Where did 2011 begin?

I can’t believe it’s already December! Where did 2011 go? Well let’s start at the beginning….

2011 began by bringing in the new year with friends in the Raleigh area,  and it started at a restful pace. Not for long though! The year was filled with jetsetting, roadtrips, and quality time with a variety of friends. My adventures were filled with travel for most of the year including:

• a spontaneous trip to historic Charleston in February with an old high school friend. celebrating a childhood friend’s “last days of freedom” at a Florida getaway weekend in March
• rejoicing with the same friend about her new stage of life in April at her destination wedding in Boston.
• the annual June whitewater rafting trip with a group of friends in the mountains of NC
• a long weekend getaway with my family in July
• time to be thankful at home with family and friends in November

This year has been a whirlwind of fun, family, friends, growth and joy and I’m looking forward to see how it will end and what the new one will bring.

Leaving on a jet plane

I’m sitting at the local bookstore, jamming to the tunes of Sia’s “We are born” and I have just booked my plane tickets for Labor Day weekend…4 and a half days to visit some cousins here in the South. And I can’t wait. For those who know me, you know that I plan well in advance, and so this trip is a bit “last minute” if you an call it that–3 weeks planned ahead. So be it, there’s something about the whole travel experience–packing,  possibly talking to someone new and interesting on the flight(s),the stopovers in different cities, and of course the vacation itself— that I absolutely love!

Surprisingly so, I haven’t traveled as much this year as I did in past recent years.  On this trip I’ll be able to re-visit  family in one of the states I saw some amazing caves at when I was a child, and I’ll also be able to check off having visited yet another state on my list ( halfway done with the US).  It’ll be great just to get away from the same surroundings and have some major R&R time. Can’t wait!

On that note, check out this site I was reading on travel tips for women http://www.journeywoman.com/travel101/MakingFriendsontheOpenRoad.htm. Enjoy!

P.S. Anyone else have some exciting travel plans coming up?