Ah, but just think how very fortunate you are to have been able to make those beautiful memories! Try not to look at it as missing out on wonderful travel right now, but use the reminder to revel in the experiences you've had. It all looks so wonderful, robo! Paris in the mist is particularly enchanting!

Oh I am very lucky!

Here's what our harbour webcam looks like as of 11:45am...someone said they should just shut off all the webcams until June!

That looks like our sky here today. Rather depressing (and chilly), but then again our annual outdoor city arts festival begins this week and it's always, almost without fail, the crappiest of crap weather when that thing rolls around. ::sigh::

Well it's only 8:20 here but that's what our harbour webcam would look like as well. I'm hoping that by 11:45 it will be sunny.

Count yourself lucky being able to look back at past vacations as turquoiserose mentioned. My husband and I haven't had a holiday since 2009 - can't afford to.

I should add however - we have a big number in the bank for retirement and can't afford to do both.

hey, what are you talking about-- i don't see any snow in that pic!! lol

keep thinking warm, sunny thoughts :)

blfenton - I am very lucky! My inlaws also take us on vacation with them which is amazing opportunity for me. We're also childless not by choice, but one of the perks is we get to live the DINK lifestyle. I'm also more of a grasshopper type - part of the reason I'm not travelling this year is I took one too many vacations last year and my credit cards did not like that.

chispa, I have to say my LA trip was one of my highlight trips of recent years. I just loved the city way more than I thought I would and so enjoyed the food,art and architecture . The heat wave did NOT hurt! it was so hot I had to take the bus to Santa Monica one day to get relief.

March 2015

Two days and 3000 miles later

robo - Your type of travelling will be for my next life! :)

blfenton - I hope so too! Maybe in retirement? Travelling is a huge priority for me so it's probably my biggest expense in a typical year. But like I say I'm also a grasshopper so I probably won't be travelling as much in retirement. Or there might be a lot of bologna sandwiches in my future.

robo - LOL!

Eh, I always tell my young friends . . . travel! Travel now while you have the time and energy. The future be damned! I've been an ant for a long time and it hasn't gotten me anywhere. Literally. I go almost nowhere these days! SO says he wants to travel in his retirement, but we have to have the money to retire first, so it may never happen. So live while you're young, travel, travel, travel!

Robo, here are the captions for your photos:

1. Sunny smiley face

2. Frozen frownie face

;-)

I'm with you, Pinkmountain. I did a good bit of traveling in my young adult years that wasn't viewed as "productive" by my family. They thought I should have been working on my career. Fast-forward 20 years and there's no way I could take off and go where I wanted like I did back then. In addition, I've grown much accustomed to a good mattress and safe neighborhoods. When I traveled in my 20s, I slept on trains, boats and youth hostel mattresses, and found myself exploring some questionable neighborhoods with utter fascination!

I tell my kids, take your common sense and shoestring budget and make the most of your youth by traveling when you get the chance. By the time I have the resources to travel extensively again, I'll need an official travel guide and loads of ibuprofen and a massive budget to afford a decent place to sleep.

Robo, your credit cards will be fine. Those photos are great!

Unfortunately, I too am well past hostel stage. Comfy bed is a must, although I have been known to crash on sofas on occasion. I once asked my husband if he'd rather stay in a youth hostel or a bed-and-breakfast and he said, "I'd sleep in my car."

My in-laws, like many Nova Scotians and Canadians in general, are snowbirds who fly to Florida for the winter. When they first bought a place down there I thought I would never go as in my head Florida was just god's waiting room and could not offer many interesting activities. Now I love going down there as I find there is so much amazing nature to explore, and just seeing the sun in winter is a novel experience. Plus the lure of a free comfortable bed is hard to resist!

It's true. It is very beautiful down here....and coming from a cold and snowy place, the lack of gray and dingy dirty snow.... potholed streets... the ice cold weather.... it amazes me just how pretty it is.

Seriously, when I first moved here I could not get over the beautiful, lush tropical foliage everywhere and I remarked that even the convenience stores/gas stations are landscaped to the hilt. The highways all have sound barrier high walll that have beautiful reliefs? of all the gorgeous birds found here.

And that brings up the other thing I so enjoy here... the widlife! It is simply incredible..... I never tire of seeing it... and I still marvel at the sightings.

I feel like a little kid feels when at Disney... I stop and point, smile and marvel at the sheer beauty of it all.

That is about all I like, though. I find the constant heat to be relentless... I hate it.

I don't care for the political bent of the state... I hate the gigantic RED STATE attitude toward everything. I hate the non caring government... the total disregard for working people... never mind the abuse they heap on the poor! I see the middle class and fixed income retirees who used to be considered the states bread and butter.... the engine that drove all the commerce... disappearing.

The state seems only interested in making this another playground for the well, very well, to do.

As if they needed yet another playground... a playground with exclusive policies.

Anyway, happy birthday... I like the look and feel of wjere you live... just another thing I miss from up north, home. Neighborhoods....

I bet your party will be a blast... your posts always "shout" fun and enthusiasm!