the summer of travel

"Remember that happiness is a way of travel....not a destination." - Roy M. Goodman

"We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment." - Hilaire Belloc

For some people summer break is just on the horizon. The summer break I am talking about is school. For so many people they have a few finals left, or 13 days {my mom and lil sis are counting down} and some are even done already! For me, I am in my 6th out of 12 weeks, so I still have 6 more weeks to go. This will inch way into my summer but I will not be denied of vacation or any sort of adventure just because I have school. I am packing so much into these short months it is making my head spin.

1. Even though it may not be my break, I'm starting off the summer with a little road trip {leaving in 3 days} to get a friend from her semester studying over in Colorado.

2. So along with the papers, presentations, getting ready for my internship, and finals I am also playing on a softball team. Not one of those super competitive ones {thank goodness, because I am not the most athletic person in the world}, but just a group of us getting together and having a blast.

3. There are also 2 other road trips planned so far, one for a girlfriend's birthday party in Iowa and a retreat just north of the cities, not to mention the number of road trips to the cities to visit a girlfriend who is going back home for the summer {you know who you are}.

4. There is a family vacation planned for late June that will last 1 1/2 weeks with the parents, sister, aunt + uncle and cousins.

5. And to finish it off I am planning a trip to CA, 2 days after the family vacation. This will all finish before my internship starting late July.

6. I also do have a job , babysit a few times a week, 3 graduation ceremonies to attend, and have other various activities that I am involved in.

Wow, I thought my head was spinning before. It seems a little ambitious but when you only have 3 weeks of no school, it's all about packing it in when you can and this summer is definitely no exception. It seems that just about every weekend has some sort of large event from now till September!

These plans seem to be screaming the same thing at me, something I am not so good at. SAVING. I am not the best long term saver of money. I tend to spend when I feel like it and don't have the best plan, but I am getting better. I have been donating plasma which seems to cut down on my credit cards, so by the time these trips role around I will be doing fine.

"He who would travel happily must travel light." - Antoine de Saint Exupery

"A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving." - Lao Tzo

These will be my mottos for this summer. I always seem to pack way too far in advance {well that's some people's opinions} and way too much. But this summer I will really test out what it means to pack light. I am not exactly an expert on that, but mixing and matching will be the name of the game, as will going with the flow and not making definite plans. Can't wait for these new ventures!