I wish I was in Tijuana, eating barbequed iguana

I have the travel bug. Really, I always have the travel bug, but it seems to be worse today. Maybe it’s because it is December 1st today. It’s cold but without a fluffy blanket of fresh snow or sparkly icecicles dripping from trees to brighten the day. If it’s going to be cold, I want it to be pretty. Otherwise, I will need a vacation soon.

And no, Wisconsin Dells does not count.

For a long time I had no desire to travel. By the age of 13 I had lived in three countries, and was ready to stay put. I didn’t equate traveling with taking a much-needed break from the norm, I equated it with packing up everything I owned (again) and leaving my friends behind. Traveling meant learning a new language and being the weird new foreign kid. I refused to even own a suitcase for years.

Now I have such a long list of places I want to visit that I could never fit them all into this lifetime. Here are a few examples:

- Italy
- Southern France, particularly a tiny town called Eze.
- New England in the fall
- Spain
- Napa Valley
- Greece
- Prague
- Ireland
- Amelia Island, Florida
- Little Palm Island, Florida
- Fuji
- Galapagos Islands
- San Francisco in the summer

At this point, it looks like the closest I’ll get to any of those is Vegas for the Beatles Cirque du Soleil show in February. Which sounds awesome, but it’s no Tuscany at springtime.