I really like having travel goals.  It makes my constant daydreaming about far-off places a more manageable beast to control.  When I think about planning my next trip, which could be next month or 5 years from now, I have a tendency to get bogged down with all of the amazing possibilities that exist.  I mean, who wouldn’t want to visit Machu Picchu or snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef! My “bucket list” could fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool.  So I had this brilliant idea to narrow things down a bit. To make my wanderlust a bit more focused.  Plus, I really, really love this country of mine, and I know that there are endless places to explore and enjoy.  It would take more than an entire lifetime to fully experience each state, I do realize that.  My goal here is to tackle as much as I can (with a job, family, budget, and very full life outside of my travel obsession) in the next 10 years (yes, you can do the math, I just turned 40).

These are the reasons why I decided to start this blog on a cold and snowy day in Pennsylvania:

-          People have been telling me for years “you should write a book, start a website, become a travel agent, yadda, yadda”.  If I had a nickel for every time I heard that, I would probably have about a dollar.

-          I read travel blogs all the time & I know that I can do justice to the genre

-          With my goal in mind, I hope that I can help some other hopeless wanderers along the way who are looking for ideas, inspiration and some amazing family travel moments as we all journey through the USA.  I don’t mind using my family as the guinea pig for this project!

-          To show how travel is accessible for all, even those on a limited budget and those with young kids.  By showing how I accumulate and use frequent flyer miles and hotel points to make our trips possible for us, I hope that others can see that this is not just a “someday in the far off future” type of dream. If I can do it, you can do it to.

-          To force myself out of my semi-low-tech comfort zone and to teach myself some new technological tricks so that I cannot be outsmarted by my elementary school aged children, who already know way more about things like PowerPoint than I ever have! I need to figure out how to insert things like links and photos…I think I am already in way over my head here!

The plan is to write about trips that have already happened, trip plans in the making, and ideas for future travel.  I also like to remember my trips once I am home, and to surround myself with things that make me and my family happy (Bringing the Memories Home).  I hope to learn more than I teach, because to me, that is what makes any experience really worthwhile.