Every year in March it begins. The anticipation. Thinking about it, planning it, dreaming it. The next trip. We begin to look at air fare based upon the dates we want to travel. Begin to plan what we need to purchase in advance. It keeps me focused on surviving the last cold days of winter and the transition into spring. It almost feels like awaking from hibernation, especially after the long, cold winter of 2008-2009. What books will I read? What new music do I want to listen to? What new towns will we visit and new experiences will we have in our ongoing adventures?
This year, we were able to obtain especially good airfares via continental from Newark to Frankfurt, also saving money on auto rental through Avis - a better and cheaper car than we anticipated renting if we landed in Paris. We have our house rental already set in a small town outside St. Remy, St. Andiol. This will be our third summer at this location. It is quiet and safe and allows dogs. Most importantly, the it has air conditioning, not easy to find in many rentals, but a requirement for my husband and me, especially since his business is HVAC. We will also have high speed internet access, another key necessity in this day and age of connectivity and running businesses from afar.
We begin to dream of having days of nothing or something - whatever we wish to make of it. Having what we describe as sleeping disease, a day when we do nothing but relax and sleep on and off, something we would never do at home unless ill.
We begin to dream of the scent of Provence, the lavender, the sunflowers glowing in the light, the rolling hills offset by the mountains, the food, the people. Every year we debate and analyze, should we go? Should we travel closer to home? What would we do? Where would we go? Would we relax? It is so far - is it worth it? Every year we arrive at the same conclusion, at least for another year.
