Traveler/JetSetter

So, this last post (as well as all of Lulu's) got me to reminiscing...

On Facebook, I recently added an application to track all the places I’ve been, and I marked all the states and countries I’ve lived/visited. I even went through the effort to pin every city. As a child I remember my grandfather had a framed map of the world in his study with black and red pins marking places he either visited or lived. For awhile I had the same thing in my guestroom (the map is now in a closet).

My favorite destinations include:

Malta – I lived in Malta with my grandparents when I was younger for 3 months. It’s situated in the middle of the Mediterranean, a dark turquoise and surprisingly cold body of water. My first encounter with a sea urchin was in Malta – scared the crap out of me. I also came back with a severe suntan and not a care in the world about sun damage. I loved Malta.

Greece – I went on this trip solo and it was FANTASTIC. I took a cruise starting in Athens through the Aegean stopping in Patmos, Mykonos, Santorini (a highlight), Rhodes, and Kusadaci, Turkey.

Bali – I spent 2 weeks in the amazing beauty of Bali meeting warm and hospitable locals, and stayed at 2 top-notch resorts, and if you buy something from a local family (they often run stores out of the front of their homes) it will feed them for a month. There is an uber private resort frequented by Mick Jagger nearby, and several bat colonies that are believed to have magical powers.

New Zealand – business took me there, but selfish reasons made me stay a little longer. This country is the mother of all outdoorsy things. I went kayaking, visited a rain forest, visited the famous Black Sand Beach (featured in the movie “Piano”), and ALMOST went bungee jumping (my only reason not to was that I ran out of time and would have missed my flight).

Karekare Black Sand Beach

Next time, I’m headed to the South Island for caving, white water rapids, and more.

Cape Town – again work took me there, and it’s not the safest place after dark. Table Top Mountain is the ever-present focal point, with its cloud-covered “tablecloth.”

It’s very common to see free condoms in public bathrooms due to the AIDS epidemic. You can tour a shanty town (which for many reasons, I did not), visit a local market, and taste the local fare at a fancy restaurant all within a single street block. But BY FAR THE MOST LIFE-CHANGING THING YOU CAN DO is visit Cape of Good Hope. Known as the “southernmost tip of Africa” (even though it’s technically not) it is magical. The Indian Ocean meets the Atlantic and it’s just, well, there are no words.

Standing at the lighthouse looking left (East) - Indian Ocean

Turn to the right (West) from same place - Atlantic Ocean

A bus tour takes you out of Cape Town through a national park to the bottom of a huge hill. Then you hop out and start the ascent to the top, where an old lighthouse is the landing point for the most amazing views. It’s been a few years, but I think I may have cried because it’s so overwhelming. Sadly, a reputable safari from Cape Town is a good 12 hour drive, and I couldn’t fit it in.

It’s funny all the things that can go wrong when traveling – seats next to the broken and smelly toilet, nearly missed flights, delays and/or cancellations, irate airport employees, unusual airline food (sushi on Eva Air headed to Taiwan), unreasonable TSA. At the time they seem so extreme, but in retrospect I can barely recall the details. That trip to Cape Town was actually in the middle of a travel itinerary that included:

1. Flight from Austin to LGA
2. Take a bus from LGA to JFK
3. Flight from JFK to London
4. Layover for 36 hours in London (meetings)
5. Flight from London to Cape Town (13 hour direct flight, then 5 days there)
6. Cape Town back to London (13 hours back, a quick shower in the Admiral’s club)
7. London to Glasgow (3 days)
8. Glasgow to Dublin (3 days in Temple Bar, which translates into 3 nights of no sleep)
9. Dublin to London
10. London to Chicago
11. Chicago to Austin

I was originally supposed to fit Cairo, Egypt into that trip as well. Sheesh. Just listing that out makes me irritable. Imagine my horror when I maxed out my credit card during the trip and had to frantically submit expense reports to get reimbursed just to get home! (this was before we had corporate credit cards). There were many other mishaps, I’m sure, but the memories of those places makes it worth the trouble.

I love hearing from friends who have traveled to great places, reading blog stories, and seeing pictures. My friend, Amy, is going to Iceland later this month. Iceland? How exciting! I hadn't even thought of that one. I have heard we may contract with a 3rd data center there... hmmm… But there are many places in this great land of ours that don't require crossing an ocean to visit. Guess I need to dust off my old travel planner and get cracking!