The blogsphere has been lighting up over the last few weeks with the travel plans of various PF bloggers. Well Heeled Blog will be doing a whirlwind tour around Europe; Jordann at My Alternate Life is visiting England; Krystal of Give Me Back My Five Bucks is going to Las Vegas; Young and Thrifty just came back from Cuba. Maybe it’s the winter blues, but reading everyone else’s travel plans have made me restless. I’m itching to travel again.

“I want to go somewhere.”

“We just came back from Ottawa” Daniel says.

“Well Ottawa doesn’t count. We go there at least once a year. It’s neither new nor exciting.”

“But you went on a cruise a couple months ago,” Daniel reminds me.

“But that was a couple months ago” I retort.

“You have a trip planned every month this coming spring!”

Oh right.

Grateful for the Opportunities to Travel

In university, I hung a giant world map above my bed. I put it there to motivate myself to work hard, graduate, get a job, earn money, and travel. At the time, I had only left the country twice- once to Disney World with my cousins, and once on a cruise vacation with my family. I longed to go further, to see the world.

Since then, I have been fortunate to have many opportunities to travel. Post graduation, Daniel and I toured the Middle East for a few weeks. When we married, we honeymooned in Paris and London. In 2011, we took a short leave of absence from work and explored Southeast Asia. On my maternity leave, we spent almost a month in France. Every year Daniel and I budget and save for a few trips and spend about a month on the road. Travel costs add up but travel is something we prioritize.

This year will be no different.

Travel Plans for 2014

My best friend is getting having her bachelorette party in Vegas in May. I’m joining four other girls for four days of non-stop revelry. I look forward to the glitz of the strip and the Bellagio fountain, especially after re-watching the Ocean’s 11 trilogy. I’d like to catch Cirque du Soleil show and ride the NYC roller coaster. I also intend to try my hand at blackjack- maybe I’ll win enough money to fund all our other trips this year.

Budget: Estimated $1200. We redeemed $650 reward points to cover cost of flight so we’ll be on the hook for $500. Holy smokes batman! The flight was expensive (probably because we’ll be travelling over a long weekend), much more than I anticipated. I hope to keep other expenses low.

I turn thirty this year. Taking a page from Eva’s (Girl Counting Pennies) book who celebrated her big birthday in Istanbul, I’ll be celebrating my big 3-0 in a similar jetsetter style. Daniel and I are going to Brazil in June- for the World Cup! I am extremely excited, of course. We’ll be spending two full weeks- sans baby, but with good friends (same couple who invited us to Ottawa)- watching football and tanning on Ipanema beach. Our trip is in the early stages of planning, but I do plan on going dancing and doing something indulgent on the actual day of my birth.

Budget: $7000-ish? Brazil during the world cup won’t be cheap, but we hope to find ways to mitigate costs, such as spending as little time as possible in the expensive Rio. Tips and recommendations, anyone?

Since Daniel and I are traveling to Brazil without baby, I really want to take a family vacation as well. The original plan was for Daniel and the little one to join me in Vegas after the bachelorette party, but flights were just too expensive to justify the trip. We decided to go to Washington, DC instead. We intend on travelling before the baby turns two in May which would mean a free flight for the little one.

Budget: $1000. DC isn’t too far and there’s plenty to do for museum lovers like us. Who wouldn’t love the dinosaurs at the Smithsonian!

Does renting a cottage in my home province count as travel? I usually argue it isn’t, but since our second annual summer cottage trip is funded by our travel savings, I’m including it in our list. Last year we rented a cottage in Tobermory with my family. We spent the week hiking and making campfires. We had such a lovely time, we decided to make it an annual tradition. This year we’re renting a charming home on 120 acres of farm in Prince Edward County. Prince Edward County, just a couple hours outside Toronto, is one of the loveliest places in Ontario. There are gorgeous landscapes, amazing beaches (Sandbanks Provincial Park), good wine and a plethora of small towns with their local culture to explore. My two little cousins from Hong Kong will be joining us for a couple of days and I’m excited they get the opportunity to experience nature and the outdoors (and possibly their first bonfire!).

Budget: $800. This was our approximate expenses for a cottage trip the previous year. It included accommodations, gas, and provincial park entry admission; it would be similar this year. We’ll be splitting the home rental with my family.

Somewhere warm next December?

We don’t have anything planned for December and I haven’t run anything by Daniel yet, but if I mention it often enough maybe he’ll start to consider it? Pleeeeeease?

In the meantime

With spring nowhere in sight it’s going to long haul before I get to scratch that itch. Until then, we’ll continue to have the same conversation every few days: “I want to go somewhere…”

Image Source: The Paper Wall, The Paper Wall, americapictures.net, The Paper Wall, Pawel Tomaszewicz Flickr