Favorite Vacation Spots The thing I have missed the most since 2019 is “normal” travel. Where/what is everyone’s fave getaway?

My favorite trip is visiting my sister and her fam in the Seacoast region of NH/southern Maine every summer. It's (mostly) where I grew up. Train travel gonna be sketchy this summer though. 😷

But I can find something to enjoy anywhere. Did an xmas 2019 trip to Surfside Beach TX (southwest of Galveston) that was super interesting. Once my bf and I did part of the Blues Trail in MS. We haven't done any vacations except seeing family since the Rona, though.

Scuba diving in Belize.

I miss Japan a lot. There's a lot of quaintness there--everything's very neat and miniaturized. Great food, fast trains (lots of 'em), superb winter skiing (put skiing at Niseko on your bucket list). I'd also say the ultimate place to go shopping--better than anything I've seen in Europe or the US--is Tokyo. Look hard enough and you could probably find a little shop somewhere specializing in George Carlin's "left nostril inhalers that glow in the dark." They've got everything.

Ireland and the UK. Was born there and have not seen my cousins since 2012. After reading about a 6-hour tarmac delay yesterday in Toronto (with no air circulation and everyone in masks - but the tweeter got Covid and so did probably everyone else...) I'm not super keen on air travel. Maybe next year for my 70th, to revisit dear old Dirty Dublin and do an epic pub crawl in that fair city. One can always dream... 🤗

I MISS CHINA.

Last time I was invited to visit the temple of Mazu, a diefied woman who was known to wear red in a rainstorm at the top of the highest hill to guide seafarers.

Never have been to the Carolinas, but have always admired the beaches.

We did Vegas last October. It was ironically one of the safer places to go bc you couldn’t walk 3 steps into a casino unmasked. Besides, there really is something decadent about swmining outdoors in the fall.

1) Topsail Beach, NC

2) Las Vegas, NV

3) Aruba

I’ll start. I’m the kind of person who will drive a less expensive car/live below my means just so I can travel. My biggest downside is I only get 3 weeks vacay/year and my company doesn’t even give me the option to take extra unpaid days off. I can either use every single minute of vacay time and not one single second more, or bank it at get a check at the end of the year. Hell, we don’t even get the option to bank from one year to the next so the most I will ever get until I retire (not for at least another 15-20 years) is 3 weeks/year.

When time is limited, it becomes orders of magnitude more important.

For example, one of Mr Tot’s besties lives in Asia, his daughter lives in Asia, but I’m hesitant to venture “too far” bc half my time will be spent traveling.

This is why most of the areas I’ve visited in the US are within a 12 hour drive or a 12 hour (from parking lot to hotel) flight. If where I want to go is outside that 12 hour travel window, chances are very small I’ll consider the trip. Being based out of OKC gives reasonable options, but I will never plan a vacation during the time I think the weather somewhere is going to get under 40 degrees. I HATE winter, cold weather, and having to dress in layers upon layers of clothes. I’m a tank top/shorts/flip flops/summer dress kind of gal. If I cant wear flip flops or swim, it just ain’t vacation.

December trips are dicey, but lucky for us the Mexican Riviera is less than 2 hrs away via flights leaving Houston or Dallas, which is where any airline is going to route you through leaving OKC.

I have a week coming this October that I’ve got no ideas for currently. Whereas I’d love to go to NOLA, I don’t trust the weather: climate change has really done a number when it comes to storms in the Caribbean. I’m very afraid to even get on websites to look into airfare. I know it’s crazy right now.

Next week we are heading back down to Texas wine county, which is just a 7 hour car trip down the road, and that’s taking into account a 30-minute stopover at Buc-ees, which is an absolutely essential stop along the way. Where is everyone going this year and does anyone have any recommendations for a nice fall trip?

Edited to add: I’m still really on the fence with air travel. Not only is it ridiculously expensive compared to a couple of years ago, I don’t like that masking on planes is no longer a thing. Also, no idea what variants late summer/early fall is going to bring so I’d rather stay out of the Petrie dish for a few more months.

Kauai.