traveler's guilt.

hi there, and happy thursday.  i've been absent most of the week, but not without good cause.  the new blog is getting so super close, and i'm very excited for everyone to see it.  it's in the finishing touches now, i think!  it's been a really fun learning experience for me, even the days when i've cursed my macbook and pulled my hair with frustration at HTML.  but today is not the day for the big reveal, so.

on to new things.

as you know, we've been planning a vacation for a very long time now.  planning isn't even the right word... maybe i'd use dreaming, or scheming.  we've both had the travel itch for months, and along with our five year anniversary this year - well, it's just the perfect excuse for a big trip.  that, and the 120,000+ miles in my mileage plus account. 

so all we really need to do is decide where to go.

coincidentally, that's been the hardest part.

we've been talking about this for months, literally.  since january, to be exact.  we've dreamed of thailand, south korea, vietnam, india, buenos aires, paris, prague, costa rica, italy, ireland + scotland... you name it, we've thought about it for this trip.  and i don't know what i want.  i want to be relaxed, i want to see the water, i want that feeling i get when i walk out of an airport to a place i've never seen before, i want to drink wine and eat.  but not all of those feelings are available at every place. 

as we've been dreaming of this trip, we've gravitated more and more towards italy + greece, or maybe france + italy.  or just italy and a ferry over to sicily.  but i can't seem to book those tickets just yet, because of this weird guilt that i feel. 

i've been to italy twice now.  venice, rome, pisa, florence, cinque terre, milan - been there.  and as much as i love those places and know there are so many more new places in italy i haven't been that we can explore - the eastern coast, sicily - i can't get over this guilt that i have that i am returning to a country i've been, and passing up places i've never been before.

last trip to italy - cinque terre

venice

the train to florence

i love travel, and i love going places i have never been before - whether it's a new continent, country, or a new city.  so if i go to new places in italy i've never been to before, that's still going somewhere new, right?  but this traveler's guilt is still building up... am i wasting valuable air miles and money on going to a country i LOVE but have been to multiple times instead of going to a place i've never been?  i could use those miles to get to argentina, and i've never been to south america.  but if i'm going to argentina, we'll just be directly north of antarctica, the closest we will ever be - so we shoul see if we can get there.  or we could really spring for a trip to thailand.  or still go to europe and visit new countries like croatia and greece.   

this is how my mind has been working the last few months as i try to decide where to go.  and even though we may have the perfect vacation planned out - a summer road trip down the italian eastern coast ending in sicily - we may not do that if i give in to my traveler's guilt. 

if i want to go everywhere [literally], then how do i justify going back to a country i've visited?  but on the other hand, isn't a vacation supposed to be something to relax and enjoy, so what's the shame in going to somewhere i've been before and loved? 

decisions, decisions.  someone hit be over the head and help me decide.

til next time...