Taking on New Adventures

I realized this morning it had been a few months since I’ve written anything. To be honest, the year has been busy. But it’s also been pretty travel-light. I took my first flight of the year the first of March, which is very unusual for me! It’s been so busy that Chuck and I have not even done any car trips.

But that should change as the weather warms up and we get some things on the books. We recently booked our flight for our summer vacation to Sint Maarten and have a few other trips in the works to coincide with his work travels. Overall, my goal for this year is to hit up at least two spots I haven’t been before, even if they are only within driving distance.

That said, it’s hard to plan too far in advance due to the changing nature of his work trips. Many are scheduled a week or even less in advance. And while we have a tentative calendar of dates and locations, those change so frequently that it’s hard for me to plan out and book flights. So we try to do the best we can to get me to some fun locations for a total change of scenery!

This year, I’ve only been to New York for a few days of fun with friends with some work added in. To be honest, it was underwhelming thanks to the rainy weather. Having lived there, I don’t need to do anything special. I just enjoy walking around and popping into places as I see them. Chuck has the same mentality as me when it comes to NYC, which makes it fairly easy when we travel there.

We were there for 3 full days and one half day. The first day was rainy and cold so we spent most of the day in a bar watching sports and drinking some beer. Then we got ready for Jenny’s 50th birthday party. We ended up staying out pretty late (for us!) with my friends and having a great time. We actually ended our night at a little Irish pub on the UWS that I had been to a few times before.

Sunday in NYC was beautiful and we spent the day roaming around Midtown, shopping, eating and drinking beer. We ended the day with dinner at a friend’s place and did some more catching up.

We spent Monday and most of Tuesday before heading to the airport at our jobs, so no exploring. But I did manage to get in a good Italian dinner on Monday night. Chuck was amazed at how packed the restaurant was on a Monday and once we figured out a lot of the people were locals, we knew it was a good one. And it was! Those types of meals are what I fondly remember about my 8 years in the city.

While we may head back to NYC for another trip this year, we have so many other places to explore. There are possibilities on the west coast, including a return to Kaua’i, as well as hitting up the PNW in Portland and Seattle. I’ve never been to Oregon so would love to cross another state off my list!

We also have a few Florida beach trips we want to take to explore a potential retirement location. But overall, this is the year where we “wing it” and try to make the most out of any fun trip we can manage to squeeze in.

So 2024, while we are already 3 months in, it’s time to pick it up and show us some new experiences!