Upcoming plans

I have been lax with blogging lately, not for lack of ideas but for lack of easy access to this site. The Blogger app on my phone crashes every time I try to use it, ever since the last OS update. Thanks, Apple!

Rather than type things and lose them and retype and lose and retype and lose and argh! I stopped writing posts for a while. I sit and type a lot for my day job, and then I sit and type some more for my side gig, so often, by the time I'm at a point in my day where I have the time and mental energy to do a little writing for me, my threshold for more sitting is shot.

When I can use the app, I can type posts and upload pictures right from my phone. I can blog from anywhere! A plane, the lunchroom at work, a waiting room. I really hope that app gets fixed.

Moving on...I have several ideas in draft form that I will work on posting in a more timely fashion. In the meantime, here are my upcoming travel plans for 2017:

Christmas and New Year's
It took some doing to plan this one, because I have a little problem: when I have too many choices, all with a similar outcome, I shut down. I lose all decision-making capability. I had ten days with which to plan something and I could go anywhere! I could do anything! ARGH. Too many choices!

Finally, with the help of a good friend, I got to actually booking some things. I'm flying home to see friends and family for the first half of the week. I'm looking forward to it, though also, I hope it's not too much family togetherness. We tend to do better (at least *I* tend to do better) in short bursts. We shall see how this goes.

Then, I am flying to Florida to stay with a dear friend whom I have been lucky enough to see for the last two New Year's holidays. I am liking this tradition! So, apparently, does everyone else because holy cow are plane tickets in and out of Florida expensive for New Year's Eve! But, I made it work thanks to a rental car and piecing together several one way tickets and different airports and airlines.

This is always stresses me out, by the way. Ever since I screwed up a plane reservation years ago and booked a ticket on the wrong date, I live in fear that I will do it again and make a very expensive and non-refundable mistake. I'm a bit neurotic about booking trips now, unfortunately.

But, I persevered! The plans are all made!

California
My usual travel buddy/good friend is going to California for a month to cat-sit for her friend while he is on his ridiculously long honeymoon. I am going out to join her for a long weekend at the end of her stay. We will wander San Francisco and are planning an overnight to wine country. I can't wait! That trip is also requiring some creative flight bookings because while flying from New Hampshire to San Francisco is both cheap and easy, flying back is stupid. My choices were a 6am flight (and I'm staying a good hour from the airport, so I'd have to get up at, what, 2am? 3?), 12 hours of flight time, or getting home after 1am. All pretty sucky. So instead I'm flying back to Maryland with my friend and will fly home to New Hampshire the next day.

Oscars
Another good friend hosts an Academy Awards-viewing party every year. Several years ago, this started with just the two of us watching the show together, and over time, it has grown into a full fledged party. I missed it last year, but this year have already taken the following Monday off from work and will fly down for the party. And, also, to see the sequel to John Wick, which the two of us are really looking forward to. That's right, I'm getting on a plane to see a movie with a friend. How great is life?

Bloomsday
For years, my friend K has asked me to join her and her family for the local Bloomsday festival in Spokane, WA. For various reasons, I have never been able to make it work. This year I'm going, damn it. I have already requested those days off from work and I'm watching airfares on Hopper. The festival includes a 9k (I think?) run/walk and her family always walks it together. This year I will join in. This will also be the first time I have been to visit her during the springtime. It has always been winter with snow and cold in the past. I can't wait!

ITALY!
In October, my travel buddy C is spending a month in Florence because she can. She's a freelance graphic designer and so is simply going to work from her rental in Italy instead of from her home office. I am insanely jealous. I am going to join her for two weeks of it (thank you, generous vacation time allowance at work!) and am so excited it's ridiculous. I can't wait until those plans are booked!

So that's what I've got going on. I managed to use a lot of frequent flyer miles plus staying with friends and family along the way so that helps a lot with expenses. The Italy trip won't be cheap but I know I can make it manageable. At this point, though, I'm pretty much done planning vacations for the year because my travel budget is way overdrawn! It's worth it, though. I have yet to regret a single plane ticket I have purchased.

Note: There is one more possible trip that may happen. My Spokane friend, K, and I are trying to find a way to meet somewhere warm to snorkel, but it's tricky, with flying from opposite ends of the country and different schedules and such. But we may just make it work!