Leaving on a jet plane ...

I wish! I'm really just sitting here at my desk, but I'm dreaming about leaving on a jet plane for somewhere wonderful. I've been dreaming a lot about summer vacations lately; I think it's a coping mechanism to get me through the last cold days of winter :) Peter and I both love to travel, but we're not sure about our travel plans this year since things at my job are a bit up in the air at the moment. We don't really know when we could go on a vacation, how long we could stay, what our budget should be, etc. This uncertainty does not stop me from doing some preliminary vacation research, though!

First possibility: Scotland!

(image from www.scotland-flavour.co.uk)

Scotland is the only part of the UK that I havn't seen yet, and since I'm a total Anglophile, this doesn't seem quite right to me :) I also love Alexander McCall Smith's books which are mainly set in Edinburgh, and I would love to see some of the places that he describes. Pros = castles; relatively cheap airfare for Europe; no need to grapple with a foreign language; sort of related to Wills and Kate's wedding this April since they met at St. Andrew's. Cons = not as adventurous; not sure how to travel from town to town since we don't really want to rent a car and attempt to drive on the wrong side of the road.

Second possibility: Germany and Austria!

(image from www.historichotelsofeurope.com/en/hotels-germany.html)

Peter studied German in high-school, and I think that it's only right after all of that hard work to go to the source of that language! Pros = castles; Sound of Music tour in Salzburg; strudel and other delectable pastries; a reliable and somewhat affordable train system; beautiful mountains; awesome beer; unique architecture. Cons = flights are crazy expensive; not as sure what we really want to see and what we don't.

Third possibility: Australia!

(image from www.embassyworld.com/maps/Maps_Of_Australia/)

One of Peter's good friends from college moved to Australia last year (his wife is Australian), and we would love to visit them! Pros = chance to see friends; English-speaking; very adventurous; kangaroos and koalas!; Great Barrier Reef. Cons =  no castles; super expensive flights that last 24 hours (an entire day on a plane - I don't know about that!);  huge country that is not easily traversed; again not as sure what we really want to see and what we don't.

Those are our foreign country possibilities. I would also love a week at the beach in the good ole U.S.A.! Peter has never been to Florida, and I've never been to the Florida Keys so a trip there has potential. I've never been to Cape Cod, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, etc. and think a trip to that area is highly overdue! I always love the Outer Banks in NC or Hilton Head in SC so I wouldn't turn a trip down to one of those beaches either.

I guess we can't really make any decisions until everything is more settled, but it certainly is fun dreaming about all of the possibilities :)