Dream Vacay: The Erin Edition

A week or so ago Chris posted about his dream vacations, then challenged me to do the same. Here's the thing with me--I wish I could be a traveler. I wish we had the money, yeah, but I also with I didn't despise flying and airports with all my heart. And I wish I didn't love my own home and own bed quite so much. That being said, if we did have the money, I would love to travel. As Chris said, I've never been out of the U.S., and seeing the world is something I would very much like to do.

I would go anywhere. If I had the chance, I'd go anywhere. But if someone said "I'll completely pay for one vacation and you can do anything for any amount of time", there are two choices that I would absolutely not be able to choose between.

Behind Curtain 1: European Tour

I'm a big, dorky history buff. One of the places in the world I most want to go is the British Isles. I followed British royalty closely as a tween (oh, man, that's embarrassing) thanks to my 10-year crush on Prince William (finally got over him when I met Chris). Anyway, Ireland, Scotland, England, would all be visited, and we'd have an extended stay in London seeing all the historical sights.

Paris, of course. Interestingly, Chris has absolutely no interest in going to Paris, so we agreed on 1 day (1 day!). All I really want to see is the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, and the Louvre. So we'd better wake up early that day . . .

We'd need a solid week in Italy, at least. I really really want to go to Vatican City. The art in the Vatican and Rome is so beautiful and epic. I've heard its actually life-altering. Sounds corny, but I think such things can be life altering.
And we'd also to go Venice, as well as the Italian Riviera. Then we'd spend a few days on our way through Switzerland . . .

. . . and spend a week or 2 in Germany. This is where Chris served his mission, and I would love to go. In fact, if I had to pick just one place in Europe, this would be it, for that very reason (though Italy would be hard to pass up). A tour of his mission, including the cities of Munich and Vienna (Austria, opps), the Black Forest, and all the little towns. His mission boundaries also have a concentration camp from World War II, Dachau, which, as strange as it sounds, I really would like to go to (history buff, remember?). And, of course, the castles, including Neuschwanstein.

If you're going to see Europe, you might as well see Europe, right? That would be quite the dream tour for me. The one downfall? We would be constantly on the move. We'd need a vacation after that vacation!

~

Behind Curtain 2: Bora Bora

Random? Possibly. But Bora Bora (in French Polynesia) looks like the most beautiful relaxing amazing place on earth--in my opinion. We would snorkel, water activities, horseback riding on the beach, all that jazz. But I'm also the kind of person who could sit by the ocean doing nothing but hanging out with my husband and playing in the sand for 2 weeks. Easy. The major aspect pulling for Bora Bora is we could just stay in one place. No moving from country to country. Just stay in paradise.

Bora Bora has these huts off the coast that you have to ride a boat to reach. They are beautiful. Some even have glass floors, so you can see the tropical fish swimming beneath you. That, ladies and gentlemen, is paradise.

I would literally be in tears trying to choose between those two vacations. Luckily (or not so luckily) I'll never have to choose. Neither of those vacations would ever be in our budget! Though, we do have every intention of making it to Europe. I say 10th anniversary, but 20th is probably more realistic.

~

What is realistic? And soon? Charleston, South Carolina (or the general area). Next summer (yes, that's soon for us) to celebrate Chris's fancy new Master's degree, we plan (cross your fingers for us) to go to the beach for a vacation. We are 6 hours from the Atlantic and 8 from the Gulf of Mexico (I know, that's still the Atlantic, but you know what I'm saying). I love the beach. I could live on the beach easily, though Chris seems to think 4 seasons is important. Anyway, my original plan was Florida, but the Gulf can get kind of crazy, so we've been looking into the South Carolina coast. Its beautiful and rumor has it much more family oriented (since we'll have a 10-month-old!). Anyway, I'm counting down. I know its a long countdown, but thanks to pregnancy I'm getting good at long countdowns.

Charleston, here we come. Leave a light on.

Bora Bora and Europe? Don't wait up for us.