Andrea/Cara here, in a traveling state of mind. That's because Pat, Mary Jo and I have been gallivanting around the British Isles after doing the RNA Conference in Leeds, England with Nicola. Since we're on the fly, and summer (for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere) is the quintessential time for for packing your bags and heading off hither and yon, we thought it would be fun to talk about dream vacations. Where to the Wenches yearn to go? Read on!
Pat: The whole world and maybe half the galaxy are on my bucket list, so this is a tough question. I want it all! But if I must narrow it down, I’ll choose Italy. I’ve only been twice, and just for a few days each time. There is so much history and beauty there that it might take years to explore and appreciate it all. I want to explore the art, the Renaissance history as well as the Roman, the countryside, the food! I do love Italian food, so I’d probably better not spend years there, or I’d have to be rolled home. There are so many places in Italy where I would like to linger that I can’t even choose which pictures to post!
Anne: I can't pick just one dream destination -- at any one time I might think, yes there! And an hour or a day or a minute later I think of another place I'd love to visit. I've done a fair bit of traveling in my time and the world is full of wonderful places. I want to sit in a hot spring in wintry Iceland, I'd love to meet up with Pat in Italy, I've always wanted to see Canada and north-eastern USA in the autumn, I'd love to visit St Petersburg, the Venice of the north, city of grand palaces and tragic history. But it's winter here at the moment, so I think I'll go to some place warm — Granada in southern Spain with its wonderful Moorish architecture, gardens and history, and the beautiful rugged mountains behind.
Mary Jo: Where would I like to visit? Oooh, tough one! Like Anne, I've traveled widely and liked everywhere I've visited. Twice I've set out to do a riverboat cruise in France, and the first time ended up cruising the Douro in Portugal and the second time we ended up on the Danube, and both those journeys were terrific. I'd love to take a sailing ship through the Greek Isles or spend more time in Italy or Ireland.
But what came to mind when I saw this question was another African safari. I've traveled in both South Africa and Botswana and both trips were amazing. I've been thinking of maybe in a couple of years traveling to Tanzania to see the great animal migrations, but I then I opened a promo email from Micato, the safari company we used for our wonderful trip to Botswana, and I happened to see this picture of Namibia, a wild remote country with striking geographical features--red dunes, wild rivers, and a feeling of being at the end on the world. So that's going on my wish list, and I'll hope to see some big cats!
Nicola: I have many, many dream destinations depending on the season, my mood, new places that have caught my interest and familiar places I’d love to re-visit. I’ve always wanted to go to Canada, for example, and next year I’m finally planning to make that trip, which is hugely exciting. On a more modest scale, my current dream destination would be somewhere by the sea, probably Lundy Island. It’s very hot (by British standards) in the UK at the moment and that always makes me think of beaches and sea breezes and far horizons. Actually Lundy, which I visited many times over the years, doesn’t have any beaches because it’s a rocky outcrop in the Bristol Channel halfway between Wales and Devon and as you can see from the picture, when I last visited it wasn’t as hot as it is now! However it has so many other amazing things to make up for a lack of beach: a medieval castle you can stay in, wrecks to explore, gardens to stroll through, a history that encompasses smuggling, piracy and puffins, springy glass to lie on to look up at the sky, high cliffs and sea views. Happy sigh.
Susan: At the risk of being predictable, right now I just want to go back to Scotland. I could get some research done, but really it's been a rough year in some ways, so I just want to spend some time in Scotland again. I've been there several times, and it feels like comfy home to me. Taking in the Highland air, soaking in some gorgeous and isolated scenery (here's a view of Loch Duich, taken by a friend recently) - that's all the dream destination I need! After a therapeutic return to Scotland, I'd love to visit Ireland, Iceland, Norway . . . France and Italy . . . Greece . . . those are all dreamy places for me. But for now, there's only one place that's top of my list! (photo by Drew Martin.)
Andrea/Cara: Pick just one? Noooo—there are far too many places on my Wish List to cut it down to a single dream destination! How about the top three—first of all, I’d like to do the cruise that leaves from Venice and travels along the Adriatic, making stops at the historic cities of Istrian and Dalmatian coast. From there it heads to Athens and Greek islands, with time to explore the classic sites of the ancient world, and ends in Istanbul—the storied crossroads city of East and West. I’ve been fascinated by these iconic areas of the Mediterranean and their rich tapestry of history since I was a kid, and would have to say that’s my number one dream trip. Second would be a safari to see the wild animals Africa before they disappear . . . and then a trip to Australia. But that’s just a drop of the Bucket List . . . I haven’t even mentioned Asia. So much to see and experience in the world!
Now it's your turn! Do you have a dream destination? (And since the Wenches can't pick just one, you're allowed to mention a couple!) Please share! . . . hmmm, maybe we can all charter one of those fancy cruise ships for a few years and set out on a round the world adventure. Of course, we'd have to have a second ship following us to carry all the books we'd need to keep us happy for those lazy days of reading in those comfy deck chairs! (Please forgive us if we're slow in replying—as I said many of us are traveling right now and will check in when we can!)
