Vacation Blogs

I've decided to use this blog as a place to record our travels as well.  We (okay I really) try to travel as MUCH as humanly possible, and try to drag Ryan along with me.  I secretly think that someday he'll look back and be really thankful that I made him go to all these places with me.  :)  We travel pretty frequently - try to only fly American (yay for Gold Status!) - and get in about 1 vacation (of at least a week) each year.  Working in the motorcycle industry means that some travel is built in - dealer meetings, AMA and MotoGP races, and occasionally an international show.  So we get probably 3-4 trips per year away from home.  

I am kind of a drill sergeant when it comes to travel.  I like to research the destination to death, and know where exactly to go each day.  Especially on international trips, my theory is that we should see absolutely as much as possible, and all the famous landmarks, because who knows when we'll be back?  I probably buy 4 or 5 travel guides or books about each place before we get there, and sometimes I've been known to buy the Rosetta Stone for the language spoken in the particular country we're headed to.  It may be a bit of overkill, and I can't remember anyone ever saying how FUN a trip with me has been, but by God, we've got the photos to prove we were there!

One of my New Year's Resolutions is to try to be more easygoing in general.  I can be kind of a high-strung individual, so this is definitely a goal I'd like to achieve, strictly for my mental sanity.  Well, we are traveling to Vietnam in February with a group of Ryan's buddies.  One of his friends (well, I mean, they're my friends too, but I met them thru Ryan) is Vietnamese, and has organized this trip to go with him to visit!  I have been warned that this trip is COMPLETELY a go-with-the-flow style vacay, and I am kind of at a loss.  I mean, I have gotten our visas squared way, plane tickets organized, a hotel room booked for when we are on our layover in Tokyo, and researched ultralight packing to death.  And that is really all I can do.  And it's driving me batty!  But I'm going to give it a whack this trip - Ryan and I usually only travel with a carry on, no matter how long our trip is scheduled for.  This one is no different - we are each taking about a 40-45 liter backpack and that's it.  So I guess I can super plan how to get all we'll need for a 2-week vacation into one little bag.  So I've got that going for me.  Ha!

Also, since I'm new to blogging, I'm going to try to really capture our time in Vietnam by camera and blog about it when I get home.  I've planned an excursion to the photo store this Sunday to look at getting some new lenses to use on my camera.  I'll let you know what I find!