Living in a houseboat off the coast of Ireland, owning a castle/restaurant.

I like to travel.  Or, rather, I would like to travel.

I have been on three major trips in my time, along with some smaller explore-the-area deals.  I've been to Tennessee, Chicago, Louisville of course, and some other places, but the Top Three Major Trips are so far out of their league it's not even funny.  They're bad-metaphor big, these things.  We don't have all the money in the world, but my parents somehow pulled it off.  They're made of magic and awesome, mostly.

The first was to Washington, D.C. in either seventh or eighth grade, I can't remember.  We took a bus, maybe thirty junior high kids and a smattering of adults.  We slowly wound our way up to D.C., through some other historical sites.  I only really remember Monticello and a massive statue of George Washington in the American History Museum.

This sexy (awkward?) piece of president.

 What I do remember well is coming home.  Sleeping on a bus is hard to do, so I understandably wanted to get a good nap in the car on the way home.  Instead, I was greeted by my mother and brother and the news that we had acquired a new dog.  His name was Ted. Oh! And they hadn't told the Padre first.  Classic.

He's sly like a fox.  A fox that has Voldemort on speed dial.

So, understandably, I wanted my own dog.  I named him Goren, and he's now afraid of balloons and squeak toys, the knowledge of which Ted uses mercilessly against him.

Closet hypochondriac.

Which led us to a grand total of four dogs. NO END TO THE HILARITY, I TELL YOU. Or the mess. Or the fluffiness.

Totally worth the dog hair.

 But then nothing interesting happened for a while.  No more dogs, no more Sexy Presidents.  Until the summer after Tenth grade.  I received a letter in the mail saying I could go to Japan for two weeks.  I convinced my parents it was legit and TOTALLY WORTH IT. 'Cause I'm a nerd like that, mostly, but what can you do?

And then. For two weeks.  JAPAN.

And do you know what Japan is? Awesome, that's what.

The next summer I got another offer, this time for three weeks in Europe.  I was perhaps more excited this time.  Mostly because people would actually be able to understand me most of the time.  We went to England, Holland, Ireland, France, Wales, and Belgium.  Now, when I watch Harry Potter, I totally KNOW WHAT'S UP.

I am trapped in a phone booth. Second only to a Police Box.

 

And then, the summer after that, I got a job.  I was slowly going insane restocking CDs and DVDs.  I still haven't really gotten over the fact that I'm stuck in the states.  Small things can remind me of that, a scent from Tokyo or a meal from Paris.  Mostly it's the food.  We were asked why we were excited to go to Japan, or England, and my answer was always to taste the food.  Escargot in Paris, waffles in Belgium, Dutch cheese, actual Japanese sushi.

And basically the title of this rambling entry sums up what I want to retire to.  I'll never travel enough, and I'll never cook enough.  Whether it's thirty, or sixty, or eighty, this is the dream I have for myself.