Goals 2010: Travel

First, the plans. We're headed to NYC late this month so I can attend SCBWI's Winter Conference and Dave can get up to some trouble with friends there. In early spring, we'll spend two weeks in France, at least half on a self-guided walking tour. I'd love to see my family, too; no dates set yet. Goals...

Use my French
I worked on it last year, but the proximity of our trip has me a little nervous. The only way to get more comfortable making conversation is to...make conversation. Nerve-wracking for someone who doesn't really chat it up in her native language. I predict spending a fair amount of free time listening to French-language broadcasts as the trip approaches.

Build up our travels savings
It'll probably never be huge because we use it. And I'm so glad for that. But we can feel another longer trip brewing, so it's time to plan accordingly.

Take better advantage of travel miles and incentive programs
Our France flights are our first travel-related redemption of the points we earn on our credit card. But there's so much more out there we can use to pay travel expenses. I've found some online resources; will share as I explore them. When George Clooney said in Up in the Air, "I don't pay for anything I don't have to," I was like, "Yeah. Let's explore this."

Have any travel goals for 2010? How about goals in other areas of your life that will make travel easier to achieve and enjoy?

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