Today I woke up to an email from one of my best friends with a link to this article: The 45 Places to go in 2012 in the New York Times. Every year, the Times does this type of article, featuring interesting places to visit in the New Year. One memorable choice of this year’s list was Myanmar (Burma), who haven’t made it on a travel list in a VERY long time. 

I emailed my friend back and asked her why we don’t just spend all of our time traveling to see places?! American culture has a pretty stigmatized view of vacations. Vacations are meant to be short, with minimum effort and maximum “do nothing” time. But how long can we sustain this type of work-till-you-burn-out-and-need-to-lay-on-a-beach mentality? 

I think I dream about travel daily, if not hourly. I know most people think I’m nuts, but the settling down-ness of regular life makes me restless. Sure, I like the Western comforts that traveling in the developing world doesn’t always allow for (running water, malaria-free mosquitoes), but I inevitably find myself dreaming of distant places. 

Today, with the right amount of resources - and the right passport - the world is very small. Getting on a plane doesn’t have the pomp and circumstance, and for this reason I refuse to look at borders as limits. There are certainly financial and life limitations, but I am really convinced that they can be overcome. 

I may not make it to all of these places in 2012, but it’s a process.