And...Booked!

It's official... the trip is booked! Next winter, we'll be escaping from the Seattle dreariness for the Island of Hawaii!  We'll spend seven nights on the Big Island.

With the hotel, flights and rental car booked, it's now on to researching restaurants and things to do...

Aloha!

Decisions, Decisions

Most of my loved ones are aware of my tendency to over-analyze, over-think, and pretty much over-do any sort of situation.

It's the type of perfectionism that has served me well in my professional life... and tends to make any other aspect of my life a little more challenging. :)

After pouring over many more TripAdvisor, travel books and other reviews of St. Lucia, I was starting to realize a few things about a Caribbean trip:

• We would be limited to a handful of islands if we wanted a place with lush scenery and non-resort-type things to do
• Those handful of islands are known for their bugs
• This year is expected to be one of the worst hurricane seasons- which led me to nightmares of major renovations/damages before our trip early next year.

I totally understand that bugs are part of the tropics, but something about the extreme humidity of the Caribbean- plus the post-hurricane damage potential - was starting to put the fear of Bad Vacation in me. 

And our last tropical vacation was honeymooning in beautiful and exotic Bali.... so...expectations are unfortunately a little high.

One of the main reasons keeping us from Hawaii was the assumption that the island would be family-friendly. Not so, grasshopper! The Big Island (where Brendan prefers) is quite spread out, and most definitely not ideal for kids who don't enjoy a couple day trips in the car (read: nobody under 16 years old). Also, hiking, helicopter rides, and beach-going would probably be most enjoyable when we're young and kid-less. 

Sorry, future kiddos. You're probably going to enjoy trips to US historical sites - or to your grandparents while Mom and Dad explore the world until you're old enough to appreciate it. :) 

So I've widen our net from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and am super impressed at the variety of activities and accommodations available on Hawaii. We're still making our final decision, but the deck is definitely stacked state-side!

Coming Soon: 2013 Adventures

2012 is shaping up to be the year of mini trips. Here's what's happened and what's on the books: 

- March: Iowa for Ashley's bacherlorette party
- April: Iowa for Ashley's bridal shower
- May: Iowa for Ashley's wedding
- June: Minnesota for Jim's wedding
- July (1): S. Carolina for Brendan's family
- July (2): Las Vegas for girls' reunion
- October: Des Moines for Shanna's wedding
- December: Midwest for Christmas

So it shouldn't come as a surprise that we're already starting to carve out sometime in early 2013 for a just-for-us trip. Don't get us wrong-- we LOVE seeing all of you! Especially when weddings or Vegas are involved. :) But it's probably time to make time for ourselves.

Since we want to travel in early 2013, our choices are somewhat narrowed for us. As much as I love Europe, Brendan was only OK with another European adventure if skiing or hiking was involved. (Apparently the non-stop sightseeing action of Italy was only fun once for him. <g>)

I'm not a big skiier (I barely know how to stop)- and we're interested in traveling somewhere a little different than our last big adventure - so Europe was crossed off the list.

We considered Hawaii, but that's also a nice family vacation with being in-country and with direct flights from Seattle. So we're pocketing that vacation for when we have little ones.

We considered going to the southern Caribbean as a honeymoon but were scared off by September's hurricane season. But after spending a little time (ok, maybe hours...) searching on TripAdvisor, Wikitravel, general Googling and travel book browsing, I'm starting to become smitten with the idea of crystal clear waters, a culture that neither of us has experienced, and learning more about this part of the world that we've never been remotely close to.

We're eyeing St. Lucia right now, but I'll keep you updated!

Could you say no to this?