Baby Steps! That’s my answer to the Big Question I am frequently asked. It was also the subject of a recent Booking.com email. When is your next trip? Where are you headed to next? Got any travel plans? I have a few thoughts.

After our month in Peru I was tired and very glad to be home, yet within two months the travel bug began nibbling at my toes and I started getting itchy feet.

The travel bug bites, but reality bites as well.

This is reality. My one-year-old grand-daughter has stolen my heart and I don’t want to be away too long at a time! We now have a home base in which rent is due each month. One of us is self-employed and the other has a job and a boss which determines when one can vacation – or not!

My grand daughter pictured here with the colorful doll I bought her in Peru.

Another reality. Winter in P-town can be wet, cold, gloomy and gray. Most of us living here are severely lacking in Vitamin D, the sunshine Vitamin. In the past I’ve survived just knowing a sun-break vacation was on the horizon.

The depressive affects of Seasonal Affectation Disorder, commonly known as SAD, are already symptomatic. We all head out in a few hours on a very necessary sun break to visit family in Tucson, Arizona and Palm Springs, California.

And after that? I’m taking Baby Steps!

1.  Save money. Cut expenses. Create income streams. (“Baby Steps” that would make Dave Ramsey proud!)

2.  Keep eyes open for travel deals and opportunities. Always remain flexible.

3.  Travel Research. It’s time consuming, but like they say, “Planning is half of the fun!” I start by reading travel blogs and forums and asking questions to create itineraries.

4.  Accumulate miles and points to redeem for future travel!

5.  Stay-cation. There are so many places worth exploring close to home. Whether near or far, it takes time to plan and execute excursions in the area!

Personal travel is harder to plan due to reasons already mentioned. I usually prefer longer, slower stays, but now I may be limited to shorter vacations or cruises.

1.  Presently I’m drawn to Mexico because it’s close, inexpensive, and has amazing food. Especially since reading one couple’s blog about a year traveling in Mexico. They now reside near Lake Chápala, Mexico. (Costa Rica, Panama, Belize, Dominican Republic are all options I’d consider too.)

2.  I really want to return to beautiful Portugal for a good long in-depth visit around the country (with a few European side trips.) We short-changed ourselves by not staying longer which has been confirmed by travel blogging friends Simple Travel Our Way who recently revisited Portugal.

Lisbon, Portugal

We’d like the whole family to travel with us to the Portuguese town of Évora, the town which shares its name with my grand daughter.

3.  Finally, we loved our 2-month stay in Chiang Mai, Thailand and want to return and explore more of Southeast Asia including Cambodia, Vietnam and Bali.  (Update: early 2019 we returned to Thailand and visited Vietnam – Link to Vietnam. Link to Thailand)

Will we love Chiang Mai the second time around?

Could another Round-the-World trip be in our future?

In the meantime I will work on my goal to acquire loads of Chase Ultimate Rewards points in order to redeem for Business-class seats. I have already opened a new Chase credit card and earned the 80,000 signup bonus points!

As I said… Baby Steps…

Thanks for reading and stay tuned!