Many of you would have heard of the term ‘scope creep’…if not, then reading this would give you an idea.
Having nailed the destination, we started talking about the places that we would like to visit…on our trip. Literally we took out the drawing board to define a scope.
8 visits to 3 different public libraries; 14 borrowed books; 11.27 hours of reading; 2 scribbled notepads later…we saw ourselves eyeing scope to really look like SCOPE!! Yes it was no longer a micro-scope but a hugely different macro-SCOPE! And why was it ‘creeping’…because originally it was supposed to be a 5 day travel itinerary to 3 places in the Canadian Rockies…and after scope re-determination, it is now a 10 day travel itinerary to 8 places both in Alberta as well as British Columbia, both in Canada as well as in the United States!
Lesson learnt – having a budget and a scope is a good idea…when you decide to put pen to paper, at least DOUBLE it. 2nd lesson, try not to borrow too many travel books from the library!
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Saturday, April 22, 2006
The PLAN...
Ah! Yes, there has got to be a plan!!! I am sure many of you reading this, (you know who you are), can identify yourselves with the planner inside of you! I am no different, what can I say, I love to plan.
Planning a trip, for me, is half the fun; it inspires me, motivates me, and gets me walking on the double. I have to admit, I might be slightly addicted to it…but there is nothing wrong with that, do whatever it takes to get your creative juices flowing. And once you have the plan…go bonkers with it!!!!
I know, I know what some of you are thinking, where is the spontaneity in that? Well…hopefully reading future travel journals posted here, will give you a slight insight into what I meant by going bonkers with the plan!
Back onto the subject, what is the plan…well, coming up with the decision to incorporate travel into our lives, was one thing…thinking of the first place to visit as part of it, was something else altogether.
It is only then that you realize, not how big and vast the world really is (I think we all have come to know that) but…how much vacation your employer can REALLY approve with or without pay!!
You have guessed right, we don’t belong to the so-called ‘baby-boomer’ generation…not at all, in fact we are the ones paying for them to go on several such trips...without them having to ask the 'employer', 'vacation' or the 'pay' question(s)!!!
To cut a long story short, where to travel, ended up becoming a far greater discussion than whether to.
So we pulled out the WORLD ATLAS… (just kidding)!! Being, that we live in the United States, and perpetually short on vacation, we narrowed our choices down to three:
1. National Parks in Canyon Land (Bryce, Zion and the Grand Canyon)
2. Rocky Mountains in Canada
3. Machu Picchu and the Andes in South America
Short of drawing straws or pulling a number out of the hat, a cozy warm booth at the California Pizza Kitchen became witness to our triumphant moment, when we both decided on choice no. 2 – the Canadian Rockies.
The emotion that day– that of a 4 year old when she was told, she could have a double scoop chocolate-vanilla ice-cream…a very special memory.
Planning a trip, for me, is half the fun; it inspires me, motivates me, and gets me walking on the double. I have to admit, I might be slightly addicted to it…but there is nothing wrong with that, do whatever it takes to get your creative juices flowing. And once you have the plan…go bonkers with it!!!!
I know, I know what some of you are thinking, where is the spontaneity in that? Well…hopefully reading future travel journals posted here, will give you a slight insight into what I meant by going bonkers with the plan!
Back onto the subject, what is the plan…well, coming up with the decision to incorporate travel into our lives, was one thing…thinking of the first place to visit as part of it, was something else altogether.
It is only then that you realize, not how big and vast the world really is (I think we all have come to know that) but…how much vacation your employer can REALLY approve with or without pay!!
You have guessed right, we don’t belong to the so-called ‘baby-boomer’ generation…not at all, in fact we are the ones paying for them to go on several such trips...without them having to ask the 'employer', 'vacation' or the 'pay' question(s)!!!
To cut a long story short, where to travel, ended up becoming a far greater discussion than whether to.
So we pulled out the WORLD ATLAS… (just kidding)!! Being, that we live in the United States, and perpetually short on vacation, we narrowed our choices down to three:
1. National Parks in Canyon Land (Bryce, Zion and the Grand Canyon)
2. Rocky Mountains in Canada
3. Machu Picchu and the Andes in South America
Short of drawing straws or pulling a number out of the hat, a cozy warm booth at the California Pizza Kitchen became witness to our triumphant moment, when we both decided on choice no. 2 – the Canadian Rockies.
The emotion that day– that of a 4 year old when she was told, she could have a double scoop chocolate-vanilla ice-cream…a very special memory.
A New Beginning...
I am blessed to be married to a great guy who is also highly spirited and greatly adventurous. Being a 'Capricorn' might have something to do with it.
Anyway, it was funny how the thought occurred to both of us almost at the same time...we both immensely enjoy traveling and we wanted to plan that into our lives...instead of being the occasional weekend vacationer.
Having lived on one end of the globe for most of my life, and now on another...traveling wasn't something foreign, in fact being raised in a military family might have played heavily into this outward desire to see more of the world.
The bottom line is that the seed of that thought has taken root, we have a plan to start this journey together...and hopefully this will be the first of many to follow...each spirited and enriching in its own way. The birth of this blog is also the outcome of new beginnings...who knows how far this journey takes us...but at least its a start!
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