I’ll be in Florida when the last days of the 1000 Places to see before I Die calendar finishes its daily duty. I thought that I would look ahead, cheat a-bit, and put it to rest after a long year of showing off its envious travel destinations. So many of these I will never get to see, but at least I know they exist. The last day of the year is appropriately Times Square that I’ve been to many times but never when the ball dropped. I’m not sure I could stand the crowds or cold temperatures waiting in anticipation. I will also get to Indonesia this next year but our time will be spent in a Bali resort not diving in Raja Ampat. While flipping through the next few weeks, I was glad to see The Hague, Netherlands among the final pages, another spot that we’ll visit in the near future. We’ve already been to Croatia, nearby Haystack Rock, Lake Tahoe, and Florence several times, but need to get to Cinque Terre, located in yet to be explored Northern Italy. Stonehenge is a must-see, along with Nuremberg, South Africa, Bethlehem, Buenos Aires, and the Northern Lights. Other remote locations featured like Kenya, Uganda, Laos, Antarctica, Tunisia, and Chile hold less intrigue for me. I have mixed feelings about Nepal but would like to see Mount Everest and the Himalayas. I’ve never been much into outdoor or underwater adventures, so even a safari is not high on my travel bucket list. 

I did receive next year’s calendar in the mail yesterday from our new financial adviser. It was her predecessor who recently retired that sent us the “to-die-for” calendar last year at this time. After the premature death of this year’s calendar, it looks like next year will be filled with nature shots from around the world. It’s a sturdier version that probably won’t fall over as often, but sights that only a photographer would likely experience. I’m not a nature-lover and sadly don’t often stop to smell the roses. My travels seem to be more about quantity than quality, so this new calendar may be a stretch for me, but I appreciate the thought. As I turn its colorful pages, it may give me a new appreciation for nature.

My wife and I have been grounded for about 75 days since I flew back from Florida. She hasn’t been on an airplane since our New York trip 25 days before that. In this time period, we’ve sold our home and moved into an apartment. She’s also joined me in at least semi-retirement, so we’re anxious to hit the road. On Christmas Day, we’ll be in Orlando instead of traditional Indianapolis and without family for the first time in our 18.5-year marriage. We’ve escaped before on Thanksgiving, but never on Christmas. We’ll celebrate with a Roy’s dinner when we get there, and hopefully my wife won’t feel lonely and homesick after the loss of her mother and the distance away from her two daughters. We’ll be close-by my son and his family, but will not get together with them until after the first of the year. It will then be fun with the grandchildren at Universal Studios.

The Pineapple Express may be headed towards the Northwest, but we should hopefully get some drier weather in Florida, Las Vegas, and Phoenix during the first quarter of the year, followed by bucket-list Bali. This “homebody” will soon be away from the comforts and routines of my living room and faced with the uncertainty of rental cars, hotel rooms, and travel schedules. I will look forward to the change of pace and challenges of the road. It’s time to pack those bags!