The Taste of Travel

Ah, Bahamas, how I miss you!

It was glorious. Absolutely glorious. 5 days and 4 nights of unbelievable colors, tropical beauty, and cruise-line luxury. I've been actively scrapbooking my cruise holiday, so while it ended over a month ago and the hint of tan is long faded away, the experience still tingles fresh for me.

I will go into detail on the Bahamas later. For now, let me tell you that if the urge to travel was an itch before, it's a full-blown epidemic, now!

This is the first vacation I've ever taken without a parent or my husband...that "other" person responsible for the expense and organizing. This time, it was just my sister and me, on our own!!!! I admit to a bit of trepidation going into it; what if something went wrong and I needed a lot of money, fast? What if there was an error in the travel packet and I ended up in the wrong place? But, everything went well, and now my travel confidence is snugly lodged in place.

That's an important thing, because I've made a firm decision. It is time for me to finally start travelling. During the time that I've been with Marshall, we have taken roughly one vacation per decade. When my oldest was 10 (he's now 16), we went to Disney World. That was my son's only family vacation....and this shames me. My other vacations were my honeymoon in 1999 and my cruise this year, 2006.

This does not sit well with me. But, I have noone to blame but myself. As much as I dislike dependency in women, through my own complacency I have become just that. What a burden to my poor husband! Why did I feel it was his responsibility to organize and pay for the vacations? And honestly...I didn't travel before I got together with Marshall either. So, many it's just a matter of learning my wants and adjusting my mind set.

I WILL travel. There are so many places I want to experience, many of them with my children, some of them alone, and I am determined to make it happen. It's difficult now, since I'm only working temp jobs, but not impossible. A rigid budget and making my travel savings account a priority are the keys.

Something I've longed to do since I was a teenager was to go on an African Safari. I still yearn to do this, but now I want to do it with my son, Micah. In fact, when I shared some of the web sites with him and discussed the idea, he literally began to shake with excitement. This only solidified my intention.

Micah also said he would love to see Ireland and Germany (I'm Irish/German, his father is German). This correlates well with my desires, since I have been reading Ireland Travel books for the last several months. This will probably be our first international vacation together, since it is the most economically feasable.

Not to leave Minao out. I would love to travel with him, too. But, at his age and with his minimal tolerance/patience with my personal exploration, I think we will limit our holidays together to explorations of Iowa and some of the nearby states. Once he is older, I hope I can travel to Japan with him, and experience his cultural heritage with him. Of course, if I can convince my husband to join us, that would be divine, although I can't imagine him having any more patience than our child with my desire to thoroughly photograph the event.

Until Minao is old enough to travel abroad, we will have to settle for traveling locally. Which brings me to my next travelling revelation....there is so much in Iowa to see and do, and I have never really acknowledged it.

During a recent trip to the library, I picked up some Touring Iowa books. I was amazed at the things I read. Iowa has a coal mining history that I never knew about, and beautiful drives through the glacier created Lough Hills. Museums, zoos, amusement parks, natural prairie reserves.....these are things I would like to see with my kids. Nice little weekend retreats, exploring our very own state.


Ah, Bahamas, I miss you. But will I be back? Probably not. There are too many other places yet to be experienced.