Travel TopOfBlogs Past and future wanderings of a travel bug . . .: 2009

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Party Like its 2009!

Where were you on Y2K? It has been ten years since then. The world didn't end then and hopefully we have a few more turns around the sun yet. I don't know about you but I still have places to go, things to do and people to meet. Though I must say that 2009 was a good year for those things for me.

In review, places I went: I traveled to Spain, Egypt, Ireland and Scotland; things I did: climbed Mt. Sinai, kissed the Blarney Stone, took a ride in a hot air balloon and people i met: too many to name them all (I met loads of new people) but special mention to my travel partner for six weeks Kaitlyn and friends I knew from before where special mentions go to Janna and Yvonne for putting me up (and putting up with me) while I was in London-town!

But New Years Eve is a time to celebrate the successes and the milestones of the last year and to put the failures and misfortunes behind you and to embrace the clean slate that is a brand new year. So the time for resolutions is upon us again so here are my 10 for 2010:

1. make changes toward a healthier lifestyle (yeah I know everyone does this one!)
2. clean up my finances (my traveling habit is really expensive)
3. go somewhere new (I may not be able to leave the country this year, but I figure visiting a town in Alberta I have never been to counts!)
4. learn something new--I haven't decided what this is going to be yet
5. blog at least once a week no matter how busy I get
6. take more photos (I get lazy about bringing my camera with me and then kick myself when I didn't get pictures)
7. appreciate the simple things
8. be productive
9. join a club
10. laugh more than cry

If you are having a hard time coming up with your New Year's Resolutions here's a little something that may help you:
http://moninavelarde.com/newyears/

First and foremost this is a travel blog so I would like to share with you some awesome places you may want to consider ringing in the new year in years to come (if not this year).
1. Edinburgh, Scotland for Hogmanay--the biggest New Year's Party on the planet where for five days the streets are alive with revelers: http://www.edinburghshogmanay.com/
2. Sydney, Australia--one of the first cities to ring in the new year with amazing fireworks over the Harbour bridge
3. New York City, USA - watching the ball drop at Times Square at midnight, do I need to say more
4. Toronto ON, Canada - I have great friends who are usually in town this time of year and it would be awesome to ring in the new year with them
5. and lastly home--where I will be this year amongst friends

May 2010 be the best year yet for you, your friends and family and may you all reach heights you have never even dreamed were possible! And of course happy traveling!

Monday, December 28, 2009

Home for the Holidays . . .

Welcome! After over a year overseas I have returned to the great white north---yes to Canada to welcoming smiles of friends and family. I have returned home for the holidays. I have truly missed my friends and family and to be sure familiar faces and places are certainly a welcome change after over a year away. But a return home is also a return to reality-- some of which is not always so welcome. In my case, the weather being so nasty and cold is my one serious bone of contention. Winter may be postcard pretty in this corner of the world but subzero temperatures make me very cranky. Maybe I will be lucky and 2010 will warm up a little bit since I am not currently in the appropriate financial shape to escape for the winter months (or perhaps the appropriate physical shape to appear on a Mexican beach in a bathing suit). I am hoping both of these conditions improve before next winter. Maybe you dear readers, are enjoying yourselves in another corner of the world---that is a warmer one anyways and if you are know I am sincerely jealous! While there are great things about being home for the holidays amongst loved ones there is something I like even better about the idea of lying on a beach with those same loved ones and being handed Margaritas by a Mexican waiter named Jorge! Hope you all have had a very Merry Christmas indeed!
Real Time Web Analytics