Planning a trip is like playing the lottery, but better. The time between buying that lottery ticket and the actual drawing is when the real magic happens. Where will you go? What will you do? The opportunities, the dreaming, seem endless. Once you win the lottery, you have got the money and you can use it on whatever you want. It is attainable. It is right in front of you. The excitement of the unknown is gone. Once you have arrived it is half way over. Dreaming about the possibility of what could be, for me, is what it is all about. Researching a destination, finding the hidden gems, learning the stories and the history of a place is like reading a really great book and knowing that at the end of the book you get to be in the story!

  When I was a teenager I dreamed of singing on Broadway. I dreamed of a life full of adventure and excitement. So I never quite made it to the Great White Way, but I have had many an adventure thus far in my journey. I have seen places and done things that many can’t fathom. Nowadays, the furthest I travel is an hour on the park way in each direction. The largest chunk of my life is spent sitting behind a desk. It is not the way I imagined it would be. Guiding tours through caverns carved out of volcanoes, was surely my destiny. It didn’t work out that way. But I am happy. I could change it all if I wanted to. I could chase those dreams. But, my dreams have changed. And surprisingly, I am ok with that. More than ok, really. Despite my daytime desk job, I  keep things exciting. I can’t not. It is who I am. But the truth is that for the majority of my day to day life I am limited to my reality. I am happy in the moment. I don’t live for the weekend or the next great escape. But, I sure don’t mind it. In the spaces between my busy days I will never stop dreaming of the possibilities.

“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.”