We rarely do big trips through the summer months - with no children, we're not tied to school schedules and have found that going during the school year is usually much cheaper and far less crowded in most places.  And, unless it's somewhere very cold, the weather is better (can't stand the heat).  This summer would definitely present problems getting away as I'm coaching at 3 different cheer camps and have also committed to some other activities through my other job ventures.  We do have a graduation party to attend in upstate NY on the lake where we always travel, a wedding near Richmond (Virginia), and I may go up to the Belmont Stakes (near NYC) in two weeks. 

I was supposed to go to Australia and Tasmania in September with a mission group through one of the churches I work for but the powers in charge of making the arrangements reduced the time from 19 days to 9 days, 4 of which will be strictly travel days.  There is no way I'm paying more than $2,000 for less than a week in the actual country, especially when the last time I was there, I was extremely jet-lagged for the first several days after arrival.  No way!  So I availed myself of an opportunity with the sports-wear company to tour the Olympic venues and sites in London instead.  I'm also making tentative plans to travel to Senegal (West Africa) to visit friends in the mission field near Dakar.  And have decided I need to get myself to Israel sooner rather than later just in case the border issue gets forced (not that I'm interested in endangering myself in the disputed territories but who knows what might happen to the entire region if things get any more unstable).  Then of course there are always the long weekend trips that come up periodically for various things.  The results of the NFL labor dispute will also determine some trips for work in the fall and winter.

Happiness is not a destination.  It is a method of life.  ~Burton Hills