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A new but rather conventional idea

O.K., it may not have the WOW factor, but Mary Duffy mentioned in her facebook "25 things" list that she loved Aruba.  When I posted something like, "maybe we cousins should go to Aruba," both Kathleen and Mary were enthusiastic.   So....is there anything really WRONG with a lovely Caribbean vacation with some of your favorite relatives?

Iceland

 

I agree it's hard to get excited about a trip without a terrific destination. Because the comments here have mostly been, till yesterday, about places people can't go or what would be fair and easy, I have not really mentioned this before. But now that we are talking about "Wow!" travel, you have my attention.

Dan and I did a press junket to Iceland last year and we hanker to go back. I have travelled to a lot of places – New Guinea, Australia, the Galapagos, Italy, Ireland, etc, etc, etc. I thought I knew the ends of the earth. But I was completely wowed by this trip.

Plus, we know the lay of the land, made friends with the islands most brilliant and coldly sardonic guide (Ari), and know exactly how to dress for the weather. We know the best places to stay and eat. I even have a favorite store. (And there were a few other things I wanted to pick up in Reykjavik.) Heck, we could probably get a pretty unbelievable, custom tours since we spent more than one wild evening eating Kanagaroo and whale meat and drinking the local glacier water (and a few other things) with the entire staff of the tourism board of Iceland– and it's US-based PR team.

I think Kathleen even knows the president?

But more importantly, Iceland deserves out tourist money because they are trying to save the world with clean geothermal energy. The people are brilliant, noble, and beautiful. They also speak perfect English – in addition to their own strange language, the last on earth to hail directly from Old Norse -- and love Americans.

I would love to show my kids a place that still looks like the world did – in places -- when Vikings were defying Kings and settling this hard scrapple landscape to avoid taxes. The place is a lesson in history, mythology, and nature. I would LOVE to go back. For that, I would find time and money.

Iceland is a 5-hour flight from New York, prices are dropping as the currency there is in a plummet, and the time difference is 4 hours ahead of Eastern. East coasters do it in a weekend. It's also not nearly as cold as it sounds. The weather is about like New England.

Read more before you make up your mind!

 

Dan wrote a piece about Iceland in his US Airways column. You can read that online here.

One of the other journalists on the tour with us wrote this marvelous travel piece about the trip here. Be sure and read that article and scroll down so you see all the pictures. Yes, that is Dan and I half naked in the waters of the Blue Lagoon. We can go straight there from the airport to soak, catch up, and recover from Jet Lag.

Can we go to Iceland? Please! Please! Please! Please! Please! Please!

 

There is not going to be one time that will be convenient for everyone, this has been a long and drawn out process with nothing being accomplished, lets just pick a place and a date and work from there and I agree with Martin, it should be a WOW place......How about Rome? it is a pretty WOW place??Any takers? Any other WOW places to consider??

The Votes are In

 

 

Nine people voted in the poll. And a clear majority of those want to go on this trip in the Fall or Winter of '09. Since it's already '09 – Happy New Year! – we had better get on it!

 

Dan and I can't go anywhere during the school year. So we would be limited to school breaks in that timeframe. What other limitations are there?

 

Are we talking about doing something for Turkey Day '09?! That would be fun.

 

Maureen, remember that place we all went near Yosemite? That was Thanksgiving wasn't it?

 

There is also a big school break around Christmas. (And I am READY for school to start tomorrow.) Is that a better idea?

 

I suppose we could take the kids out of school like we did for Ireland…have to be able to make an argument for the trip being "educational" though.

 

Okay, so that's our deal. What about the rest of you?

New Polls Up

Save everyone a trip to the blog, I put up three polls: One on where to go. One on when to go. And one on when NOT to go. If you want to see another date or destination added to any of those, email it to me and I'll add it. (But do that quickly if you want to catch it before everyone has already voted; these polls are live now and Dan has a head start.) The polls close on Christmas Eve so get to it or we'll decide without you! This is the last poll I'm putting up. Next, we get out a map and a calendar and start throwing darts at them!

--Christina

 

The Votes Are In

Okay, so the votes have been in for a little while and it's me who is tardy. The poll displays the results on the site, though. So you can see that 13 people voted and 11 asked for another vote. Okay! I'll put up another poll today – if I can remember what to ask. (After lunch though because it's lunch time, I think.)

Meanwhile, my book is in stores this week. That's why I've been distracted. You would think I would have nothing to do now that it's in print but that is not so…free articles, free radio interviews, free blog entries. All to promote the book. No wonder writers are broke.

You should be able to buy it on Amazon by Friday -- as opposed to pre-ordering as some of you (thank you!) did. Title: How to Be a Geek Goddess by Christina Tynan-Wood (that's me.) It would make a great xmass present! Anyone want signed copies?

Did I already mention the glowing review in the New York times? It's here. It's pretty great, the review. And I don't even know the reviewer!

P.S.: Dan is seriously pressuring me to tell everyone this stuff—over and over again. Normally I'm not so pushy. But he says he'll do it if I don't and none of us want that so…. J

Christina