I love to travel and only wish I could do more of it. My ideal vacation is one where I'm always on the move, and seeing as much as possible in as little time as possible. This requires some extensive research and planning prior to the trip, and there is nothing I love better. Forget about sitting in the hotel room flipping through pamphlets, deciding "where to go next" or "rest and relaxation". I can get R and R at home, and there are few things that put me in a more sour mood than being cooped up inside a house or hotel room when there is so much to do and see out there.
Sometimes I'm a bit overly ambitious in my planning, squeezing too much into one day, but I think it's better to err on the side of having to drop one thing from the agenda than to wonder at the end of the day if I could have seen more. My true exploratory and independent nature comes out when I'm traveling solo (usually on a work-related trip)-- in between meetings and seminars I'm riding public transit, jogging downtown, or taking a stroll at the park on my own. I absolutely love it. Any city with a good transportation system (D.C. takes the cake--- I'm pretty much in heaven) allows me to go everywhere and see everything. Public transit or not, one essential item that must be packed is a pair of running shoes. How much I can explore a city on foot! Even in the dark! Even without a map! It's glorious.
This week I'm in Minneapolis. I'm ready to get back to the warm weather at home, but I have to say that this city is quite attractive. It's clean, pedestrian-friendly, there are huge parks for running, free exhibits, and it's easy to navigate. Unfortunately I left my running shoes at home. I'm never doing that again. Oh well, at least I still got to see the
spoon and cherry.
