January 13, 2017 - Tanya's Trip to Lake Tahoe - Day 8 - Make your Dreams Come True Day - A Look at Elisa & Tanya's Travel Bucket List

Elisa's Daily Scoop
NEXT TRIP DEPARTS IN: 88 DAYS

Travel Bucket List

Hello, Hello.

It's Friday!!! and the weekend is upon us.

How was your week.  

Well, as we all know by now, Tanya's trip was very much a bust due to the storm in Lake Tahoe.

I feel sooooo bad for her, Cosette and Dominic.  Stuck inside and with limited outside activity all week.

Of course, looking at things from a positive standpoint, they were lucky that their condo did not lose power and that they had internet service.  Hard to imagine what the cosmic reason for this, but I'm just happy that they are all safe.

I was so excited to learn that today is "Make Your Dreams Come True" Day!!

Isn't this a great idea to celebrate!!

Although this celebration day appears on a number of calendars, I could not find a founding date or a founder.  However, I would have to say that the idea behind it is pretty universal.

How many times has each of us had a dream they wanted to fulfill, only to fall short or not even follow through.  And yet, there are so many people who have perservered and achieved the very things they put their minds to and reaped the benefits of their dreams.

So, in honor of today, we'd like to suggest that you celebrate by thinking of a dream you’ve been dreaming for a while, and then find a way to make it come true!

This is clearly eaiser said than done,  but you owe it to yourself to do something for YOU in your life, to prove to yourself that you really can, and that the routine of everyday life does not prevent you from dreaming big and realizing some of these desires.

Tanya and I have lots of dreams of our own!  In particular, it is our wish and desire to expand the reach of our blog to share our daily lives and personal travel adventures with as many people as possible worldwide, grow the Travelin' Cousins brand, and of course, TRAVEL, TRAVEL, TRAVEL!!  

All of our trips began and begin with a dream, and with small, consistent actions, we brought them to fruition by consistently keepoing our focus on the end goal -- the respective travel destination.

I think planning a successful trip is a good metaphor for any life journey to fulfill one's dream. And remember what C.S. Lewis said:
​
"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream."

Me and my cuz arriving in Budapest train station (July 2015) (c)travelincousins.com

In light of Make Your Dream Come True Day, today, we have decided it's a perfect time to share with you our respective Travel Bucket Lists and "Dream" destinations and most importantly, WHY they are on the list!

Here is my TOP 5 DREAM TRIPS

Israel

(credit: travel.nationalgeographic.com)

​I have always wanted to visit the Holy Land.  As a Christian, I can think of nothing more beautiful and meaningful than to walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ.

Aside from the relgious history of three of the world's major religions, the idea of visiting a place so very rich in history, with so many iconic places - all in the geographic area, the side of the state of New Jersey is just incredibly fascinating to me!!

ISRAEL (credit: gadventures.com)

Fortunately, I have a trip well placed on my calendar for Easter Break 2018 for me and the kiddies and anyone else interested in joining us!

​
Croatia

(credit: lonelyplanet.com)

My interest in Croatia (which turned into a bit of a MUST-SEE) started in the Summer of 2014.  

I was reading an article by a travel writer who had ventured on a cycling trip down the Dalmation Coast and I was hooked!!

I immediately told Tanya that this was a must-do trip for her and I and she happily agreed!
What got me going?  Well, a few things - the sheer beauty of the pictures; the small towns along the way; the food that was described and who doesn't love being near the sea??

CROATIA (credit: travelandleisure.com)

I was also struck with how very close it was to Italy, and particularly Venice - a day trip perhaps???

This trip is on the calendar as well - not a cycling trip, but instead a road trip for me and my dear cuz, for the Summer of 2018.


Sicily

(Credit: wanderingitaly.com)

As most of you are well aware, Tanya and I are both of Sicilian descent and very proud of it!

We have both the love of food, sense of family and the temper to prove it!

It is actually quite ridiculous that neither of us have ever been to the hometown of my grand-father and Tanya's great-grandfather, Taormina, Italy, with all the travel we have done.

So, we decided it was time to get something on the calendar immediately!  This island has so much history and culture that our trip will probably be anything but relaixng (although with the gorgeous beaches, I know we'll find the time to veg as well!).

TAORMINA, SICILY (credit: somekindofwanderlust.com)

Our trip is slotted in for Summer 2019.  With any luck, we may be able to convince other family members to join us on this heritage-based trip!!


Georgia

(credit: Argophilia.com)

Georgia is another place, that thanks to a lovely article in AFAR Magazine, I became intrigued with and actually fell in love with the idea of visitng, last Winter (2016)

For those of you that think of peaches and Atlanta when you hear the name Georgia, let me tell you that I'm referring to the country.

Situated at the strategically important crossroads where Europe meets Asia, Georgia has a unique and ancient cultural heritage, and is famed for its traditions of hospitality and cuisine.

There's been alot of unrest here throughout the centuries as it was the object of conflicts between Persia, Turkey and Russia.  This was all prior to eventually being annexed by Russia in the 19th century.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Georgia gained independence in 1991 and has blossomed into its own becoming a lovely travel destination.

GEORGIA (credit: CBW.ge)

What piqued my interest was the beauty of the countryside and small towns, the descriptions of the cuisine and the fact that it is not terribly commercialized, retaining many old traditions.  I just love visiting countries when they are at their incipiency of growth!

​I do not as yet have this on the calendar, but working on it being a destination for 2020.


Greece

(credit: enchantedlearning.com)

Ok so seriously? Does there need to be any explantion about why anyone would want to travel to Greece?

The sheer beauty of the islands, the food, the incredible history, which so much of our modern day civilization and language is based.

There's not much to say.  It's Greece!! 

(credit: fodors.com)

This is yet another destination that is not on my calendar. It's also somewhere I would very much like to travel with Tanya so we need to have a discussion about this for 2020 and beyond!


Don't you just love dreaming your dreams!!  Thankfully, I have the top three on my calendar for 2018 and 2019 respectively.  

Gotta get moving with slotting in the other two and many more!!

What are your travel dreams?  We'd love to hear about them! Please let us know.

Well, as much as I love the beginning of the week, I am so grateful that today is Friday.  I'm looking forward to a nice leisurely drive out east to the barn tomorrow.

So, I'll be coming to you from my favorite east-end Saturday hang-out - Tanger outlets with my sweet Punkin in tow.

Sending special wishes to all of you who are struggling to find your dreams - may you always dream big and may they always come to fruition!!

Cheers,
Elisa
xoxo

Tanya's Daily Scoop
CURRENTLY TRAVELING IN: LAKE TAHOE

This Trip was a (fill in the blank)

Greetings one last time from Incline Village, Lake Tahoe (Nevada).

We'll be heading back down to SoCal today as we need to get the kids back for a mandatory rehearsal for Disney - they will be performing at California Adventure on Monday, January 16th, 2017!

If I were to say that this trip didn't go as planned that would be a HUGE understatement.

If I were to say that this trip was a BUST that would be a HUGE understatement.

It was all of the above and so much more, or less depending on how you are looking at it.

Pic of the day (c)travelincousins.com

I've never been on a ski trip and not gone skiing!

I've been on ski trips where I've been injured and then could not continue skiing (or even walking) for quite some time. But never one with so much craziness as this one has had.

Let me catch you up on things:
Before we got here there was plenty of snow.
Then we get here only to find out that our room had been given away, causing us to downsize into a small suite and 2 of us having to sleep on the floor - with no beddings or blankets.

Then we wake up to the RAIN?! Which washes away the snow - totally weird weather.

Every day chore around here (c)travelincousins.com

But then the snow comes back with a vengence!
And we are here for the biggest storm/blizzard of the century.
Now we had too much snow & wind and no resorts to ski at (they all stayed closed to wait mother nature out).

We first didn't need chains at all, but then we did, then one by one they fell off the tires.

Then finally on the 2nd to last day it seemed like the resorts would kinda sorta be opened, the roads should sort of be clear and we could finally go skiing, but another storm had hit and all the roads were requiring chains once again and like I just explained - ours had gone bye bye.

At this point we desperately needed chains and the place that carried them opened at 10a.
Then I find out that they don't carry chains and referred me to another place that had opened at 8a - which means we could have go the chains early and still made it out to the resort.
But that's not quite the way it happened.

Oh and did I mention that as I was packing this morning that my trick knee (which pops out of its joint) decided to be tricky and I had to pop it back into place. Yea real fun stuff!
Thanks to that skiing accident that I had at the Canyons a couple of years ago.

Ohhhh the joys, trials and tribulations of being a skier.
Yea and being a planner doesn't really work that well when ski season comes along - the weather does what it wants to do and we take that gamble.

Apparently this time I had the losing hand.. 

Or did I?
I strongly believe that there was a good reason that things happened the way they did (as tough as it was for me to cope with and what the reason was I do not know), but I can't help but wonder what if...

And on that note let's talk about
Make Your Dreams Come True Day
and since this is Travelin Cousins, let's look at some of my travel dreams...

• SKI CHILE
• GREECE (read detail in Elisa's column)
• CROATIA (read detail in Elisa's column)
• SICILY (read detail in Elisa's column)
• PORTO, PORTUGAL
• TREK PATAGONIA
• IGUZU FALLS
• ST PETERSBURG
• RIO DE JANERIO
• HAWAII VOLCANOES NP (I'm going in May!)
• CHRISTMAS MARKETS OF EUROPE
• OLYMPIC GAMES
• FAROE ISLANDS
• TOUR DE FRANCE
• FINLAND

​Both Elisa and I have an ongoing list that can be found HERE

I'm gonna call it a day. Have a great Friday!
​-T