COVIDiary: Oh, the Places I Want to Go!

Having been completely vaccinated since mid-February, I've found myself travel-dreaming of late. Flying is out of the question for the foreseeable future because there are so many stupid assholes who refuse to get their jabs (and you can just bet that they're the ones flying around). 

Still, this is travel-dreaming, so in the best of all possible immunized world, here's where I'd pack off to first:

• 
  
  New York, New York. These vagabond shoes are longing to stray right through the very heart of it. I want Central Park. I want the Brooklyn Bridge. The Met, the Cloisters, the Morgan. I want crowded sidewalks, slippery subway steps, street vendors, and my NY lottery scratch-offs. I want to fill my belly at Sarita's Mac & Cheese, Fraunces Tavern, Sardi's, Chez Josephine, any good bagel shop, and whatever food truck around Union Square that suits my fancy. And I want to settle into a comfy orchestra seat at the St. James or the Shubert or the Lyric or whatever - just get me back to live theater, please! It's up to you, New York, New York!  

• Hawaii. Pick an island, any island. I've been to Kauai, Oahu, Maui, and Hawaii (the Big Island) and love them all. Willing to give Lanai a try, too. The Grand Wailea on Maui, the Napali Coast and beaches of Kauai, a little peek at Oahu's Diamond Head, and the wild volcanic action on the Big Island - yes, to all. Mahalo, y'all!

• 
  
  England and Wales. Just because. I want to spend time with friends. I need to stock up on tea at Twinings and Whittard's in London. I have a real need to journey back to Walton-on-Thames and pass familiar places, though I know it's much-changed since I was last there. Same goes for Oxford. I want to get to Wales and meet Liz in person, not just online. I crave a full English breakfast and drinking gin and tonics at a riverside pub. The sceptred isle is another of my "homes," and I need to be there. 

Sure, Maine and Greece and a return to South Africa, Germany, and Italy are on the list, but they'll have to line up behind the top three. I've missed travel so much since I left my big-girl job. I'm ready to roll!

Of course, I'm broke as hell, but a girl can dream, can't she?