It is exciting to think about destinations for a three-month trip. But it is also overwhelming. As I considered possibilities, I felt like a terrier confronted with a rapid-fire ball machine. Oooh, there’s one! Oh wait, how about that one? Oh my gosh, there’s ANOTHER nifty one over there! I thought I needed to chase down every possible destination.

I’d like to say that we carefully considered many locations based upon interesting criteria, like local cuisine, or fascinating historic significance, or unique local culture. But after a dizzying month of considering far too many options, we made an uncharacteristic decision: we would not research. We would not analyze. We would just choose three countries that immediately appealed to us, and consider our destination plan complete. How spontaneous of us! How daring! We felt great. Apparently research and analysis can be overrated.

In the end the decision was simple: Bob speaks a little Spanish, so we would go to Spain. I speak a little French, so we would go to France. And we both love to ski, so we would go to the Dolomite range in Italy where there are endless interconnected runs, spectacular scenery, and, well, I guess we will find out what else!

Sally