[TRAVEL] Upcoming trips ...

We have a lot of travel plans in 2014; even more than we had in 2013, and that's saying something. For the past ... counts backwards ... um, too many to count ... years we've spent 4-7 days soaking up the sun on one of the Hawaiian Islands. This will be the first time in those many years that we don't have a trip to Hawaii planned, which makes me kind of twitchy. Also, this year, we don't have plans to go to Tofino. GASP! I know, right? Unthinkable. While I would be happy to spend two weeks (or more) a year in those locations, I also realized that with limited vacation time and hundreds of places across the globe that we also want to see, we were severely limiting ourselves. So, this year no Hawaii or Tofino.

So, where ARE we going?

Well, first, we'll spend two weeks in May on an expedition cruise in Alaska with Un-Cruise Adventures, starting in Sitka and ending in Ketchikan.

Remember me mentioning Hawaii at the start of this post? Originally we were going to spend a week in a beach house on Hanalei Bay with my sister's family, but at $7000+ for their family to get from Ohio to Kauai, we decided to take a more responsibly priced trip. From one shore to another, we're going to spend a week at a waterfront cottage in Port Clyde, Maine.

The cottage we rented is a bit more rustic than what we had previously reserved in Hanalei in that there is only 1 bathroom (they're currently adding a half bath), and there is no TV. I think my nieces and nephew are going to go apoplectic, but it'll be good for them to spend time playing instead of watching crap Nick Jr. shows. I'm pretty much planning to eat lobster for every meal.

Because my company shuts down for Thanksgiving, and we're planning on being here for Christmas, we decided to cash in our Citibank ThankYou Network reward points for a week at the Hilton Hyde Park in London. We also cashed in a number of our Virgin Atlantic miles for an upgrade to premium economy on a direct flight from SFO to London. I am what you might call a Regency Romance novel expert so I'm especially giddy to be staying across the street from Hyde Park, especially as the Winter Wonderland market will be in full swing.

"London Skyline" by Tom Soper

"London at Night" by Immanuel Bloch

"London Bridge, England." by Keith Forsythe

So those are the big trips we have planned. I have no doubt we'll add in some weekend trips along the way, as well as a trip to Ohio in the fall to visit my family. In fact, we're already planning on going up to Yosemite next weekend for a quick camping trip.