015! 83! Imagine that. If I were even interested in half it would take more than 1 year!

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So lets see if there’s anything interesting on the list.

How about a tour of Costa Rica where you can visit a cloud forest, a volcano or a coral sea reef?

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Back on the Big Island of Hawaii we could snorkel with the Manta Rays on the Kona side of the Island.

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Or a river cruise up the Amazon.

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Train ride…The Rocky Mountaineer crosses the Canadian Rockies with 5 routes to choose from. A Globus (that’s a tour company) offers  a nine day trip from Denver to New Mexico and Colorado. Along the way you ride vintage railroads including the Durango & Silverton and the Pike’s Peak Cog Railroad!

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Galapagos made their list and it’s on mine too. Some day I’ll get there!

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For photographers…face off with a Bengal tiger or catch colorful clouds of butterflies. Natural Habitat Adventures helps capture these moments.

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I don’t know who I was talking to recently but they said they had been to Alaska and to Yellowstone and they saw more bear  at Yellowstone than they did in Alaska.

Another place I get ideas is from the news. This morning NECN (our local news station) ran a short story about an ice castle in New Hampshire. The castle is an acre in size and features tunnels, archways, an ice slide, glacial waterfalls and colored lights.

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I want to see this! It’s a hike up to Lincoln NH. I vacationed there once and to appreciate the lights I’m guessing you go at night. More research is needed. I will keep you posted!

So I get vacation ideas everywhere, from a chance conversation to a 60 second news bite. A magazine cover might catch my eye or a story in AAA Horizons. The ideas are endless!

How many States Have You Visited?

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Here I am in a traveling “lull”. I’ve been so busy getting acclimated to my new job and my new schedule that vacations and travel haven’t been “TOM” (top of mind). Even now that I’m getting settled in I’m still figuring out the finances. There were bills that I didn’t have before that I now have to pay, bills that I did have that have gone away, bills that were “automatically deducted” that I now have to remember to pay and so on. Plus a big change is that there is no overtime with my new job. I’m earning pretty close to the same hourly rate but a lot of my “fun” money was what I earned by working “OT”.

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So while I figure out what I can spend on travel and prepare for next year’s vacation I’ve been playing a little game with myself. There’s a survey/game that goes around Facebook every now and then. It lists all the states and you click on the ones you’ve been to and it gives you a “traveler’s rating” or some such thing. Of course most of the people I know are counting states their plane landed in even if they never got off the plane. I don’t think that’s really the intention but I could be wrong.

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Back when I started traveling for fun I thought it might be nice to spend a week in every state. That means 50 weeks of vacation. Of course I would have to “double up” a few years because I doubt if I have 50 years left to take one week a year. I thought I’d like to sell my condo and buy an RV and travel the US that way but the downturn in Real Estate  values put a damper on that plan, at least for now.

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But I am not going to give up. I met a couple whose goal was to visit every National Park once they retired and they did it. Since there are about 388 National Parks in the U. S. it makes visiting each state sound like a measly goal.

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So back to the  little game I’ve been playing with myself…I’m trying to cross states off my list but I never seem to get very far before I get side tracked.

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How many states have you been to? Can you make a list?