Facebook Photo Envy: the Summer Vacation Version

Lately, I've been thinking about travel, about how my travelling life has changed over the past fifteen years.  Once, I flew so often that I had the Delta schedule out of Ft. Lauderdale memorized. 

In later years, we've been travelling because my spouse has been on the Board for a group of Lutheran church camps.  I have often travelled along, both to help with the drive, and to have a mini-vacation.  But his time on the Board has come to an end, in part because it's time, but in part because our current work lives make it harder to get away to the meetings.

My spouse and I have been thinking about vacation time and upcoming travel and the best way to handle our classes that we teach when we travel.  As we've talked, I've thought of the variety of friends' Facebook posts that I've seen this summer (by which I mean April-August). 

I've seen posts from European museums, the art that I'd love to see in person.  I've seen all sorts of photos of amazing food from many parts of the world.  I've seen family gatherings of all sorts.

The posts which have made me most envious have been the posts from the nation's state and national parks. Nothing makes me want to load up a camper for a multi-state adventure like those posts.  I've seen friends hiking through incredible vistas, and I want to lace up my boots and join them.

I've been thinking about whether or not to extend vacations to go to a park here and there, or whether it's better to have a trip solely dedicated to a park or two.  It's easy for me to begin to feel despair that I will never see all of these fabulous parks.

Clearly, I need to start making a list, a different kind of bucket list.  What national parks do I want to see before I die? 

In the meantime, I'll live vicariously through the travels of others.