I have always loved to travel. We didn't do much of it when I was growing up. Now that my husband tavels for work we have frequent flier miles. I swear I'd sell our house and buy a small townhouse to have as a homebase to come to once a year if I could travel the world non-stop. International travel is daunting to me since I am monolingual. (grin) I can read some spanish, but I can't speak fluently. And french? German? Swedish? Italian? Fuhget it. But I'd give it my best shot.
I want to travel the way college kids do when they graduate. I want to hop a plane to another country and LIVE there for a few months or a year. Get to know the culture and the locals. Then move on to the next place. Make friends all over the world. Always have a place to come back to and stay if I want. I have that Romantic notion that I would have enough money to live in a decent flat, go out to dinner when I like, walk to the local market and buy my ingredients for dinner, etc. and all the while, the locals are yelling hello to me and asking after my family as if I'm one of them.
For now, though, I content myself with the occasional trip to New Orleans (haven't been back since Katrina), Las Vegas, and Disney World. We did visit Wine Country last year and it was fantastic. I want to go again--it's beautiful and so relaxing. And we usually get to Colorado once a year to visit my dad. The kids are not ready for traveling "my way" yet. I want to wait to take them to other countries and certain US cities until they can quit asking where the next ride is.
