At Ruins of Dunwich Fransiscan Priory, England, 2008
Sydney
I once read there are three keys to a happy life: something to do, some-one to love, and something to hope for, or look forward to.
Clive and I share a passion for travel and exploring new places, always balancing this with our desire to spend as much time as possible with family in the U.S. and England.
I think for anyone who loves to travel, an upcoming trip counts as one of the keys to a happy life, something to anticipate and look forward to.
In the second half of last year, we were away for three months. Three weeks from today, we depart for our next overseas trip. We’ll be away from our home in Sydney for seventy-three nights, which I wrote about in ‘Hungry Heart: Counting the Days in Paris‘:
· U.S. – seeing my mother, and my father and his wife; a lot of medical and other personal business appointments with my mom
· U.S. – visiting my son in Washington, D.C., and Clive seeing the U.S. capitol for the first time
· Paris – just the two of us, walking and exploring new places and old favourites, and meeting some wonderful new blogging friends
· England – spending time with Clive’s father, family, and friends
· Wales – a week for just the two of us, walking in the Snowdonia region and visiting Hay-on-Wye
· U.S. – returning for my mother’s 85th birthday and more time with her and other family members
As of today, we are officially in trip mode.
What does this mean, exactly?
A Passion for Travel
Behind Notre-Dame, Paris, 2006
To me, being in trip mode is both a physical and emotional state of being.
On the physical side, being in trip mode invokes a multitude of practical planning and logistics activities that must be addressed. For these, we have developed a series of ‘C&C’ travel checklists.
Equally or more important is the mental and emotional side of travel. It’s inspiring, and energising, to plan a trip. But I also worry. Have I forgotten anything? Are our checklists complete? Should I be sending e-mails to anyone else to arrange get-togethers?
For me, and I know for others who share this passion, it’s the sum total of practical and emotional experience that makes a trip come together.
What are those magic ingredients that make a trip both memorable and wonderful? Since we’re in trip mode for the next few weeks, I’ll share some of our travel tips and techniques in this series, and our ideas for maximising a trip’s success.
More to come.
Related posts
A Passion for Travel, Part 2: The Master Trip Calendar
A Passion for Travel, Part 3: Travel Planning Checklist
A Passion for Travel, Part 4: Packing without Panic
A Passion for Travel, Part 5: Travel Technology
A Passion for Travel, Part 6: Departure Checklist
A Passion for Travel, Part 7: Airport Survival Strategies
A Passion for Travel, Part 8: Top Ten In-Flight Insights
A Passion for Travel, Part 8a: Eleventh In-Flight Insight
A Passion for Travel, Part 9: Jet Lag Jambalaya
Filed under: A Passion for Travel |
My Sydney Paris Life 
Hi Carolyn,
What a fascinationg series idea !
And you & Clive have had a very active travel year too, in 2008.2008 saw my hubby & I in the US ( visiting my cousins in MN,PA) & a stop over in Montreal before returning to Paris.
I can really relate with you on many things there.I also love travel even though with an elderly FIL at home, I don’t do as much as I could. I definately have my “must dos” for this year and a bit beyond.
As much as I love discovering and immersing myself into places… the getting there part is starting to be a DRAG.I find myself hating airports and flying as I get up there in age. But, you have to do it if you want to be on the other end !
I’m so looking forward to March !
Cheers to you & Clive 🙂
Looking forward to more of your fantastic travel posts 🙂
I would travel …if I had someone to travel with!! As you know my hubby works away most of the year, so he cannot come with me.
Enjoy all your travels, and I see that you might be or are meeting up in Paris with the Paris Gang 🙂 You will have loads of fun!!
Hi Carolyn…
I second Barbara and Anne…. It’s exciting to be able to travel and see new and familiar sights… friends and family- and to meet new friends! I’m taking off this summer for California and I’ll be there for 6 weeks! I’m really looking forward to my visit in the States (though I no longer view it as “home” but it’s a part of me, just the same… It made me who I am today- and I still have many ties there!
France is my home, now.. and I really love it here… I’ve been blessed to have met such wonderful people and to have made so many wonderful friends…
Take care and looking forward to meeting you and Clive soon…
All my best… Leesa
There’s nothing I’d rather do than travel. It’s just the most exciting things to do that I can think of, from planning the trip to actually going.
That’s one long trip! I look forward to your posts from the road….you’ll be in DC (my hometown) just as its glorious spring gets going.
This will be a great series Carolyn. I’m definitely one of those who also enjoys the anticipation of the trip . . . I even love packing!! (what a weirdo) I feel like I am far from family and friends, but I only have the US/Europe distance, with*out* Australia being thrown in there.
Looking forward to your posts!
I’m looking forward to seeing your posts as well. Are you going to be anywhere semi-near Cornwall while you’re in England?
Did you see my post on Hay-on-Wye on my old blog. What an amazing place that was to see. Books, books, and more books all in a beautiful location… it was heavenly!
DC was where John wanted to go when he came to America…I think he would say he really enjoyed it.
What wonderful comments!
Barbara, it does get difficult with elderly parents, especially if you are the primary carer for your father-in-law. And I agree getting there isn’t always the fun part of travel. Anne, you’re definitely a traveller too and I wish you could join the Paris meet-up! Leesa, I feel the same re visiting the U.S. – not ‘home’ any more but a part of us, for sure.
Linda, agree on all counts re travel is the best! Anne, thanks for visiting and your comment re Washington. We really hope to experience some of that spring magic. My son’s been overseas on a business trip this week and missed the foot or so of snow they had – amazing.
Kim, you make me smile about packing. Me too! 🙂
Elizabeth, I missed your post(s) about Hay-on-Wye and will look for them – it sounds like a fabulous book town and I’m excited to visit there. I’m glad John liked Washington, D.C. – Clive has yet to see the sights because (bless him) last June we had to stay near my mother, and in September he helped my son build bookcases for his apartment. This year he hopes to be more of a tourist!
Cheers and thanks, everyone.
And DC is so lovely in the spring! And so many good restaurants . . .and seeing your son flourishing there. It will be wonderful.