Vacation Dreaming

The Hubster and I knew from the minute we got engaged that we wanted to go to Hawaii on our honeymoon.  Despite the fact that there were many decisions to be made, the first thing we decided was that we were going to Hawaii for 2 weeks.  (The second thing we decided on was to get married in the church I fell in love with when I was in college.)

Of course, when we were blissfully unaware of the world around us in paradise, we decided that we should go on an anniversary trip every year.  And our first anniversary trip would be to Italy.

And as Dr. Phil would say, "how's that working for you?"

Our first anniversary trip was to an awesome B&B in CT.

One of those nights, we laid in bed together and giggled at how naive and crazy we were to think we could manage a trip to Europe.  Where did we think the money would come from?  How in the world would we get that kind of time off from work?  Were we out of our minds?

Now we're back to normal and thinking about the future, a European vacation keeps coming back to us.  Some shakeups are coming at work (which is exciting and terrifying all at the same time) and when that happens, our financial situation will, we hope, change drastically.  (ie:  we won't be paying >$2k in rent every month)  So if our monthly expenses go down, we can seriously consider a fancy vacation.

I'm looking at this as a big trip that we can take, as a couple, without kids.  I don't think we're seriously contemplating a family right now, but I know that in a year, we might.  And I'd love to have taken a really great trip to Europe because I know that we aren't going to (a) want to go on a vacation away from our kids after we have them, (b) kids are expensive, and (c) I don't really want to take a baby/toddler/preschooler to Europe.  (Yes, I just realized how incredibly spoiled I'm sounding.)

In any case, if I had no money limitations (ha!) and unlimited vacation time (double ha!), I would schedule a grand vacation around Europe.

We'd start in London and take in all the sights - Big Ben, changing of the guards and I'd try to peek in at the Royal Family!

Then we'd go to France.  Have some stinky cheese, visit the Mona Lisa, and stare into the Eiffel Tower.

Of course no trip to France would be complete without a visit to the French Riviera.

We'd then jet off to Jungfrau, Switzerland.  I just watched Matt Lauer visit it in his "Where in the World" series.  I *really* want to go there now!

Then we would head over to Italy.  I love the idea of seeing the Vatican and trying to get in a mass that the Pope celebrates.  And touring Rome.  And seeing Venice.  And a gondola ride.  And the Amalfi coast.

(We just found out that our neighbor has some serious family connections - more on those later - in Italy.  He told us that if we want to visit Italy, his family will rent us a beach villa for $300 a MONTH!  And hopes that's not too expensive!  Italy - here we come! :-D)

Finally, I think we should stop in Greece.  The views!  The food!  The festivals!  The fishing!  And I want to see Santorini.  It's dorky - but that's where they filmed the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.  It was gorgeous and I vowed to visit there one day.

So now that I have spent more than we make in any given year, our trip of a lifetime is complete.  LOL  I guess I should get on those photography classes so I can make the most of my trip! hehe

The way I see it, we always have to have a dream.  Because then there's always something to strive for, dream about, and aspire to.  And that is never a bad thing.