Around the World in Two Hours

 A few weeks ago, I ventured out with some BFF's to the Travel and Adventure Expo in DC. I first saw the ad for it on Groupon or social living or whatever those sites are called. I rarely pay attention to them, because the good deals featured on those sites have not quite reached WV yet. But this one caught my attention for obvious reasons. A giant convention center full of travel opportunities? Yes please. And I can win travel prizes even though I never ever win anything? Yes please.

But then a cold thought hit me. What if I get super depressed after visiting the convention center full 'o destinations that I won't be journeying to anytime soon? What if I turn My Love Hate Relationship with Your Travel Blog (see column at left) into a real life psycho moment which results in me being escorted out of the expo? What if everyone looks at the clearly pregnant girl and smirks: Now where does she think she's going?!

Then another cold thought hit me..THAT is how the sedentary life begins. Letting anxiety and doubt creep in and make your decisions for you is how very bad things happen to you and your passions. So I threw off the first cold thought, and made plans to get there.

And get there I did. Navigating DC traffic is slightly more difficult these days when one has a semi-permanent bowling ball attached to one's midsection. However,  it was a Sunday afternoon, and therefore I did not have to employ as many of my usual "evasive maneuvering" traffic strategies. 

So I threw open those convention center doors,  stared the Land of 1,000 Travel Options in the face and vowed to conquer all of them. Bulgaria. Fiji. Kenya. Dayton, Ohio.

This is not really how things happened. I calmly walked in with the BFF's and equally as calmly perused each aisle, not vowing to do much of anything, except to win a trip somewhere (not to Dayton, Ohio, though, which wasn't actually present at the show. However, there were some other random places I had never considered on my travel list). Winning hasn't happened yet. But I did enjoy myself. It was a kaleidoscope of countries, many I have been to already, many I have not. I didn't find a single country I didn't want to go to though, so when Mini-Me arrives, we have to get started ASAP on her passport and tiny luggage. Only complaint of the day was that many of the destinations were being presented as group or luxury tours. Which are two things I don't do when it comes to travel. (Except for those  5 days in Istanbul, which only solidified why massive group travel is not on my list of things that make me happy. Despite the fact that those 5 days were pretty darn fun with MOST of the people involved. Those people know who they are.)

At the end of it all, Samantha Brown from the Travel Channel was there with her perky smile and although I didn't join the line to meet her, I snuck a few pictures with my new camera, which I am still trying to figure out how to use. So they aren't the best, but here she is.

PS-Upon Googling Samantha Brown, I discovered there are some very definite opinions on her. While she's not my favorite travel show host ever, I don't hate her guts. My Google search led me to a blog post written by a guy named John Zhu, which cracked me up just a little.

Do you have thoughts on SB? Or are you thinking, I could seriously not care less?

Samantha Brown, looking neither perky, nor smiley