A Little Wanderlust...

My parents did take me on very many vacations growing up. In fact, they took me on one, I believe, a weekend trip to San Antonio. Otherwise my trips were to Mississippi to see family or trips from church (though I had some great opportunities through those), and then there were two vacations I spent that my aunt and uncle took me on (Washington D.C. and Destin). Otherwise, we spent a lot of time doing all there was in Houston, which was fine. And while I've seen more of the country and world than some I know, I definitely have a ton left to see.

When I get stressed out, I usually like to picture myself at a tropical or beachy locale. Or when I feel like I need something completely different from the norm, I want to run off to Europe. But lately, I've been dreaming of some vacation spots that I had never really considered before.

1. Seattle area

I decided to work on an old story, which I had originally set in Tennessee, with the main characters having just moved to Bell Buckle. However, I started thinking about merging ideas from another (and much older) story with it, which would involve ice fishing. So I started considering more Northern locales, and decided on Washington, mainly the Seattle area. So I researched the area and it piqued my interest. I learned that there are actually islands within the state of Washington thanks to the Puget Sound. I thought about what it would be like to live on one of those islands, created a fictional one in my mind, and my story was reborn. Now I feel I need to explore the area for a true feel of the area... you know, just pure research. :)
(Though I think I'm dumping the ice fishing idea after all...)

2. Canada (by train)

Garrett randomly mentioned to me that there was a train that traveled through Canada and hit all the major cities, and that it might be cool to check out one day. Then a few days later I found myself talking to a co-worker about the idea of traveling through Canada by train, which led to a day of me researching the options for such a trip and getting excited about it like I was leaving the next week. There is even the option of riding a in a train car that has high, wrap-around windows so you can get a full view of the scenery around you. It just sounds gorgeous, not to mention romantic. And how often do you get to travel by train?

3. New England

I haven't looked much into this yet, but one of my co-workers just came back from a New England/Canada cruise and was telling me about it today. The two ports they hit in New England were Boston and Maine, both of which she said she loved. And suddenly I was seeing old houses, lighthouses, stone streets, and rocky coasts in my head. So it has been added to the list of places to see one day...

Any new places piqued your interest lately?