Unlike last year, I do not have much travel planned for the coming year. That’s mostly because of my dual hip surgeries. I went through one about a month ago, and the next one is coming up toward the end of January. This timeline will put me out of commission until late February. I’ll manage to go to one place before the surgery, Los Angeles. Funny – that’s the same place I went exactly a year ago. But this trip will be different.

Of course, that doesn’t mean I won’t go anywhere else. I’m already thinking of places I can go, either with a press trip or travel advisor FAM trip. I’ll just need to look for them, see if they’re worthwhile and (in the case of press trips) apply to them. That will likely change for the 2026, as I will scale back on my travel agency work and start as an associate for my friend’s agency instead. I will mention more about that in next week’s post.

Now, I only have six places I’m heading to in the next twelve months, but I’m obviously hoping for more. Maybe Santa will put more trips in my stocking or under the tree. I think I’ve been good this year J

I may try to go to the Grand Central Market in downtown Los Angeles during my visit

Los Angeles

I start next year where I did last year, and NLS will accompany me again. But it will be a little different. She won’t be heading off to Japan for a study abroad, and we will spend more time with my sister and brother-in-law. Another thing I will do is visit the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, which is what I was supposed to do a year ago, but it was closed due to the unprecedented wildfires in Pacific Palisades and Altadena. I may also try to visit the Griffith Observatory, if it’s not too crowded.

If we have time, I may want to explore Balboa Park during our visit to San Diego (ID 2449312 © Photo168| Dreamstime.com)

San Diego

JRS and I will only be going here for a night in March to watch the Giants play the Padres at Petco Park. For some reason, the hotels are sky-high expensive around the downtown area, but we managed to find a hotel within seven blocks from the ballpark. I’m hoping that I can write about the food at Petco, because I’ve heard there are some excellent culinary options there. Other than that, we won’t be doing much else. I may attend the ASTA Convention here in May, which would make for a longer stay and more to do.

We will likely see this view of Budapest when we finish our Danube River cruise (ID 37211579 © Emicristea| Dreamstime.com)

Danube River

The major trip RAS and I are taking will be this one with AmaWaterways, from Vilshofen, Germany to Budapest Hungary, with about five stops in between. I’ll see Vienna, Linz, and Salzburg, Austria. The last city is significant, because it’s where one of my favorite movies was filmed, “The Sound of Music.” I won’t be going on the popular tour – we’ll probably just go wander around and find the filming sites. It will also be a wine cruise, so we’ll get to taste some good varietals…as well as fantastic food.

It's been way too long since I was last in London, UK (ID 115202674 | River © Zoltan Gabor | Dreamstime.com)

London

After the cruise, we’ll leave from Budapest and head to London for a few days. It’s been more than 40 years since I’ve been there, and from what I can see, it has changed quite a bit. And it hasn’t – there’s still plenty of ancient and historical places to see. I’m still not completely sure about what we’ll do, but one thing I’m planning on is a food tour of the city. London doesn’t have the awful culinary reputation it used to have, thanks to the influx of immigrants and their bringing their native dishes.

JRS and I will be going to another Giants-Mariners game at T-Mobile Park in Seattle

Seattle

Like Los Angeles, I’ve been to this Pacific Northwest city often over the past dozen years. I truly thought that one of my kids would attend college at Seattle University and RAS’s sister’s family would be in nearby Woodinville for a while. But it seems that the purpose of visiting has changed to going to Mariners games. That’s fine with me – I like visiting Seattle, especially when we can try new restaurants. I’m hoping that I will lead a group on an Alaska cruise embarking from here in August, but we’ll have to see if it happens.

RAS and I might go on an MSC ship like this one (Seashore) docked in Ocho Rios, Jamaica

Ocean cruise to ?

It seems RAS and I have gone on an ocean cruise somewhere in the Caribbean over the past five years. Now we’ve pretty much gone everywhere, and we would like to go somewhere else.  The only one he hasn’t experienced yet is MSC, which I went on four years ago, so we would probably go with them to the Caribbean, one more time. I’d like to take him on this line, just so he can see if for himself. I’m hoping that their food has improved. But we may decide to cruise somewhere complete different. Stay tuned.