Traveling...In My Dreams

Have you ever reached a point where you feel like you need a new dream? Or, in my case, it's a re-prioritization of dreams. I'm 30 and single, with only a house to tie me down...and while this isn't at all where I thought I'd be by now, the trip has been interesting and educational and in all honesty, the things I have to complain about are pretty small in the grand scheme of things.

But regardless of that, I need something new to focus on - something that will take my mind away from those things that aren't and put them on the things that might be. And it seems that the thing that fits me best is travel. It's something I've always dreamed of doing at much more regular intervals than I am, and to places much further abroad. The trip to Europe was almost two years ago - I can't believe it's been that long! - and in my opinion, it's time to start planning another trip.

People always ask,"Where would you go next?" and I can always tell them in vague terms: Ireland, London, France, Switzerland, Italy. But beyond that, I can't really expound...what do I want to do there? What region/neighborhood would I most want to stay in? Which cultural activities would I most want to explore? Some answers to these questions are no-brainers: visit the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, le Musee d'Orsey, the theatre, the ballet, the Coliseum, the Leaning Tower, some of the gardens. Oh yeah...and I'd drink a ridiculous amount of wine and eat fantastic food the whole time. But there's so much I don't know yet.

And that's where this post comes from.

It occurs to me that I can plan a trip and it doesn't have to mean that I'm going in 6 months. I can learn about all the regions in France and decide which ones are of the most interest to me...I have time to realize that I would love to visit Lake Como in Italy and see if the modern impressionistic picture in my living room even begins to capture the real place. And what's funny is that in beginning the exploration, I find myself pulled into learning more and more about the general southern part of Europe as a whole.

This all started out as an exploration of France, because I used to speak enough of the language that I think I could recover a fair amount and go spend a couple weeks practicing in the actual country. I enjoy art and it's always been a dream to visit the Louvre. And of course, France is known for their wine. But what about the Cote d'Azure? Or Provence? Or Bordeaux? Or the French countryside in general?

There's so much to consider! I think the next step is to buy a guidebook - I was looking at the Frommer's France 2011 today, and I think I could read it like a novel. It's got background and history on the country as a whole, then breaks up and explores each of the various regions. It's close to 1,000 pages and while I know some things get outdated, it seems to be the kind of book you could use for multiple trips (should I be so lucky)!

But then, as I'm daydreaming about a trip to France on the phone with my brother (younger bro, natch - who went with Band of America at age 17 to something like 10 countries in 17 days), he reminded me of how much he liked Switzerland...and of course, that's on the list too.

And then I went looking for info on Lake Como, because I dream about visiting the locale in my dang picture all the time...it makes me happy just to look at it, the town dipping right down to the water with the towering mountains in the background. And the more I read about Lake Como, the more I think that's where my focus should be for this imaginary trip. It's so...me. The activities are mostly based in being outdoors and active - you can go horseback riding, take sailing lessons, windsurf, water ski, and most interesting to me, hike up into the mountains where you can look down onto the lake and its surrounding towns. Can you imagine that view??? I could hike different routes for a week straight, and spend my off-time shopping and being beach-bound. That, to me, sounds pretty close to heaven!!


So of course, that lead to me wondering how far the lake was to Tuscany (Florence specifically - 4 hours) or to Milan (1.75 hrs) or to Nice, France (5 hrs) - because why not catch some French Riviera in the 2nd week of my trip?

I figure slowly I'll start building a spreadsheet focusing on what my ideal trip would look like, taking into consideration costs and the unfortunate exchange rate. And while it may take me a while to save enough to make it happen, why shouldn't I know exactly what I want to do when the dollars and a (possible) travel buddy become available??

It's funny, it doesn't have to be real yet for me to enjoy the research and the planning...it just has to have the possibility of being real to keep me content. And as they say, anything is possible!