WOW Word-Of-the-Week #292: Travel
February 28, 2010 by Susan Clarke
Travel – to go from one place to another, as on a trip; journey.
How do you feel about travel? Do you take vacations? Do you like going back to the same places? Do you dream of traveling to far away and/or exotic locations?
Travel means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. I started traveling for work when I was opening restaurants for Gilbert/Robinson in 1977. Those were the good old days of travel. Actually, travel was pretty much FUN up until 9/11/2001. Then everything changed.
In 2006, I logged my millionth mile on United and that has given me premier executive status for life. That means I automatically get upgraded if possible and can check bags at no charge. That has turned into a major bonus since who would have ever thought they would charge for baggage. Frankly it just may be cheaper to buy clothes in the city you go to and leave them there!
My husband Chris has flown a million and a half miles on Delta. He has lifetime status as well. So we now have a double bonus. And as for all those miles, we are in the process of using them up. Last year for my birthday we went to Antarctica. Several of our passengers were commenting that they had been to all seven continents. We realized that in all of Chris’ travels he had not been to Asia, except for Turkey.
He just retired in November, 2009, and wants to go everywhere. So we are off on the biggest travel extravaganza that we have ever had! Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and China for 7 weeks. If you want to know what we are up to, or have been up to, you can find out by going to my website www.FUN-damentals.com and click on my FUN-travel link. Chris takes pictures and I write the very short travel logs.
This week think about how you feel about travel. Do you have miles in your account that are waiting to be used? Where do you really want to go? What is stopping you from doing that? I hope you enjoy coming along with us and wish you many Bon Voyages!
Reader Responses
Big smile!!! So excited for you both. You should twitter your travel adventures too! Will definitely be logging on to your site to check it out. Have lots of fun … Warm Regards,Kay
Wow! Great pictures and good log. So where is the picture of you two on the elephant? I’m glad you’re having much better weather than Tahiti even if it’s smoggy. Talk about smog, wait until you get to China someday. They also have a Venice of the East in China. Keep having fun.Love, Elaine
HAVE A WONDERFUL TRIP!! That is quite an itinerary. So glad you have this opportunity – enjoy!! Mary
Is it a coincidence that travel and travail are so similar?:) John
I enjoy travel, especially with Kristen and the girls. Kristen is very knowledgeable about airfares, ground transportation, discounts, frequent flyer miles and layovers. She has been doing all of this type of planning for her bosses over the past several years, so it is pretty much second-nature for her. All I need her to tell me is where I sign to pay for everything, and we’re good to go. Our older girl, Erin Grace, is just like Kristen in that way. Not only does she love to travel, but she enjoys the airports and airplane rides. It is fun to watch her drag her Polly Pocket suitcase-on-wheels through the terminals. She loves it. Our younger girl, Emma Phoebe, is still getting the hang of everything. She is curious, and loves to look at everything around her – on and off the planes. I did not take my first vacation alone until 1989. I went to Maui for nine days, and it was the most peaceful nine days of my life. I can’t wait to go back with the girls. There are places we like to go every year: Naples, FL (to visit my parents), and Door County, WI (for long early fall trips). Those are the familiar trips we like to take annually. In a few weeks we will take the girls to DisneyWorld in Orlando. The girls don’t know yet. They just think we are going to Naples, FL, to visit my folks. We felt that with my dad’s recovery from a recent stroke we would only spend one day with my parents toward the end of the trip. So, we will fly into Orlando and spend time at the Magic Kingdom and do all the Disney things for five days and then drive to Naples to visit with my folks for one day, and then we will drive to Ft. Myers for the return trip home. I have NEVER been to DisneyLand or DisneyWorld. Kristen has been a few times. So, it will be an exciting event. Kristen and I went to Bermuda for our honeymoon. It was gorgeous. A great time. We will certainly bring the girls there one day. Kristen and I would love to go to Wimbledon one day. That is a dream of Kristen’s. And finally, as I have mentioned in previous posts, my dream vacation is Tahiti. That is where I want to go one day. Kristen is not too thrilled about it because of the amount of time on the plane. Me, I don’t care how long I am on a plane. Just to get away from civilization for two weeks would be ideal. We will see. As much as I like to travel, I am not peripatetic. I like our home base. I don’t like to hop from one place to another in my life. I like a stable home environment. Where we live now, the neighborhood has kids Erin’s and Emma’s ages; there are three parks within five minutes walking distance of our home; the schools are within two blocks of our home; and shopping is very convenient for Kristen. In fact, the stores are a five-minute drive from our home. So, it is ideal. Travel is fun because we see another area of the country, learn about other people and see things we have never seen before. Since the girls are at a very curious time in their lives, it makes it that much more fun. Great word, Susan. We will talk. Take care. “Warrior” Joe