Life is short... travel!

 Instead of dwelling on yesterday's horribleness, which truly breaks my heart all over again, I choose to dwell on the beautiful things we can do with the life we are given and with the time we have. Life is beautiful and even the ugliest of acts can't change that!

One of my great passions was is traveling. I absolutely love exploring different places and seeing different cultures. I used to always say that there wasn't a place on this planet that I wouldn't want to go to and, although there are lots of places that I wouldn't bring kids to, the sentiment still holds true.

There is something so amazing about the people you meet and the adventures you have while traveling. It's like- just by having made the trip- we open ourselves up to the possibility of wild and crazy things happening. You really never know what you are gonna get. Some of the coolest things I've ever done have been while traveling: dancing on table tops in Paris, joining a street drum circle in Ghana (and getting a marriage proposal from a nice young man who promised me he was a tribal king and would make me his queen), eating (and drinking muchas) in a cave restaurant 40 feet below ground in Spain, off-roading in a jeep through the mountains of Tenerife, finding a baby octopus in Puerto Rico, hanging out on Croatian nude beaches with my brand new husband, seeing the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona (and sleeping in a park the night before to do so), dancing til the wee hours of the morning at a church turned nightclub in London, hiking a volcano in Scotland... really, I could go on and on here. (and I'm getting very nostalgic just thinking about all of this.)

But that's just it. This is what life's all about. Although the simplest things can definitely be some of the most magical, the big things are what stand out in our minds. They are the things that ingrain themselves in our memories and, combined, make us who we are.

Brad and I haven't really traveled since our honeymoon in Croatia. We did do a mini trip to Florida and a trip with his family to Aruba, but there hasn't been anything on our agenda for quite some time now. And I think that needs to change. Life is hectic. We have young babies and crazy busy schedules, but it's really no excuse. Maybe now is not the time for South American jungles or Asian beaches, BUT there's a whole lot of this world that we've yet to see. So, today I begin my quest to plan our next trip. We may not go far (there's an awful lot of US spots that I would love to go to), but we will go.

When in doubt, do as the Dalai Lama says:
"Once a year, go someplace you've never been before"

W.W.t.D.L.D.?