Travel

2010 was not a year where we did a lot of travel.  After Russia in 2008, we knew our next big trip would be Japan, but the savings for that got wiped out when we bought our new condo, so it'll be a few years.  We did travel to Maine to see friends we had not seen since 2006, and that was a blast.  As I said when I wrote about friendship, it's great to just pick up where you left off with people.  And their kids are great.  The two-year old daughter we'd never met had the husband wrapped around her little finger, and the son we'd already met is, frankly, like a smaller version of me.  It was a good few days.

In May, we flew back to Texas for my niece's wedding.  It was an emotional event, but it was fun.  Still freaky to see this girl become a married woman even if she is twenty-three years old.  I still remember the day she was born!  The photo above is what my sister was able to get displayed on the marquee of the theatre that is downtown but has been closed for decades now.  And we'll be going back in the coming May for my nephew's graduation from high school.  He actually turns eighteen on Saturday.  Now all that can make a guy feel old.

I also spent a lot of time in New York City.  Thanks to Priceline, I got some great deals on hotels and was able to spend the night a few times for the class I was auditing at NYU.  I love being able to take a train into the city so easily.

In 2011, we do not have any travel planned other than the trip to Texas (though we are hoping for a few days in New Orleans), but I may do some during the sabbatical.  I'm actually applying for a grant that will enable me to travel to Paris and Mexico City, place that influenced the artists I'm studying.  I worked on that grant yesterday and found a lot of information that will help me on that.  I will also be going in New York City a lot for archival work and maybe Washington DC for more.

Travel is our thing, and we plan to do whatever we can when we can.