MY Weekend Assignment

I am convinced that Scalzi's Weekend Assignment has been custom-made for me! Do you enjoy traveling? Not the arriving and being where you're going, mind you; I'm asking if you enjoy the actual act of traveling from one place to another, by car or train or airplane or whatever. What I'm asking is if you enjoy the journey as much as you enjoy the destination.

The short answer is YES. But what fun is the short answer?

I love journeying. I recently suggested to Scott that we drive up to Atlanta for a three-day weekend - one day there, one day at the aquarium, one day back. He didn't go for it.

Frankly, as much as I cower at the thought of being a passenger in a vehicle tailgating another (or screaming at someone through the open window... or cutting someone off and then slamming on the brakes just to prove that your penis is bigger. which is all strictly hypothetical, because my husband is a good driver and would never do anything like that), I love to watch the world go by. I love weird city names, lame tourist traps (c'mon... what could be better than 600 miles of South of the Border billboards lining I-95??), and all of the associated rest stops filled with funny hats and knick knacks. We did a lot of driving vacations when I was a kid. I had the whole back seat filled up with books, activities, pillows and blankets. To me, it was like having my own tour bus. And someday I'd like to meander along Route 66.

I also love flying, and riding trains, and even have some fond memories of Greyhound rides between State College and Philly during college.

And of course, my favorite type of vacation is cruising. There's nothing in the world quite as amazing as going to sleep in the middle of the ocean and then waking up in another country. And the best part of a cruise for me is standing along the rails and watching the water woosh by.

Extra credit: Any more travel planned for 2006, or are you home for good for the rest of the year?

Funny you should ask! In fact, this time next week I'll be somewhere in the Atlantic enjoying a romantic dinner with my husband on our three-year anniversary. And trust me, on a cruise whose only international destination is Nassau, it's ALL about the journey, not the destination.