We all think about our dream vacations, places we really want to see while we have time on this earth.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve perused cruise websites, even though we are YEARS from being able to have an adventure like that.  Still, here are a few places I’d like to visit in my lifetime.

Grenada.  They have nutmeg plantations, and I love nutmeg.  Also, it’s in the Caribbean, so that comes with a whole host of other benefits, like beaches and turquoise waters and warm weather.

Greece.  I also love Greek food, and I feel like our annual trip to whichever is the most local Greek festival gets us some pretty authentic dishes.  We know it’s all the Greek grandmas cooking pans and pans of pastitsio and spanakopita, using old family recipes that were only handed down by oral tradition.  But I’d also like to see Greece.

St. Kitts & Nevis. Back to the Caribbean, and full disclosure, I’ve already been to St. Kitts, twice.  My husband and I stopped there on both of our cruises.  But…we were on cruises, so we had to be back on the boat by 5pm.  I’d like to spend TIME in St. Kitts.  My husband’s grandfather served there in the Peace Corps, so I think we both felt a different connection to it, but we only got to experience a small part of the culture and the sights.  Spending time there would also allow me to get over to Nevis, its sister island, and the birthplace of Alexander Hamilton.  (My undergraduate senior thesis in 2004 was about Hamilton’s abolitionist views, so I liked him WAY before he got so popular!)

The Northern Lights. True, this isn’t a place, but even though I hate the cold, someday I’m going to bundle up and put on my big girl (snow)pants and go somewhere that I can see the aurora borealis in its full glory.

Houston & Galveston. I’ve been mildly obsessed with the Space Race since I saw Apollo 13 in theaters as an eighth-grader, so a visit to Johnson Space Center is a must.  And I’m completely intrigued by the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, and in reality, many historic weather events.  Have I ever mentioned that in high school I was seriously considering a career in meteorology?  I’d love to go to Galveston and see if any stories start speaking to me.

Salem & Boston. I know Salem has capitalized on the witch trials and made it into a bit of a tourism gimmick.  But I would like to go there because I’ve traced my dad’s ancestry back to a couple living in Salem in 1735, Joseph and Elizabeth Henderson.  I’d love to find out more about them and maybe even see where they are buried.  And Boston is another place I’ve been, but I went with my family the summer I turned eight years old.  I deserve to visit this revolutionary city again as an adult, when I can appreciate it more (and make the itinerary!).  But I’ll forever be grateful to my parents for taking us there because I can trace the exact moment I fell in love with history back to that summer of 1990.  I’ll write more about that in my next post, so be sure to check back!

This is certainly not an exhaustive list, but they’re the places on my mind most often.  What are some of the destinations on your bucket list?