Travel

Travel can inspire your creativity, problem-solving, and your work. Travel broadens your mind to consider a new way of being, a new way of doing things. Travel exposes you to new environments, natural and man-made, and exposes you to new people, often different from yourself. Travel exposes you to new food or the same food prepared and served differently.

Travel can be expensive or cheap. I have not mastered the Points Game of using my resources to get free travel through credit card points and other programs, but I hope to do this someday.

I have a goal to go on a personal vacation each year. I am lucky that I get to travel for work, but it is not the same as a real vacation. When traveling for work, I am often busy with work meetings, trainings, and networking events most of the time. There is little room for exploration. However, I can prioritize my time in a different way and make it a point to explore and incorporate one fun thing into my work travel.

Last year I was able to save up for a big trip with the family I had at the time. I lived my boyfriend and his kids (I consider them my stepkids). We went to Niagara Falls in Canada and camped in Michigan and Ohio. The exposure to nature was breathtaking. I definitely want to incorporate nature hikes into all of my vacations from now on. It was my very first time camping! I know, age 38 and never been camping! I’m what you would call an indoor cat. I’m glad I experienced it, but I’m not keen to repeat the sweating while sleeping on the hard ground. I love my hotels with air conditioning, bathrooms, and mattresses.

This year I may take a small trip because I have less money to spend. I am interested in fitness retreats. There is a retreat run by Another Mother Runner which seems very fun to me, and the same group recommends a fitness resort in Mexico that sounds beautiful. I would also be open to a weekend yoga retreat. I saw on Instagram a Yoga retreat in Iceland (definitely not a small trip, haha).

International Travel is definitely on my list of goals, but also the US is so huge! I want to see all of the US AND every other country if possible. When traveling I love to go see as many sights as possible and I love to experience some time in nature on a hike. I’m not one of those travelers who likes to lay by the beach or pool all day or drink all day. My dad and brother love the beach & pool life, and we did that a lot growing up so I can appreciate it, especially with good books to read.

Vacations were a priority to my family. We took one every year, no matter what. Even if funds were not abundant, we would go for a weekend somewhere and do something fun just for a couple days. Vacations were my dad’s priority and passion. He was an avid traveler and loved to take a trip. When he had free time, he would plan out different trips for fun on paper because he loved the process so much. These were fictitious trips…like where we would go every month when he won the lottery. When he began making more money as he aged and inherited some money from his mother, he began planning two vacations a year. To him, this was LIVING.

One year him and I went to Las Vegas together, just us. Las Vegas was his favorite destination. He liked to picture himself as Frank Sinatra, and he loved gambling. We stayed up late, drank tons of champagne, and had the best food. I enjoy food and gambling too, but it was even more enjoyable to see how much fun he had treating me and getting excited about gambling.

Did you there are 2 waterfalls at Niagara Falls? They are both on the border between Canada and the US. This one is on the US Side of the border. I didn’t know that until I was there!

This is Niagara Falls on the Canadian side of the border!