Viva la wanderlust!

This weekend I leave for an entire day of traveling to exotic Ecuador! And to be honest, the last few days have been a veritable frenzy of preparation and planning. So I thought I’d share where I’ll be while I’m down there, so you all can get as excited for me as I am for myself.

Day 1: Travelling. All day. Seeing grand sights such as
Newark International Airport, Bogota Columbia (just the airport), and getting into Quito about 10:00 pm. Mercifully, jet lag shouldn’t be a problem since the time difference is minimal, or none. That night we’re staying at the Vieja Cuba hotel, which looks fabuloso! Mmmm…coffee…

Day 2: Wandering Quito. Trying not to get pickpocketed. Not quite sure what we’ll do, but will probably explore La Mariscal. Maybe go to Home Depot, maybe Bed Bath and Beyond. I don’t know if we’ll have time…

Day 3: Riding the bus for 5 hours to
The Black Sheep Inn eco-lodge for fun in the countryside. Horseback riding, hiking, exploring the Cloud Forest. Adventures galore! Assuming we survive the bus ride down, of course.

Day 4-5: More Black Sheep Inn adventures…

Day 6: Stopping by the village of Banos on the way back to Quito, where we will crash at
La Casa Sol for a couple more days of exploring Quito.

Day 7: More exploring Quito from our base at La Casa Sol.

Day 8: Treating ourselves to the good life at the
JW Marriott Quito before the flight back Sunday morning – thanks to many, many Marriott rewards points earned via business travel. And we got the room upgraded, so I expect the tub to be filled with caviar, or at least warm pudding.

Day 9: Flight leaves at 7:20 am, so it’s an early morning departure for us. Flight back through
Panama City, Newark, and finally returning home to O’Hare about 8:30 or so.

I’m as giddy as a schoolgirl right now. I kinda want to buy a llama at some point. I’d need to think of a clever name though. Like “Llary” or “Llyle” or “Allison”. And of course I couldn’t bring it home, so I’d need to either donate it to some worthy cause or teach it orienteering and give it directions to my house – hoping it could navigate it’s own way. And think of the stories it would tell! Ooh, so exciting. Maybe it’d get a big book deal and go on Oprah to talk about his adventures. Of course, then his ego would become unmanageable, he’d develop a coke habit and I’d throw him out of the house after a big fight over him never being home before curfew. He’d wander the streets for a few days before falling in with a bad crowd of Alpacas and becoming a gun runner for the Columbian drug trade. And he’d probably end up in prison after being caught trying to go through airport security (“Wait a minute, that’s not a pregnant woman!”).

Yeah, maybe buying a llama is a bad idea…I can’t wait for everything else though!!!

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