New Year's Resolution

It's a little late, but I finally came up with a New Year's resolution... drumroll, please...

Make 2013 the year of day/weekend trips!

There are a ton of places that I want to go that are close by or fairly local. And I've been severely neglecting taking advantage of the awesome travel available in the US!

Here's my plan so far:

1) January: Day trip to Santa Barbara and Solvang with X while she was visiting from NY. - DONE!

2) February: Two night getaway to Monterey, CA with BF for his birthday. - BOOKED

3) March: Three night trip to NY with M! (She's going again for work, I'm going again for fun!) - BOOKED
     March: Overnight to Indio for a concert with Shorty and DK. - BOOKED

4) April: Two night trip to Vegas for a work conference. (I'm trying to get BF or M to come with!) - BOOKED

5) May: Potential return to NY for work. - PLANNED

6) June: Overnight in San Diego to visit BF's family.  - PLANNED

And right there, we're halfway through the year! Here's hoping it all works out!  

New York City - What To Do & See?

I leave for New York in a week! I can't believe that I'm FINALLY going to be able to scratch NYC off of my "must see" list... But now that it's almost here, I'm having a really tough time pinning down what I want to see and do while we're there. A couple friends have been helping me refine this list, and here's what we've come up with so far!

Central Park
There are about a thousand things I want to see in Central Park. Fortunately for me, Central Park has an awesome, comprehensive website, full of things to see and do, activities, and even a list of the trees and flowers you'll see there. Maybe I'll rent a bike so I can see more of the awesome things the park has to offer. Some of the things on my list? Belvedere Castle, the Azalea Pond, the Blockhouse, the Lake and the Loch and the Gill and the Pool Grotto, Harlem Meer, the Charles B. Stover "whisper" bench, Nutter's Battery Site, the Mall and Literary Walk, Strawberry Fields, and the Turtle Pond. And that's not even getting started on the bridges: the Oak Bridge, the Bow Bridge, the Gapstow Bridge, and the Balcony Bridge! Whew! Yeah, pretty sure I'm going to need an entire day to dedicate to the park.

In the works...

I've been feeling the travel bug lately - like crazy.

And, I'm happy to say that I've got not one but TWO trips in the works now!

The first is a super quick, overnight trip to San Diego for our anniversary next week. We're going to spend to go down, see BF's aunt and uncle, check out the museum where BF's uncle has some items on display, and spend the night in my favorite part of San Diego - the Gaslamp District!

I booked our hotel today, and it was awesome because I used my Hotels.com Welcome Rewards credit towards our hotel - so we'll be paying less than $100 for a night! The Welcome Rewards program is pretty cool - you book 10 nights in a hotel through them, and you get 1 night free (based on the average you spend on the other nights)! We decided to splurge a bit and booked a more "luxury" hotel, so the credit went towards the total, then we paid the balance. Works for me!

The second trip is one I've been daydreaming about for years - New York City! I've been traveling for years, have been to four continents and lord knows how many countries, heck, I've even lived abroad... but I've never been to New York. The closest I've come was our East Coast Road Trip from a few years back when we drove on the outskirts of New York on our way from Boston to Virginia. And now, my opportunity has finally arrived!

M is going to be in New York for work, and I found a round trip flight for $240 (American Airlines, JetBlue and Virgin America ALL had this fare) - so I immediately booked it. I'll be there for 5 nights, and the best part is we won't have to pay for hotels! The first three nights are covered through her work, and then we'll stay with my friend for the last two nights! I can't think of a better way to see NY - a great mix between visiting friends and working.

What trips do you have coming up that you're excited for?

3 Day Wander in Florence, Italy

I've had a soft spot for Florence since I did my semester abroad there in 2002. At first glance, it's not many people's favorite city in Italy - it's crowded, rather industrial, and, well, kind of dirty. But once you get past all that, it's a place unlike others in Italy - a city, but with a small town feel. We'll only be in Florence for two nights, but there's a lot we're going to pack in!

4 Day Wander in Siena, Italy

We'll be in Siena for three nights, including for our friends' wedding! I cannot WAIT for this portion of the trip - just to be in Italy with so many friends!

DAY 1
- arrive in Siena late afternoon (bus from Rome is approximately 2.5 hours)
- meet up with friends, check out Siena, wander around

Itinerary (v3)

Changes again and again. I love the process of planning a trip. And in my obsessive organization, I will most likely document our planning process on this blog. I'm ok with that - how 'bout you?

Here's the newest version of our itinerary - it's customized for me and BF, and our friend MW who has expressed lots of interest in Ireland!

Wednesday: flight to Rome from LAX
Thursday: arrive in Rome, night in Rome
Friday: Rome, night in Rome
Saturday: train to Siena, night in Siena
Sunday: Siena, day trips to San Gimignano and surrounding areas, night in Siena
Monday: WEDDING! Night in Siena
Tuesday: Train to Florence, night in Florence
Wednesday: Florence, day trip to Pisa, night in Florence
Thursday: train to Venice, night in Venice
Friday: Venice, night in Venice
Saturday: Venice, night flight to Dublin, night in Dublin
Sunday: Dublin, rent car, drive to West Coast, night in Ballyshannon
Monday: West Coast of Ireland, night in Ballyshannon
Tuesday: West Coast of Ireland, night in Ballyshannon
Wednesday: West Coast of Ireland, drive to Dublin, return car, night in Dublin
Thursday: Dublin, night in Dublin
Friday: Fly home from Dublin, arriving on Friday night

So, it's changed rather significantly, but I think it works. It has a quicker time in Italy for those who are coming for the wedding, but only want to stay for a week, and then it allows for people to split up and/or do their own thing after Venice. Plus, it balances the trip for BF, who was a little worried that he wasn't going to get to pick anything on the trip. :-)

2009 Travel Plans

I was fortunate enough to travel quite a bit in 2008, and I am currently doing everything I can to continue that trend. I recently went over my previous plans for 2009, and updated them a bit... Here are my current plans for 2009.

2009 Planned And Booked Travel:

- Mayercraft 2009 to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico (girls' trip)

2009 Planned, But Not Yet Booked Travel:
- Ireland, to get back to Europe and go to a place we've never been
- Portland or Minneapolis, to visit friends

BF and I would both really love to go on a trip to Ireland, so I've been spending a lot of time looking up places to go and links online with information. Here are a few of my favorite links, so far.

Tips for planning a trip to Ireland
Discover Ireland
Irish Getaways (Has some amazing looking travel deals)
Ireland B&B Network (where I would like to stay)
Ireland Hostel Listings (where BF would like to stay)

I think we are planning on going in either May or in August/September. I still have a lot of research to do on a possible trip out there, but cost wise, we're thinking 10-13 days. We want to see a good majority of the country, but of course have limited funds and vacation time.

So here's my inquiry: If you've been to Ireland, what is something we absolutely HAVE to see?

Places I Want To Go: Lapland, Finland

A friend of mine just told me about yet another amazing place I have to add to my "travel to before I die" list!

Lapland, Finland

A visit to the Hotel & Igloo Village Kakslauttanen is filled with adventure and amazement - go on a reindeer safari, stay in a glass igloo to see the Northern Lights, or witness the incredible Midnight Sun.

I would like to go to stay in a glass igloo to check out the Northern Lights, and to take a reindeer safari! But, I do think I'll skip the smoked reindeer sandwich...