Dream On

All of this cold and snow makes a vacation someplace warm sound wonderful. Felicity and I were lucky enough to go on vacation with Mom to Florida many Februarys ago, and it sure was fun. But think beyond Caribbean cruises, Orlando, and Hawaii.  If you could go on an all-expenses-paid vacation anywhere in the world at any time of year, where would you choose to go? I asked my sisters this question this week. Here's what they told me.

Bethany: Australia and New Zealand. You might as well get your money's worth by going pretty much as far from the U.S. as you can get, plus it's warm, has beaches, and people speak English with awesome accents. In Australia, I'd want to see all the cool wildlife, like brumbies, koalas, dingos, wombats, and walabees. In New Zealand, I'd feel like I was in Lord of the Rings, so that would be awesome. I'd also want to go snorkeling by a reef (and hope no sting rays or sharks showed up!).

Felicity: Alaska! It looks breathtaking from photos, and I've always wanted to see the Northern Lights. I'd like to go hiking, kayaking, whale-watching, dog sledding, and take at least one nail-biting flight in a tiny plane to scope out wildlife from the air. Obviously, I wouldn't want to go to Alaska right now, in the dead of winter. I'd want to wait for it to warm up some.

Lily: I would choose to take a trip to the Ireland! Even though I'm proud to first and foremost be an American, I do have Irish roots as an O'Malley. Ireland looks so lush, old, and magical. I would love to visit a real castle, ride through the beautiful country on horseback, and glimpse some wild Connemara ponies.

Me (Julie): My choice would be to take a vacation to the western U.S. to see mountains, mustangs, big open spaces, and starry skies. I'm most interested in visiting Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada, though I'm sure many of the other western states are beautiful too. Yeah, it's not a super exotic choice, but there's so much to see right here in America - I don't have a strong desire to venture off elsewhere. It would be fun to visit some of the national parks, though what appeals to me most would be to stay on a ranch where I could explore open country from horseback. I'd plan to take my vacation in spring or fall to avoid scorching temperatures and gobs of tourists. 

So, how about we visit...

Australia and New Zealand in winter,
Alaska in spring,
Ireland in summer,
and the western U.S. in fall?

Sure sounds good to me! Now if only we had a vacation genie to grant us our vacation wishes...