Vacation Planning

It's a gloomy evening. I was resting as directed by my doctor, with my foot propped on three pillows, and I drifted off to sleep. When I awoke, the sky was dark and I thought it was around 8:30. As it turned out, the sky was dark because of a storm. It wasn't quite 6:00. I'd been asleep maybe an hour, not the three or four I initially thought. Between the weather, foot pain, and boredom, I could feel myself slipping into a funk. Not wanting to slide into a foul mood, I tried hard to think of something happy to think (and write) about. I couldn't come up with much at first, but then I remembered my airline credit. Because I volunteered to take a later flight, giving up my seat on an overbooked flight, I have seven hundred dollars in airline credit. So where will I go?

When I got the credit, I didn't understand exactly what I had. It isn't technically "credit"; if it were, I would split it up among my son and granddaughters for their trip later this summer, or share it with a friend or family member to go somewhere together. What the voucher actually says is that it's good for one ticket, up to $700 in value. I'll need to get some more details on that, but I've already decided to use it for just myself; I can go (and come home from) somewhere pretty far with a $700 ticket, especially if I catch a good sale. I don't have anyplace in mind yet, so I'm just kind of daydreaming here. Oh, the other codicil is that I have to use it within a year from the date it was issued, June 9. This complicates things a little; by the time my foot is healed up enough to travel, my classes will have started; my next break will be Christmastime, when I hope my family will want to come to my house. (I'm tired of going up there for Christmas, but of course I want to be with my oldest son and granddaughters as well as my younger two sons.) Then it will be time for classes to start again, and when the semester is over I'll be close to the expiration date (or at least my voucher will be). Yeah, I know -- first-world problems.

So here are some of my choices: The Pacific Northwest, Alaska, Bali, Tahiti, Fiji, or Punta Cana. The first three get me closer to the only bucket-list item I've consciously thought of: visiting all fifty states. If I went to Washington, Oregon, and Alaska, I'd have only two or three states left to complete that goal. (I know I haven't been to Vermont or Maine, but I'm not sure if I missed one in the middle of the country. I think I might have skipped over Idaho.) Bali, Tahiti and Fiji are good island choices, and if I take my trip during fall or winter, one of those would be perfect. I've always been fascinated with these islands in particular for reasons I can't completely articulate. There's just something about the image conjured up by the beautiful beaches, turqoise water, and wonderful cultures that I find intoxicating and mysterious. This is true especially of Tahiti, where I've wanted to go since I was a little girl. I don't know how I even knew about Tahiti then. My last choice, Punta Cana, isn't a frontrunner. The only reason I added it to my list is that I've heard it's been voted the most beautiful beach in the world. Of course, that makes it a nice destination choice -- for me and the other several million people who have heard that. Cramming myself onto a beach with hundreds of other tourists does not appeal to me in the least.

I didn't narrow my destination down, nor did I do any actual planning. But diverting my mind to sunny beaches and, conversely, snow-covered mountains, did wonders for my mood. I'm going to start a notebook dedicated to vacation planning; the notebook itself will be a nice place to visit when I need a little pick-me-up.