Leaving On a Jet Place

I did not make a New Year’s resolution this year. I try not to. My tradition instead is to five of my hopes and aspirations for the coming year. It is something my friend Jenny and I started at the end of 2005 when I was desperately in need of some hope.

This year I carried over a hope I didn’t fulfill in 2006 - going abroad. I have always dreamed of being one of those people who budgets at least one lavish vacation out of the continental U.S. a year. Given financial constraints in previous years, that has yet to happen. It saddened me to realize the last time I was out of the U.S. was the summer of 2003. Not wanting to rack up another 365 days of continuous stay in the states, I carried over my goal of international travel to 2007.

I’m happy to report that as of Monday night, my goal has been halfway met. I have a ticket to Tegucigalpa, Honduras departing from Chicago, O’Hare on March 31 and returning on April 7. Of course I have yet to go, hence only being halfway there with my goal, but I consider booking the ticket one of the biggest hurdles. Especially since the flight all but disappeared from every travel Web site two seconds before I booked my flight. I later found when I called American Airlines that my travel companion, Kristin, bought the last seat for that advertised price. I learned from the booking agent that only a certain number of spots on each flight can be booked at a certain price. Kristin was the last to get that price. Thanks to the booking agents quick thinking, I reserved my spot on the same flight for $100 more, waited to see if prices changed over the next 24 hours and when they didn’t called to confirm my spot on our flight. It was a minor hiccup in what I hope to be a fabulous adventure south of the border with two of my favorite city gals.

For those of you wondering why Honduras, the answer is simple. My former roommate Sara is volunteering at an orphanage there until August. She is amazing and brave and wonderful for doing this, and I, for one, can’t wait to tell her this in person. I also can’t wait to scratch one thing off my goals for 2007. Next up: Paying off some debt. Thank goodness there’s no shortage of overtime at work right now.