In the next few posts, I look ahead and reflect behind. The typical sort of thing to do as the new year rapidly approaches and brings with it plans and changes. Most years bring these, yet I hypothesize that 2019 will bring quite a bit of change, much of it yet uncertain. That, however, is not the subject of this entry as one could infer based on the title.
As I have described in the past, travel-and the planning of said travel – brings me immense joy. Nearly every time I watch a movie, read a book or listen to podcasts like BBC witness, I long to go there, to place my feet on that ground and walk where history trod before. I doubt I will ever run out of places I desire to visit.
At this time in my life, with the schedule I have through my chosen profession, I have found that I can take international trips, to Europe so far, every other year. In 2011, I ventured solo across the pond. In 2015, I traveled to Rome and many other Italian cities. In 2017, I took a Spring Break trip to Chicago where I fell in love at first run, then traveled across the pond to England and Scotland with Mom before capping off the summer with a solo road trip adventure up the East Coast. Last year, I pulled back, stayed home for Spring Break and even worked a little in the summer to supplement my income. A year is about as long as I can take without a trip. I have quite a few things planned for 2019, yet another amazing year of travel.
Here’s what 2019 holds in store. First, I planned to start the year with a trip to Chicago, yet another trip to Chicago although that literally just changed with the typing of this post. (I will write another post on this quite soon.) Next comes Spring Break and a trip to Utah. In the midst of thinking about the July stage race in Spain, I thought that running a marathon in the build up would be fun. After searching for marathons on one of the Spring Break weekends, I settled on Salt Lake City, willing to set aside my slightly neurotic compulsion to memorialize the number twelve. That decision launched my travel planning brain into plans to visit as many National Parks and Monuments within reasonable driving distance of Salt lake City as possible in a week. This past snow day, I sat down and planned it all out, thrilled that Mom will join me on this trip.
Finally, this summer I will embark on my Grand European Adventure. Contrary to what I hypothetically declared weeks ago, I will not run my first stage race this summer. It’s just not the right time. Instead, I will start my adventure by running up a mountain in Switzerland in a marathon or perhaps add on an additional three kilometers for the ultra. From there I plan to travel throughout Central and Western Europe over the next three weeks visiting twelve different countries and even more historical wonders and memorials. Dad may join me on this trip but even if he does not, my heart fills with anticipation just thinking about the trip.
On top of all the personal travel, this March I will take ten students to New York City for an international Model United Nations Conference. I may also, with several other seventh grade teachers, take many seventh grade students to Washington, D.C. for an end of the year reward field trip. To put everything in perspective, by the time the 2019-2020 school year begins, I will have traveled to four major U.S. cities – Chicago, Salt Lake City, New York City, Washington DC – and twelve European countries, along with a week in my favorite spot in the world, Hilton Head Island.
Two years ago, I devoted several posts to the logistics of planning and the financial aspects. This coming year, I hope to write more about the experiences themselves, something that will require a little more work, but will bring, I hope, more rewards in the end.