Wanderlust has taken hold and will never let go.

Wanderlust has taken hold of me and will never let go... So I like to travel. Doesn't everybody? My perfect day would involve a passport, a book, a hammock, a view of the ocean, and some sort of dairy product. I got that perfect day in January 2008 in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. That was, by far, the most relaxing trip I've been on. (Thanks Dad and Nancy!) I hope to have many more repeat perfect days all over the world for the rest of my life!

Lately, I've been lamenting my lack of travel the past six months or so. I realized the other day that I haven't been on an airplane in seven or eight months. That may sound funny to some, but it's very unusual for me. And as my plans are right now, I will not be traveling anywhere for the next couple of months. The beginning of 2008 went like this:

January - Los Angeles and on to Nicaragua
February - Orange County, California
March - Michigan
April - nowhere? (I don't believe that.)
May - nowhere? (I can't believe it.) I was going to go to Virginia and Pennsylvania, then had to cancel.
June - two trips: Las Vegas and Orange County, California (flew in and out of Long Beach)
July to November - nowhere. Not even any further north than Ogden, and no further south than Springville.

As you likely know, I'm a list person. So this post is more for me than for any of you and is not meant to be a bragging list or anything. I just like to keep track of my life on lists. So there you have it.

States I've been to (at least two feet on the ground):
1. California
2. Nevada
3. Utah
4. Arizona
5. Idaho
6. Washington
7. Montana
8. Colorado
9. Kansas
10. Texas (one night at a hotel in Dallas after a delayed flight)
11. Missouri
12. Iowa (drove through Keokuk with Grandpa, got out and did a little tap dance, so I could say I'd been there)
13. Illinois
14. Wisconsin
15. Michigan
16. Indiana (Indianapolis airport only, I believe)
17. Ohio
18. Pennsylvania
19. Virginia
20. Maryland
21. Delaware
22. New Jersey
23. New York
24. Massachusetts
25. Connecticut
26. Georgia (Atlanta airport only)

So you may notice that this West Coast native hasn't included Oregon on her list. Nor does she have Wyoming, a state with which she currently shares a border. Yeah, who knows how I skipped Oregon altogether. I'll get there. Hopefully on a trip up the coast. And Wyoming, well that's just a matter of planning a trip to AnnMarie's. :)

Countries I've been to:
1. United States
2. Mexico (Tijuana only, so I'm not really sure if that counts)
3. England (including British territory Gibraltar)
4. Lithuania
5. Latvia
6. Spain
7. Czech Republic
8. Poland
9. Sweden (Stockholm airport only, so no passport stamp)
10. El Salvador (San Salvador airport only, so no passport stamp)
11. Nicaragua

No, I haven't been to Canada. Surprisingly, Estonia isn't on there either. I just never made the long bus trip up there. And sadly, I haven't been to Russia or Morocco, though I've seen both. Just didn't cross the border. Someday...

I've been to the Palm Springs airport, too!

Pull up a chair and let me tell you a little story. About ten years ago, I was sitting in the living room having a conversation with KDJ and KMB about all the airports we've flown in/out of in our lifetimes. We made long lists, reminisced about quirky characteristics of some of the airports we'd been in, and marveled at the number of airports in California. End of story... or so we all thought. Fast forward three days and we, again, were sitting in the comfort of our living room. Apparently, we weren't talking about airports anymore, though in my mind the conversation was fresh, as if we had just been talking about it. Evidently, I was just replaying it all in my mind and not out loud because when I then audibly announced, "I've been to the Palm Springs airport, too," I got the strangest looks. What I said was perfectly normal, I assure you... :) Alright, alright... it WAS three days later, so maybe it was slightly out of context. Anyhow, I thought I'd give you my list of airports now (as many as I can remember). And it does, indeed, include the Palm Springs airport.

1. San Francisco (SFO)
2. Oakland (OAK)
3. Burbank (BUR)
4. Ontario (ONT)
5. Los Angeles (LAX)
6. Orange County (SNA)
7. Long Beach (LGB)
8. San Diego (SAN)
9. Palm Springs (PSP)
10. San Jose (SJC)
11. Seattle/Tacoma (SEA)
12. Spokane (GEG)
13. Boise (BOI)
14. Salt Lake City (SLC)
15. Reno (RNO)
16. Las Vegas (LAS)
17. Phoenix (PHX)
18. Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW)
19. Denver (DEN)
20. Detroit (DTW)
21. Milwaukee (MKE)
22. Chicago (ORD)
23. Chicago (MDW)
24. Indianapolis (IND)
25. Cleveland (CLE)
26. Columbus (CMH)
27. Atlanta (ATL)
28. New York City (JFK)
29. New York La Guardia (LGA)
30. Baltimore (BWI)
31. Philadelphia (PHL)
32. London Gatwick (LGW)
33. London Heathrow (LHR)
34. Stockholm, Sweden (ARN)
35. Riga, Latvia (RIX)
36. Vilnius, Lithuania (VNO)
37. Malaga, Spain (AGP)
38. Bilbao, Spain (BIO)
39. Barcelona, Spain (BCN)
40. Prague, Czech Republic (PRG)
41. San Salvador, El Salvador (SAL)
42. Managua, Nicaragua (MGA)

Whew! I think that's it. But I reserve the right to remember another one in three days. :)