Travel Planning

So I’m doing one of my favorite activities…planning travel. I’m heading back to Ireland in March. Yes St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland ! What fun this will be. We’re planning from the 12th-24th . I’m secretly hoping to get over to Berlin and London as well…flights from London are dirt cheap if we book far enough in advance. Accommodation will be free in Ireland and England (if we stay with my Aunt in Croydon) . I’ve never been to Berlin and think it would be fun to go for a wee bit of beer drinking.
Since I’m working for a hotel I may not be able to travel again this year since we’re restricted on numerous days off.
I enjoy the planning part almost as much as the travel itself. I look at travel books for the places I intend to visit, learn the language ( “please” and “thank-you” ) goes along way. I see myself as a goodwill ambassador as well. I try to get people to warm up to Americans…our foreign policy has really hurt our standing in the world (IMHO). It amazes me how Americans are viewed with utter disdain in some places. Last year I actually saw a billboard in Croydon that read “Nothing Good has Ever Come out of America” I’ve had so many discussions with people in Ireland, England and Holland regarding our country and president…I’ve fared quite well in convincing people I’ve met that we’re not all war mongering, arrogant(in a bad way), wealthy(in a bad way) loud, stupid people.
I do love going to Europe…the history is amazing and meeting new people is one of my favorite activities.
I’ll be pouring over travel sites, looking for festivals, shows museums of note and my favorite band Aslan to see where they’re playing. March is considered “off-season” so the flights are cheaper and the places are less crowded. I'm trying to get over on miles from my good sister. We'll see.

Very excited right now. :-)