I feel as though I was barely in London during March- this month’s activities have me questioning where the time went.
I kicked off the month with a week in Austin and Marfa, Texas. I’ll always love Austin, but y’all- Marfa really took me by surprise. I wasn’t expecting to fall so hard for a west Texas desert town.
My first weekend back in the UK, I headed to Oxford for a day-trip. That morning, I was still feeling tired from just getting back from the States earlier in the week, and almost didn’t go- but I’m so glad I did. Oxford is stunning. I’d seen photos, of course, but nothing can quite compare experiencing the city and campus’ in real life.
The next weekend, I took advantage of the beautiful spring weather to wander London a bit.
Then, I was back traveling again for a weekend in Paris to celebrate a friend’s engagement. On this trip, I’d planned on taking a day-trip to Caen, but train delays that morning would have cut our time in Caen by half, so we decided to stay in Paris for the day. It was an awesome Saturday spent exploring.
On that Sunday, I’d planned on going to a few museums before heading back to London, but had a pretty serious allergic reaction that landed me in a Parisian hospital for 7 hours. Not exactly how I’d envisioned spending the day, but it was just the reminder I needed to take my allergies seriously when planning trips, and ordering food where there’s a language barrier.
In April, I’ll be busy as well, taking advantage of both bank holidays to visit Sweden mid-month, and then Italy at the end of the month.
My travel plans for the year aren’t fully planned, but here’s what I’m thinking so far for #Take12Trips:
- January: Moved to London (!!!), weekend trip to Edinburgh, Scotland
- February: Weekend in Orlando and Disney World for the Princess Half Marathon
- March: A brief return to Austin and couple of days in Marfa, Texas, day trip to Oxford, and weekend in Paris
- April: Weekend trips to Stockholm/Gothenburg, and Milan/Venice (praise hands for bank holidays)
- May: 11 days in Asia, visiting Hong Kong & Japan, and possibly a day trip somewhere in the UK (Windsor, Bath, Cambridge)
- June: Weekend in Barcelona, possibly a day trip somewhere in the UK (Brighton)
- July: Cartagena, Colombia to officiate a wedding and Seattle for a bachelorette party / bridal shower
- August: TBD, thinking a weekend in Florence, Oslo, Prague, or Zurich/Geneva, and considering spending the bank holiday at the end of the month in Greece or Southern Italy
- September: Vancouver and Seattle for a wedding
- October: TBD, potentially weekend trips for a race in Lisbon, and planning on running a marathon in Dublin at the end of the month
- November: TBD, likely a weekend trip somewhere reachable with a short flight, or a weekend in the English countryside
- December: Weekend trip to Germany to visit a Christmas market, return to the States for a wedding in Philadelphia, then likely a quick jaunt to Mexico City for a bachelorette before heading to Orlando to celebrate the holidays with my family in the sunshine
WHAT IS #TAKE12TRIPS?
#Take12Trips in 2017 is a continuation of the only resolution I made in 2016- a promise to commit to doing something once a month. Anything counts- it can be dinner at a new place, visiting a new museum or spending the weekend at a cute B&B in the country. It doesn’t need to be an epic trip to a foreign country, just the chance to discover something new.
How about you? Are you planning any trips this year that you’re excited about?