lifeinflux

Travel Plans 2011

// February 17th, 2011 // 2 Comments » // Featured Post

I read through my travel wish list last night and realized that while this may be the Year of the Rabbit per the Chinese calendar, for me it is year of the Dog. Bringing nine dogs into my life (and my house) has really upended my travel plans for the months of January and February. Keeping one or two puppies will really change the way I travel over the course of this year. Leaving Jays in charge of two little Bears and one big Bear is a lot to ask of an ex-husband. And while Jays is pretty chill about taking care of my babies, all of whom he loves and who love him, leaving him with that kind of responsibility every time I take off and travel for work or pleasure is neither fair nor right. And frankly, it may shape my decision to bring a puppy or two into my life. Sure, Jays does not travel like Drue does (and neither of them are anywhere close to the amount of travel I do) but I try not to take advantage of him being at home so much. There is also the additional cost of raising multiple dogs including vet bills, food and boarding. So while I think everyone (except Drue) agrees that A puppy would be good, I’m waffling on the practicality of having two puppies in the house and the HUGE responsibilities that come with having to train them separately, feed them separately and basically ensure they bond to me as their alpha rather than each other. Sure, it can be done. But I require time away for sanity’s sake and my photography assignments are slowly taking me away from the Bay Area so I need to ensure I can travel for fun and for my job and two puppies could make that very difficult. So there you go. That said, we have really bonded with both Marzi (Marsican) and Rascal (Grizzly) and the thought of choosing between the two feels nigh to impossible. So there you go.

Drue decided that we should just take the dogs with us when we travel; you know, like Paris Hilton does. After Googling every image of Paris and her dogs, I reminded Drue that at this point, our eight week old puppies could eat all of Paris’ miniature chihuahuas and still be hungry. When Drue informed me that puppies aren’t cannibals I considered discussing their recent poop eating habits and decided not to go there since she would go into her poop!=other dogs talk and I don’t need to hear that lecture twice. Instead I pointed out that at 4 and 1/2 pounds, Panda is already bigger than one of Paris’ pooches. After some quiet reflection and a half hour watching Nickelodeon, Drue informed me that mini chihuahuas aren’t so much dogs as accessories. I immediately agreed and hope that ends this entire discussion for good because I am having nightmares about lugging a full-sized Rascal through customs in my purse. Make that dragging him in a duffle, through customs, across the floor. That puppy has paws the size of salad plates.

Looking over my wish list, I recognize that travel is out until house training and puppy obedience training is complete, no matter how many puppies we have in the house. This means no snowboarding, no Portland trip, no Spring Break trip and no trip to Canada in May. Since visiting Canada will happen in 2011, I have to rework the travel schedule since China is pretty much a GO for the fall. We’re also tackling the idea of traveling as a family during the Christmas holiday. Short of dragging my Mom out here or us flying east and enduring 2 weeks of misery thanks to our allergies, we are pretty much alone for the holidays. We also are to the point where we purchase almost everything we want or need over the course of the year minus a few really special wants that my family covers during the holidays. This year was our big house purchases Christmas but if you asked me to give you a short list of things I want or need, all that would be on it at the moment is socks. As a family we decided we would prefer purchasing gifts for the family at Christmas and then spending our family Christmas cash on a trip to someplace fun. So we’re researching a Bear/house sitter we can start working with now and are looking through travel magazines, travel websites and the like to determine where we want to go for the Christmas holidays.

So, all I know is we’ll be traveling to San Diego this summer, I’ll be going to China in the fall, to Alabama for Thanksgiving and we’re off someplace fun and hopefully, warm, for Christmas. Somewhere in all of this I am heading to Toronto and Drue and I are going to try to find a weekend a month to head off and have our girl time once I get the dogs trained (so okay… in about 4-5 months). The good news is that, since the puppies require us to be close to home, we’re making a list of all the fun things to see and do in the Bay Area and points within an hour’s drive and trust me, that list is HUGE. Now to decide upon a camera I love in order to completely capture all these fun day trips and the puppies as they continue to grow…

Travel Wishlist 2011

// December 15th, 2010 // No Comments » // Featured Post

Each year I try to travel someplace to see friends and family. 2010 was a real boon as Drue and I traveled to Alabama and spent time with lifelong friends and my family. I had the opportunity to fly to the Bay Area of California three times before the big move here at the end of July. And while the move negated a trip to Europe and my and Drue’s annual “girls road trip”, it was well worth it to live in a place we love and call home. 2011, however, is ripe with possibilities for travel and I figure if I start planning and considering how to use those accrued frequent flier miles, I might make it to all the destinations on this year’s wish list. I am incredibly fortunate that I own a company and have clients who don’t care where I work so long as I deliver quality work to them, on time. Video conferencing, IM capabilities and wifi ensure I can be just about anywhere in the world, and still be able to do my job. While sleeping my required eight hours becomes a challenge in order to make my virtual meetings on time, it’s well worth that small sacrifice in order to go where I want, when I want. I’ve decided to try to travel each month, even if for only a weekend, and really wrap myself into the experience of the place. Many of these trips will be just for me. While Drue is a lot of fun and a great traveling companion, the trip itself gets more involved and expensive when you bring your child along. Also, as Drue gets older, her homebody tendencies are stronger. Put simply, she wants to be where her friends are and there is nothing wrong with that. For me, travel sometimes provides the only “alone” time I get and therefore is a necessity to ensure I remain somewhat sane.

The wish list that follows is mostly planned for and budgeted with the exception of one trip* in the fall:

January: Two weekend trips to Tahoe! Snowboarding, it seems, is a necessary part of life. I’m also heading up to Tahoe with my sorority sisters for four days of snowboarding, hot tub’ing and general girl fun!
February: Sadly, Drue’s school did not approve our trip to Mexico to see and study whales as an “approved absence”. But next year when Drue studies ocean science in school, they just might! So, instead, I see additional snowboarding weekends in our immediate future. We have one long weekend in the middle of the month and I’m thinking we’ll venture up to Portland or Seattle just to say hello.
March: Drue’s first volleyball tournament is this month! I don’t see us traveling anywhere since that month is all volleyball, all the time! If we can sneak in one last snowboarding weekend, I’ll be happy!
April: We’re heading back to North Carolina for six days to see my Mom (Drue’s Nana) and friends in the RTP area.
May: This is Drue’s birthday month and we have another volleyball tournament. In spite of all that, this may be the best month for me to travel to Toronto for ten days to see some of my favorite people ever. Details to follow.
June: Since Drue needs to be in San Diego for SEACamp, why not spend a few days at the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park?
July: Drue’s heading out to North Carolina to visit Nana. I’m heading to NC with her to spend a few days hiking in the North Carolina mountains. After a week in NC, we’re heading south to Florida for four fun-filled days in the Florida Keys. Then I fly back to San Francisco and leave Drue at her marine camp in the Keys for two weeks.
August: Drue’s home and we’re off for one week on our girl trip to Montana and Yellowstone!
September: CHINA!*
October: I cannot think of a better place to spend Drue’s fall break and my birthday than heading down to Costa Rica for a few days.
November: If Aunt Lynne hosts Thanksgiving, then we’re heading back to Alabama!
December: Christmas is busy… I don’t see us traveling much this month although I’d love to spend a weekend in NYC. No one does Christmas like the Big Apple!

I am also looking forward to visits from friends! In January, one of my dear friends from Virginia is coming to town for a conference and I’m looking forward to seeing her. We may have another guest or two from the DC area over the summer and are hoping that works out. Rumor has it that my cousins from NC may be heading our direction in 2011, too!

I’d love to squeeze in a quick trip to Vancouver this year but we’ll have to see how plans go. I guess this is my year to travel to Canada! I’ve been trying to get to Toronto to see this particular group of friends for six years and there is no way another year is passing by without me visiting. I also see lots of weekend camping trips to Point Reyes, Big Sur and maybe a trip or two down to LA. After all, we live in California now. There’s no reason not to explore this big, beautiful state we call home!