Welcome 2012!

In an effort to post more consistently, I'm signing up for the 2012 Indie Travel Challenge by BootsnAll Travel. They will post a prompt each week, and I'm going to respond. This week's prompt is to list my 2012 travel resolutions. They have a pretty good list on their blog.

What are my travel resolutions? I have some places I really want to see, but I don't know if 2012 will be the year for them: Antarctica, the Galapagos, Alaska's Inside Passage, Western Australia, New Zealand's North Island, Xian, China, are just the first few that roll right off my fingers. There are more.....

I don't have any of those big trips planned yet for this year. But I'm thinking of all the other short trips I make and don't even consider them to be "traveling."

Resolution #1: I resolve to appreciate that every night spent away from home (even if it's only 100 miles away) is traveling and to take advantage of it in the same way I would a more far-flung destination.
 My short trips in the next 6 months that are already on the books: Houston for one night to attend a travel conference, Dallas for one or two nights for family business, Colorado for 3 nights with DH for a business meeting, a week of skiing in Taos with family, a trip to NY with DD to see family. See, that's a lot of travel already!  

Hunziker Bowl, Taos Ski Valley, NM

Resolution #2: To put technology in its place while traveling.
I'm pretty well attached to my smartphone at this point. Love it. I have over 150 apps, with at least 50 related to travel, travel planning, and finding services while traveling like food, bathrooms, wifi, NPR stations, movie theaters, AAA discounts, etc. I need to learn to disconnect more from the ethernet and connect more with the real world. Ask someone for directions or recommendations?  That would be a novelty for me. Come into a town without knowing where to eat? Frightening. I think I need to do that more!

I have app folders now

Resolution #3:  I will never use the term "bucket list." Travel experiences can't be plucked out of a container.

So I guess that's my list for now.  Wishing everyone safe and rewarding travel this year!