What Are You Secretly Yearning to See or Do? Do you Know?
Do you even have a dream trip? Have you ever had one, and did you take
it? If you did, is it crossed off your
list, are you thinking of going back, or are you thinking of another one?
There are lots of different kinds of trips. Say you go to Maui every year, with the
family, and relax on the beach and by the pool.
That probably isn’t your dream trip.
It is a great family time. But I
am talking about the one thing that seems like magic to you, making your heart go pitter-patter just thinking of it.
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| I fulfilled a long standing desire to see what the luxurious spas are really about in August of 2012 at Canyon Ranch. There are many more aspects than just "diet and exercise" and this vignette sculpture, one of many art works dotted around the grounds, contributed to a sense of complete serenity during my brief stay. |
Neither is the trip to one of the
Disneys, as much fun as it can be. But for adults often the fun of that is
watching kids or grandkids, and reliving their childhood excitement. Not a usually a dream trip though. What is one place that you would like to see
above all others? Maybe you have even
been there and want to go back.
Or possibly it is an experience…being eyeball to eyeball
with a whale that was under my panga was
one of mine. Only about three feet
separated us. Suddenly, I was in the middle of a dream trip. The giant gray whale could have risen and
upended our boat, but it didn’t. We
looked at each other. Now it is a dream
to go back and see them again. Do you
want to dig for dinosaurs? How about
riding the range in Montana? Or even
more exciting, riding across the steppes of Mongolia? (No offense, Montana! Love you!)
Learning to make fresh pasta and sauces in Italy? Hot air ballooning over Cappadocia, marveling
at the fairy chimney rock houses carved out centuries ago? (More about
that one later.)
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| I am always captivated by the greens and blues found in nature and this shot of a little islet off of the Isle de Pines is one of my favorites. It looks like it is floating. I have been to many tropical paradises over the years but the time I spent here was memorable for the sheer and simple beauty of the place, and the friendly people. |
Mine changes all of the time, partly because I have fulfilled
some dreams. And then another crops
up, perhaps after reading a magazine article, or even seeing a jaw-dropping photo.. That is the beauty of a dream trip,
you can make it come true, and then the excitement of just thinking about
another one can return.
My first was Machu Picchu.
I had actually been, a few years earlier, to some unexcavated ruins in
Mexico out in the middle of nowhere.
They are now uncovered, restored as much as possible, and open to the
public. I do want to go back there and
see what it looks like now, but that will come later, I hope. Yet after that trip, I wanted to see ruins that were carefully
reconstructed enough that we could see, study, and visualize their lives
there. So I went to Peru and Bolivia
and saw some wonderous things, and
fulfilled a dream.
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| The Olympic Games always sounded to me like they would just be a hassle to see, so I was happily surprised to be wrong with a trip to the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada in 2010. Driving to the border early in the morning there was only one car in line in front of us (unheard of, really) and everything clicked beautifully the rest of the way to Whistler. We were able to roam freely, got great places to stand to watch the ski races, and could almost touch the athletes as they sped toward the finish line. It was a beautiful and perfect day, capped by seeing the Olympic Flame in friendly downtown Vancouver, hearing many different languages as we walked the streets in the evening. |
I was dining at a popular restaurant in my home town one evening and was
seated under a travel poster, a reproduction, that depicted Havana in all of
the glory of the glamorous days of the ‘50s. Wow,
I thought, I wish I could go
there, I yearned to go there, but I
knew it wouldn’t be the same under the oppressive rule of Communism. This was back in the late 1970s and
the door hadn’t yet cracked open.
However….an opportunity came up, somehow the embargo was lifted and I was able
to visit with other travel professionals.
Then the door slammed shut again, and I was lucky enough to have been
with a handful of Americans to see Cuba in the earlier years of the current
regime. This trip of course didn’t
equal my “dream” of what Havana would be like, but was fascinating in many
ways. I had never been to a place where,
when chatting with locals, they would stop speaking to you if others walked by
and resume when they were out of earshot.
Some places weren’t dreams when I went there, but because
they were so wonderful, I have dreamed about going back (and in some cases have
done so.) I cannot get enough of
Istanbul, for example.
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| I am passionate about history, and to see places where monumental things happened (and especially when the people did not know they were doing something monumental) it is a thrill to see them. How ordinary and barren does this look? Here, though, is the spot where the Dead Sea Scrolls were concealed and accidentally found about 2,000 years later by a goat herder. Go figure. I did not know that on this particular trip I would see something that I had always wanted to see. Serendipity! |
We are now coming full circle. Lately I have been reading about some
exciting discoveries in Turkey that have turned the clock way back on religion, civilization and how they developed. Thousands and thousands of years
ago early inhabitants there created the most stunning religious monuments(religion is a term used loosely here as we do not know what the beliefs were). The project of discovery is still ongoing, and
I am longing to see the site as a work in progress, before the crowds, the
lines, and the inevitable souvenirs, guide books, etc. are there. Not too far away is the earliest settlementever found…not to say that there are not older sites waiting to be found, but this one is from a
civilization that pre-dates the Hittites.
Since they entered their homes from the rooftops, maybe they originated
the saying “drop in anytime!”
So, to make my newest dream come true, I am planning this trip with the help of my
experts in Istanbul, and have a small group coming along with me next
July. A week’s spin around the BlackSea, and a week seeing breathtaking things in Turkey with an expert guide, and
air conditioning all the way through!
(That’s what this Seattle girl needs.)
Go ahead and google “Gobekli Tepe” and then “Catal Hoyuk” and see what
you think, I’d love to have you come along!
Have you made that dream trip and was it all you thought it
would be? Or are you waiting for it to happen? Do you even have one? If you drop to the bottom and click on
“comments” you can let me, and other
readers, know about some of your peak travel experiences. Let's compare dreams! If you don't have one, let me help you find it.
My commercial is this fantastic
trip, with the week visiting Russia, Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria before
seeing history being re-discovered before our very eyes in Turkey. Call at 888-857-7379, and I will get the
details out to you.
