holiday making

Listed below are the places and times of all the trips I took for vacations. The list is in chronological order, with the most recent trip on top. These are only getaways I took by myself for vacation.

Before 2000, I never took a trip on my own. Since the world was not going to get seen by me from home, I swallowed my inhibitions and ventured forth. It was the best thing I could have done. Had I not done so, my view of the world, and myself, would certainly have been stilted. As I took more of them, I felt more comfortable around a variety of people.

• new orleans [4] 2009 jun 18 – 23
• manchester 2009 april 16 – 21
• palm springs 2009 feb 5 – 10
• ft lauderdale [2] 2008 Dec 4 – 9
• las vegas 2008 Oct 13 – 17
• new orleans [3] 2008 sept 11 – 16
• seattle 2008 may 29 – jun 2
• chicago [2] 2008 mar 27 – apr 1
• ft lauderdale 2007 Dec 13 – 18
• new orleans [2] 2007 sept 13 – 17
• new orleans 2007 may 31 – jun 5
• dallas 2007 march 8 – 13
• Atlanta [2] 2006 October ?
• Atlanta 2006 September 14 – 19
• Chicago 2006 March 24 – 28

All trips above were long weekends. All trips below, except for the first were week-plus-weekends, starting Thursday and ending a week from Monday or Tuesday. There was a period where I was undecided about going anywhere. At least, I do not remember going anywhere. After the Budapest trip, I was pretty much over trying the week-plus-weekends type of trip. The long weekend trip is just long enough to enjoy, but not quite long enough to become bored of the place. Even for Manchester, the compromise worked well.

• Budapest 2004 Sept 25 – Oct 4
• San Francisco [2] 2004 March 27 – April 5
• Prague 2003 Sept 13 – 22
• London 2003 March 24 – 31
• Dublin 2002 Sept 14 – 23
• Amsterdam [2] 2002 April 27 – May 6 [queensday]
• Amsterdam 2001 Oct 26 – Nov 5 [not Sept 14 - 24]
• West Hollywood 2001 March 11 – 19
• San Francisco 2000 Sept 5 – 12

Please note that I do not include in this list my visits to NYC, of which there were three, since NYC is so close to home. Also note I do not include my extended visits to Buffalo, nor my weekend in Toronto 1997 December, since they were on business and, technically, not vacations. I included by Las Vegas trip, thought it was business, since it felt more like a vacation. I also excluded my visit to Des Moines, 2002 January, since it was for a wedding.