it never hurts to have a fantasy, and it is even more fun to do the research on it, which is what i have been doing for the last couple of hours.
my cross country trip was the last of the great road trips and i am glad i went. when i was sitting out on my deck this evening chilling, i got to thinking about which places i had been that i would want to return to to just hang out, and san francisco is #1 on that list, followed by seattle and albuquerque. other places i would like to return to include sedona and other parts of arizona such as phoenix.
what i see in my head is sitting on a balcony outside of a house in san francisco. i don't want to go to a hotel. i want to rent an apartment for a week. i want to use the public transportation, explore some neighborhoods, cook when i want to, visit some museums like the palace of fine arts or take in a giants game. i want to go to parks, walk along the marina and bike ride too. i could take the muni to north beach and finally get into city lights bookstore and walk through washington square. i would find a jazz place, maybe even the hungry i if it is still open and doing jazz. i would get into the alleys in chinatown, not just grant avenue, and maybe go to one of the places that sells tea.
why go to SF? because no matter how many times i go there, i am relaxed and feel good. there is a vibe there that i can connect to. same for new mexico, especially in albuquerque.
so, can i afford that? yes, i can. i went online and found a site where people have houses for rent for the week or apartments or condos. i can get one for a week for $1000 or less. this is about what you would spend, or less, to rent a house at the beach. airfare and a car would be extra expenses, but i think i could do that vacation for $1500 or more. i could save up for it, squirrel the money away. it would be something to look forward to. i might even go by myself, although i can't picture myself doing that in reality, although in my daydreams i am alone. the only reason i wouldn't do it is because it would be a bit scary by myself. if i lived there, that would be something different. maybe pam will want to do that.
next summer will be seattle at shelley and bart's house if all goes as planned. that is the same thing for me, comfortable, in a house and you can come and go at will, walk, visit parks, go kayaking, drink coffee, admire the flowers and take off for parts known and unknown.
i do like to travel now, but not like i have been doing for the last 2 years. call those two trips life changing, but in essence, they were research for me. i now have picked out some places i want to return to. there are still 5 states left on the list to visit: maine and new hampshire, arkansas and oklahoma, and north dakota. i think i will try and get the north dakota done via a stop on an airline. pam wants to go to texas, so we could incorporate a trip to texas with oklahoma and arkansas somehow. i will wait until i can go in the fall to go to maine and new hampshire. i guess i have grown up on the concept of the beautiful new england falls that i can't imagine visiting up there without it being that time of the year.
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