That  would be the Friends of Laurie Travel Calendar and it is exactly as the title describes – a calendar of many of my friends and their anticipated vacations/trips.  Okay, it’s not really a separate calendar just for vacations; it’s more like notations of dates and places on my Outlook Calendar.

As I write, I have a friend visiting the Grand Canyon, another at Lake Tahoe, and yet another just left on a family trip to Oregon.  One friend is driving to Charleston and then on to Hilton Head, while the Middle Peninsula is calling to another.  One just returned from the Outer Banks, and another from Australia; I have friends in the UK and one is anticipating a trip to South Africa.

        

 Hilton Head                                                                                Mathews County, Virginia

It’s just so much fun to live vicariously through my friends and their vacations!  Whether it’s a short weekend getaway, the trip of a life time, travel to visit family, teacher abroad programs or research/sabbatical work, I enthusiastically go along.  Today a friend toured the Hoover Dam (according to the itinerary) and I can not wait to hear about it!

       

Pompeii (background, Mt Vesuvius)                                                 London

I am often teased about my excessive organization … although the piles of shoes on my bedroom floor reveal where that organization stops.  I call myself the Documentrix (hee hee!).  These organizational qualities extend to “The Matrix” clothing record, the constant event documentation through photography, the flagging of events a year ahead of time – just so I’ll remember to start planning them for goodness sakes, I’m not THAT crazy – or the cards in the mail for birthdays.  I can just imagine the eyes that rolled when I announced that I was going to start writing a blog, too.

   

Yadkin Valley, North Carolina                                     NOLA … obviously!

Minnehaha Park, Minneapolis

Tracking my friends and their vacation travels is an activity that brings me joy, even if others think I’m obsessive.  The reason I do it is obvious, (at least to me).  I enjoy sharing my life and my travels with those I care about and I want to be able to share in theirs as well.  It never occurs to me that they may not want me involved – I suppose that the friends who don’t, keep their plans well hidden from me.

   

England                                                                                      Niagara Falls, New York

I ask to know when the dates of departure and return are, I check itineraries to see the plans for the day (I am currently following Becky’s itinerary of her trip through Colorado, Arizona, and California) and I save pictures that I receive by text.  If I know the date someone is leaving, they will receive a phone call or a “Safe Travels” text.  It goes without saying then that a “Welcome Home” text will also often be sent.  It’s ironic that despite all this planning and calendar watching, I really do enjoy spontaneity when I travel.

(Excuse me while I step away from the computer for a minute so I can send a text to Martha, who is leaving for the beach this morning)

       

Australia (that’s a Frogmouth  bird on Kate’s shoulder)                          Bermuda

Hawaii

Lest you worry, I do NOT ask for a memento, a post card, or a souvenir (although I am thrilled when I get a postcard, so keep sending them along!).   I have however been known to hold a Vacation Show and Tell Party – a pot luck dinner and drinks, complete with photo projector and all guests sharing a short slide show.

        

Laramie, Wyoming                                                                         Key West, Florida

I love to see pictures of friends perched on the edge of the Grand Canyon, playing in the water at the beach, and looking for Sea Lions off the coast of California.  I’ve enjoyed hearing about wine tastings from as far away as Italy and as close as the Yadkin Valley of North Carolina.  The view from a Gondola?  Tell me about it!  Time with family in Damascus?  Send those pictures by text!  A quiet week on the lake?  I want to feel your peace vicariously.  By plane, train, auto, bicycle or motorcycle … I want to share in the adventures of those who have taken a well deserved break from work.

  

From the edge                                                                     From the gondola

   

San Simeon, California                              Lake Tahoe, California

I avidly read and often reply to the blogs my friends write and I particularly loved the words and pictures from friends who stayed in Cornwall for 6 months and from one who hiked over 200 miles on the Appalachian Trail in Virginia.

                     

Along the Appalachian Trail        In the trees, Primland , Meadows of  Dan, Virginia

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page” (St. Augustine)

My friend Donna shared that quote with me and it surely fits this blog entry!  Since I may never get to see some of the places that my friends visit, I will continue to “see”  them and “read” about them through the eyes of my friends.   How lucky am I to have so many who are willing to let me travel along with them and who are patient enough to put up with my enthusiasm!

Mt Rainier, Washington