In two days, I am going to be leaving the bitter streets of Winnipeg, and hopping on a plane that will take me to what looks to be one of the most beautiful places on earth. I still can’t believe it’s happening. I’ve had visions of the airline going under, the ticket not being valid, my Permanent Resident Card expiring, the hotel having no record of the competition, or losing my passport – it’s one of those genuine too good to be true moments, and I don’t think the reality will sink in until I actually set my suitcase in the suite, I pinch myself hard, and I am still surrounded by sparkling ocean and sunny skies. If this is actually happening, there are no words to describe how incredibly thankful I am.
I’ve been lucky enough to grow up seeing a fair bit of the world. Living in England, everything was a mere stone’s throw away – you could see Paris, Spain, Cyprus or Turkey in a couple of hours, and it didn’t have to break the bank. My parents introduced me to other countries, other cultures, and history thousands of years old. I’ve seen galleries housing the most famous paintings in the world, temples dating back centuries, amphitheatres and natural hot springs, castles and cathedrals and national monuments. The seed of the travel bug was planted early and has blossomed big – to this day I seem to have an insatiable appetite to see the entire world. I read blogs from people who live on the road, surfing couches and making a new home every day, and I think it’s incredible. I have friends who travel so often their home is a parking spot for a sailboat, forever at the beck and call of a new horizon; a new city to fill with imagination, storytelling and art. I wonder if, in a past life, I was a bit of a nomad.
To the heart, to the heart there’s no time for you to waste
You won’t find your precious answers now by staying in one place
And I’ve driven across deserts driven by the irony
That only being shackled to the the road could ever I be free
I wonder if Frank Turner’s really onto something. I’m so fortunate to have been able to see so much of the world in my twenty-five years. I have colleagues twice my age going on their first international trip this year, and here I sit struggling to think which countries I’m going to be able to cram in before I start “settling down”. Quotes intentional; I refuse to believe I won’t travel anywhere for over a decade after bearing children. Which definitely isn’t on the horizon any time soon! I have more than a few big places left on the wishlist – Australia, New Zealand, more of England and Ireland, and Prague…. I would love to see India, too. 🙂 Last year, I went on four different trips, taking me to five different countries on two different continents. Do we see a pattern here yet? If not, here’s a hint: it begins with “p” and ends in “oorness”! After next week’s trip, I doubt I’ll be able to afford to go far this year – I definitely plan on visiting Ontario, and possibly Chicago once more – but international destinations are temporarily on hold.
Until 2012. I hope. If I can keep up saving the amount I was each month for the damned wedding, I can use it toward saving for the next big holiday – Italy and Greece, perhaps? And probably a stop in the UK, provided it’s non-Olympic season. (Got to visit home, defined on the first Google hit as “a town populated by 14-year olds and their children“, welcoming visitors with testimonials such as “though 90% of the population are chavs, the remaining 10% aren’t such shits” – I don’t know if an extra 908,000 tourists, coinciding with the predictions of dear old Nostradamus, makes for the wisest timing for a visit…) I’ve only ever seen the Greek island of Corfu, and, being about nine, my interests back then probably lay more in the extra flavours of Calippo than in the Achillion Palace, but these days, I would love to see the sunsets of Santorini… explore ancient Olympia, and hop on over to the wonders of Rome and the canals of Venice. My heart definitely belongs in Europe, and I think this is one trip I can justify saving up for! So next time I’m tempted by January sales or a fancy new camera (which may or may not have been purchased recently…), I’m going to make it a habit to ask myself: do you want an extra top you don’t need? A new nail polish? Or do you want to see the world? And I’m hoping what follows next will be easy. Even if it takes a little while. 🙂
I leave you with the song whose lyrics comprised the title of this post – one of the most desperately romantic and beautiful melodies I heard in all of last year. Turn it up, close your eyes, and dream of faraway places… and I’ll see you in just over a week! 🙂
Prose and Constellations 
Have a fabulous time! I’m so glad you won that contest 🙂
I still don’t actually believe it’s happening!! I couldn’t have done it without the blogosphere… you guys are AMAZING 🙂
I’m sure you guys will have a wonderful time!
Aww thanks! I checked the forecast and it’s rain for the week we’re there, d’oh, but it’s not the minus forty it’s at here now and that’s ALL I care about 🙂 Glad to see you back online miss!
Wow! It looks gorgeous!! I’m so jealous that you’re going somewhere with beaches! And warmth!! I’m sure you’ll have a brilliant time! Also, rope me in when you’re going to India, and if you ever do make it back to the UK – look me up!! I was so gutted that I couldn’t come see you when I was in Canada!!
Awww, me too, it would’ve been AMAZING to see you!! Although Winnipeg isn’t the most exciting of places… lol
I will definitely give you a bell when I’m thinking about India! And when I visit home!
Have such an amazing honeymoon! Take lots of pictures and drink a margarita (or five?) for me! I adore Mexico!
I will! Thanks so much 🙂
I’m so SO jealous of all the trips you’ve taken. I just wish I had a money tree so I could visit the whole world!! Have an amazing time on your honeymoon though, that place looks freaking gorgeous. And hopefully when you come back, you’ll have a lovely book waiting from me on your doorstep 🙂
And you me! I can’t WAIT… thank you for finally getting me on this series I’ve heard so much about!
Ah, gorgeous! Have a fabulous trip (and gather lots more wonderful material for future posts and stories.)
Thank you!!
i am still SO SO SO SO stoked you won the honey moon trip- your posts were fabulous and you and sweet totally deserve it. i can’t wait to hear all about it, and see the pictures!
also, the minute you know whether or not you’re coming to my neck of the woods, you MUST let me know!
enjoy your trip 😉
xoxo
Oh the second I book it, I will let you know! I’m planning Toronto/Kingston for end of April ish probably… I will give you a bell as soon as it’s finalised!
Thank you SO much for helping me with the competition… definitely couldn’t have done it without you ❤
I envy you. Never had the opportunity for much travel being burdened with the drudgery of work and responsibilities. I was a history teacher and have traveled through the ages and still do with my books. I’ve met Cro-magnon man, Caesar, Elizabeth I, George Washington and Emily Dickinson. I just may be one up on you. Good luck on your trips, Mrs. Marco Polo or will you wed Columbus?
Those sound like quite the adventures! I’ve come across Chaucer, Modigliani, van Gogh and Shakespeare on my book-bound travels… which can sometimes be just as enthralling as a plane ride 🙂
I can’t think of a better childhood than one filled with seeing the world. I love your passion for soaking up everything the world has to offer and I hope you get to see Greece and Italy. Those pics are gorgeous. Have an amazing honeymoon girl!
Thank you so so much!!
Have fun Em. Can’t wait to hear about it when you get back!
Thanks!! We HAVE to get together when I get back! 🙂
How amazing!!
And I completely agree with you. I certainly hope that the addition of children to our family doesn’t mean that we stop wanting to see the world. I want my future kids to be just as infected by the travel bug as we are 🙂
I am still so over the moon that you won!
I visited Greece several years ago and I would go back again in a heartbeat! Other than my honeymoon it was my favorite vacation ever. I really, really want to go to Italy. Hopefully we can make it happen one day!
Have an amazing time, you and Sweet certainly deserve a relaxing, wonderful honeymoon that is just all about her love.
Have an amazing honeymoon, Emily!
I hope to go to Tuscany, Italy for mine…dreaming…
Wendy
Awww thank you all so so much ❤
Oh man you are one lucky girl for winning that!!! So exciting!!!! And of course I love the song, obviously I love your taste in music 😉
Yay!! Isn’t it a beautiful song??
Have so much fun! can’t wait to see some pictures when you get back.
Have a great time, I bet you’ll have such amazing pictures to show for your time away! 🙂 I love the idea of using a savings plan that you’re already used to to get your travel dreams taken care of- and India? *raises hand*
Just sayin’! 🙂
YES!! Plotting shall commence upon return 🙂
Oh well, you KNOW I can relate to this post 🙂
All I have to say is, my kids BETTER like to travel, cause they have NO FREAKIN’ CHOICE in the matter. haha. I’ll be a traveling dictator.
LOL somebody’s bitter they didn’t win the contest!!!! Good for you for publishing that Em, showcase the level of patheticness somebody has to go to to try and make someone else feel bad not realizing how much of a loser they made themselves look in the process. You’ve always conducted yourself with grace, wit, intelligence and have inspired COUNTLESS people to face their fears and become better people, and anyone who reads knows that and loves you for it. And seriously, anyone with grammar as bad as that (“you can WHAT on your ass at home”? As if you don’t have a job!) isn’t worth the two brain cells rattling around their pathetic head!
I forgot to comment earlier!
I had a long conversation, today actually, about my fear of travel. And I think it just comes from being unseasoned. But Santorini, I want to go there someday. And Ireland.
Oh, hey Josh K! Fancy seeing you here.
Wow, ‘Josh K.’, you’re a bit of a douchenozzle, aren’t you?
Emily, have fun on your trip! I’m very envious, but you deserve it! I’m hoping that around this time next year I’ll be gearing up to go somewhere nice and warm!
I love exploring new places even if they are within the same state or country. We are fortunate to live in a time where traveling near and far on this world is not truly an issue (well, a money issue at most!).
Have a great time on your vacation and I’m looking forward towards all the pictures!!
why are people so mean and childish? clearly this person has no life if he fills his day laughing at yours. If he was trully more superior to you then he wouldnt spend his work hours investigating your life. This is a trip well deserved em. enjoy it.
Sounds like an amazing honeymoon! Have a great time.
The husband and I are big travelers as well and right now we are wrestling with whether we take our toddler to places we want to go to now (“Oh, you’ve been to Paris sweetie… when you were two!”) or wait until she’s a little older and can remember the trips and stick with road-trips for now.
Have a great time! Enjoy =)
Have a fabulous trip Emily! (and bring us all back some of that lovely weather? 🙂 )
As for the naysayer, it is sad that this person doesn’t have anything better to do than to read a blog that he doesn’t care for and write nasty comments. My sympathies…
Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy. And try not to be too homesick for the -30 temperatures. It will be hard, but I know you can do it!
Jenny
You’re going to have an amazing time, Em. I am so happy for you!
And “Josh K.” – the only word that describes you is “pathetic”. I wonder when you’ll get a life of your own and let other people live theirs. You really must be really miserable to get a kick out of something as childish as leaving mean comments on someone’s personal blog, someone who is obviously more liked and respected than you are.
But you know, you can only make people like you by behaving in a … duh!… likeable way. You have a long way to go, buddy.
Have a wonderful time on your trip, Emily! I’m so excited for you and Sweet 🙂
You’re going to have an AMAZING time.
Quite sad that now, months later, you’re still getting the SAME sad people following your life? Apparently bitterness lasts a very, very long time.
Ooooh, wow! I think those of us in europe really don’t appreciate how close we are to so many different countries. Obviously, being from the UK originally, you realise it more than most. I would LOVE to go to italy and have somehow never managed it. I love the greek islands, but i would love to see mainland greece (mainly due to the greek drama i studied in high school) and also santorini sounds amazing – i’ve not been there.
wow! i’ve never been much of a traveler, but i love seeing the world through other people’s eyes. everything you’ve written sounds so magical and wonderful. kudos to your parents for instilling such a sense of wonder in you at a young age. enjoy your honeymoon, lady. while i hope you take lots of pictures, i hope you don’t spend the whole trip viewing the world through the camera only 🙂
“Josh K.”‘s comment made me laugh. It’s incredibly pathetic and makes him (?) look like a spoiled child. Wow. I can’t believe the crap you have to put up with, Emily!
You, my friend, are going to have a FABULOUS trip! I’m so excited for you and you are so deserving of this. I can’t wait to hear all about it when you return.
wow… “josh k” you are a piece of work. how anyone can be so hateful, spiteful and mean spirited still amazes me. i can only assume that you are an excruciatingly lonely fellow if you feel the need to prey on genuinely good people on the internet. a person who claims that emily is spoiled or selfish clearly doesn’t know her in the slightest. a woman who spent her christmas eve giving out food to the homeless. a woman who has personally supported my fundraising efforts when we’ve never met face to face. a woman who has been an amazing friend to so many people. i can understand why you’re jealous of what an awesome person she truly is. i would be jealous too, but instead i’m inspired. individuals like emily and d continually inspire me to be a better friend, advocate and supporter. they are people who are going to change the world one tiny bit at a time
and you? let me phrase this in words you’ll understand. you will continue to be just a childish, asshat trolling the internet looking for individuals weaker than you. too bad you came to the wrong fucking place. no one is going to listen to your stupid opinions about anything because we know better. emily is a hell of a lot stronger than you give her credit. her heart is bigger than your small minded bullshit. as one of my favorite phrases goes, “life is short and so is your penis“. fuck off
Emily have such a GREAT time with you hubby! I’m sure you’ll enjoy a break from the cold winter in such a beautiful and tropical place! Hope you’ll post pics when you get home!!!
I hope you have an absolutely wonderful trip!
Well I considering I fully agree with, and can’t beat Michelle’s comment I’m just going to say… Darn straight!
Emily, I hope you have a FABULOUS time! You thoroughly deserve the vacation and we’ll all be cheering you on from the blog sidelines! You are such a wonderful person and I’m so glad that what goes around comes around!
I can only hope that “Josh” the jerk gets his… although considering his bitter comment I think that’s already the case.
Well deserved, Emily! Have a wonderful vacation. Writing is a wonderful and important job to have- and you do it very well. If this is your “real” job, you have definitely found your calling! Many of your posts have really gotten me thinking, and reflecting on my own life. They have almost all made me laugh, some have made me cry, and some have helped me to face emotions and feelings that were difficult to admit. I love reading your blog! Please never stop.
And not that I think Rosanna Arquette is a fountain of knowledge and insight, but I think this quotation is just perfect:
“Most of these critics are usually frustrated artists, and they criticise other people’s art because they can’t do it themselves. It’s a really disgusting job. They must feel horrible inside. “
I hope you have a great time! Seems like it’ll be amazing! 🙂
I’d love to travel as much as you.. definitely a learning experience!
❤
“Josh K.” –
I’m not entirely sure why you would bother posting a comment like that. Do you think Emily takes the slightest amount of stock in what you, a lone anonymous troll, thinks of her? Because clearly, there are more people here who love Emily than those who don’t so…. we win! Buh bye.
❤ ❤
Wow, “Josh K”, your lack of common sense baffles me more than does your lack of decency.
You choose to insult someone who has a following of friends that you could only dream of, publicly, and think that such a thing is intelligent? You’re really only seeking attention so I’m going to cut my response to you short by thanking whatever powers are out there that they gave you such a foul personality that no-one is going to want to get close enough to breed with you. One less turd floating about in the gene pool. Enjoy your solitude you sad, lonely little creature.
Emily… all I can say is I’m so pleased you’re getting this. No-one here who matters can deny that you deserve this. Go out there and love every minute of it.
L. M. actual A. O. Michelle!!! 😀
I absolutely adore every single one of you who never fail to show trolls the strength and friendship of the blogging world. It is pretty sad that someone’s daily activities include commenting on a blog they don’t care for and finding it amusing to leave childish comments that aren’t even true (hello? I have a full time job!). I’m glad you all got to see the efforts of some anonymous troll aired openly, and I thank you wholeheartedly for the love and support as always. The blogosphere is incredible that way – and comments like that just prove the significant LACK of integrity, values, and satisfaction in the commenter’s life. You’re all rock stars 🙂
So this is where you’re going. Haha!
I’m sooooooo happy for you. I’m sure you two will have such a great honeymoon.
Have fun! I can’t wait to see your pictures when you get back!!
ha! ok, i just saw the josh thing in FB and had to come check it out – that’s hilarious. I mean it’s still funny to me that people leave anonymous comments – because he might be laughing at your blog posts (or so he says) but the whole internet is laughing at anonymous commenters so I think he loses in the end 🙂
If you do make it to Prague one day you have to let me know! All those other spots look so beautiful, I hope you get to go to all of them. Being able to travel is such a blessing. And whoever Josh K is, he clearly doesn’t know you at all and needs to get a life. I adore reading your blog, your words never fail to touch me.
So very very very very proud of you. You deserve this trip more than anything! And I am psyched to be posting below Celia! And I agree, get to Prague ASAP!
Hell yes to wanderlust, and have a great trip! And if/when you and your husband have kids, I think to keep the wanderlust is a good idea – travel is good for children, even if they don’t seem to appreciate it at the time, they will later… right?
As I read this you’re probably on your way already. Have a trip filled with amazing experiences, and be sure to fill us in when you get back!
Oh fun! I was wondering when you were going – I remember that was part of the package! So fun. i have heard great things about that resort!
Have a blast, my dear! And soak up the sun/warmth – and send some my way. 🙂
Oooh Em. I am so excited for you! I still can’t believe you won (in a good way) – so amazing. xo
Can’t wait to see pictures!
You WON that? How awesome! And can I tell you how jealous I am of all your traveling. I haven’t done nearly the amount I’d like to. I’m hoping that when the hubs is done with his MBA program we can start making that dream come true!
I really hope you can! 🙂
Congrats Emily! I also love the new look to your site. It reminds me of pirates! Arrrrrrrhhhh!!! Will you be keeping up with your blog when you’re out on vacay?
that’s wonderful. james and i are trying to save up to be able to take a trip every year or every other year. of course, once we have two incomes, that will be MUCH easier, but i love to travel. my favorite part about traveling, though, is coming home more appreciative of your life and what you have. as romantic and wonderful as everywhere else seems to be, they will never have that place in your heart that home does.
i hope you have a fabulous time. 🙂
I hope you’re having a fabulous time!!! 🙂 I just caught up on your other posts and you looked gorgeous in your wedding pictures! I’m so happy for you two….can’t wait to hear all about your trip!
I hope you are having a blast! I agree with you, I have the travel bug big time. I cna’t wait to see more of the world!!
Oh. My. I was in the Mayan Riviera when you wrote this otherwise I would have been able to respond MUCH sooner.
I went to the El Dorado Seaside Suites for my honeymoon 2 years ago and it was AMAZING!! I have a horrible feeling that it wrecked us for other all inclusive resorts forever. We were just at another one that was supposedly a 5 star as well but! When you compare it to the El Dorado Seaside, it was not even close to comparing!!!!! And I think the Royale is even fancier than the Seaside!! I actually remember commenting to my husband on the Royale when we drove by in the bus on Sunday. I was saying that it must have been better than the Seaside resort and that on our next no child trip we should check it out (provided we could afford it).
I hope you had a great time and enjoyed the amazing resort and everything it has to offer!
Oh wow we met some people at the airport who’d stayed at the Seaside ones while we were at Royale and they said it was amazing!! I definitely agree – all other all inclusives are now doomed!! You should DEFINITELY go to Royale someday… it was incredible 🙂
I just noticed your picture of the roman fountain, and I was like, “Hey I was there” and then I was like, “Nope, just the Vegas version.”