Travel Wishlist for 2008

Here are some of the travel destinations that top my wishlist for 2008. I wish that I could travel all the time. It is my favorite hobby, even above cooking and eating. (musical theater seems like a long ago, childless dream). Perfect travel for me probably involves a villa somewhere in France, but with children, that perfect travel has changed to "perfect for someone with two children under three". We are also on a tight budget this year, which means that most if not all travel for 2008 is a pipe dream. All the same, none of that stops me from spending a good eight hours a week surfing the net, looking for perfect destinations for a family of four with two toddlers, checking availability and comparing prices. I call it mind candy and I do it while Michael works or plays on the XBox. I have found that Michael is most happy traveling with others and being social. I have also found that traveling often makes the children happier and better travelers than traveling sporadically. That being said, please let me know if you are interested in any and all of my wishlist destinations. If you are, maybe that trip will move up on our priority list and we could actually make it happen. And if they all seem like pipe dreams, then maybe we could just all head to Port Aransas or Stonewall and we can have a mini-vacation with each other. So speak up! Join me in my favorite hobby and explore this mind candy.
1. Trip to Smuggler's Notch in Vermont. This looks fun for winter, summer and autumn. They have baby care and toddler care. The condos have kitchen and the whole place has lots of fun activities. No passports required! Smugglers Notch.
2. Trip to Club Med Ixtapa. This looks like a great all inclusive beach vacation. They have a fantastic kids club and the price looks good. The rooms have two bedrooms so you can have some evening privacy and there looks to be fun activities. I haven't been to Ixtapa since I was a child and Michael has never been. Tripadvisor seems to love this place. Club Med Ixtapa
3. Beaches Turks and Caicos. This is a great family resort that looks like it has gorgeous sand and water. I think we could definitely do some snorkeling here. It would be full of parents in the same situations that we could lie around with and bond. The programs look fun. Beaches Turks and Caicos
4. Princess Cruise- Alaska. This is a trip that we are already booked on. We're going to Alaska on August 3rd. We are so excited to go to Alaska. This is not the best kid friendly cruise. For kids under three, you should really look at Disney (fantastic, but super expensive), or Royal Caribbean and Holland America (kids club is three and up, but they have private babysitting in the cabin for babies), but we have a sister-in-law who works for Princess and can get us fantastic rates and that makes this an awesome choice for us! Yay, Melissa! Thank you! And so because of the fantastic rates, we can afford to pay for a friend to come and help with the kids. Yay, Marchelle! And Thank You! So let us know if you want to come. Princess Cruises
5. Macy's Day Parade in New York City. This is a trip I really want to do. Go to Thanksgiving in New York City. Get a hotel room at the Double Tree hotel with a room that overlooks the parade, watch the balloons airing up the night before and go to a nice dinner. Pick up bagels and lox on thanksgiving morning and watch the parade. Make sure to stay a couple of days so you can watch a Daily Show taping and a Broadway show. Perfection. Anyone up for this? This year? Next Year? Someday.
What do you think? Just wait. I think I'll make this a New Year's tradition. I have a ton of trips on the back burner just waiting for my kids to get older and my bank account to get fatter. And then when the kids get out of carseats, we'll start talking about RV's. Oh yeah. I love travel. Feed back please! Suggestions, comments, and requests for more info are all invited. Love, Amber