Our Destination Next

When it comes to selecting our next trip, we make that decision a big part of the adventure.

I never really traveled a lot. Work and life kept me grounded in Minnesota. Sure, I would travel occasionally when I worked in the media world, but for the most part, my boots never strayed too far. Tanya, on the other hand traveled a lot. Like she's an expert level traveler. She's navigated all 50 states and has been to 15 countries. I love that she has seen the world and very much leads us when it comes to the knowledge of the travel game. We have been asked "How do you decide where you are going next?", which is a really good question. The answer is the same as everything with us. Together, with a ton of thought that goes into everything. When we make our trip to Jamaica in the spring of 2024, I took the lead in working with a travel agent. We knew we wanted to get to a warm destination and our options were plentiful. I had never had a passport so we needed to work through that process. Outside of a radio misadventure where I mistakenly ended up in Canada on my way to do play-by-play of a high school football game, I had never been out of the states. I'm not sure why, but the process of getting a passport always intimidated me. It was so easy and within 12 weeks, I was ready to see the world. It's interesting working through a travel agent. She gave us options in Jamaica including a Sandals Resort which I had seen advertised and looked really cool. I had no idea what to think about the price which was a rookie move. Good thing Tanya had experience in that realm. She asked me to check into a Riu with our agent and when we received that quote back, that's the direction we went. As a side note, the Riu was literally two football fields from the Sandals on the same beach. Tanya has taken the lead on the majority of our trips including our Alaskan Cruise through Carnival. That trip was an easy one to decide on as it was her 50th state visited for her 50th birthday. A complete no-brainer and each of our first Cruise through Carnival. Tanya had been on a smaller cruise and had experience on the water.

Wheel of Adventure:

For the most part for me, I'm seeing things for the first time no matter where we go. I've brought up that we should make a "Wheel of Adventure" and put various destinations on there and spin away. Where ever it lands, that's the trip we plan. I think it would be sort of fun. There's not shortage of places to go.

When it comes to travel by car, typically we have a plan that includes one or ten Goodwill stores. In addition to travel, our second obsession is up cycling things at a thrift store. We try to not make any trip overly stressful. There will always be stresses that can't be helped, but we are both conscious about the things we can control versus the things we can't. Sort of a roll with the punches type of thing. The Journey Beats the Destination: I subscribe to the theory that the journey is better than the destination. When it comes to travel, I always look forward to "getting there". What I have learned is that getting there is a bigger piece to a trip than the trip itself. When we went to Hawaii in 2023, the fun part of that story for me will always be the unbelievable way I actually got there. It was truly unexpected and even though the island of Kauai was breathtaking, the thing that sits at the front of that trip for me is now I got there. However you select your next trip, make it fun and that process part of your adventure. You never know when something will pop up that will leave you with a memory you will remember for a lifetime! In the meantime. we're already planning our next Great Adventure! Cheers! Tanya & Doug