Behind Door # 1...

A new city, a new sojourn, or (a)nother year in Italy? It's a good question, really. What's a girl to do?


Door # 1: Stay in the U.S.
This option is obviously the least glorifying, but it has it's bright spots. I have the opportunity to start a new job in a fresh city. Granted, it's not the best economy to be job hunting, but that's out of my control, so it is what it is. But the fact is, I've lived in Washington state my whole life, perhaps it's time I branched out...

I have to admit, this thought does excite me - especially the prospect of the east coast (the unknown is always exciting). Which is exactly why I intend to do a little scouting around first. Next Friday I leave for a two-week, three-city, mini-tour. What's on my list? Chicago, Boston, and New York.

So if you know anything about those cities, hit me up with your advice and recommendations. I don't have Rick Steves to guide me this time around and I want to make the most of my trip. So I need you to tell me: What should I see? What parts of the city should I visit? What should I avoid? What travel tips do you have? And perhaps most importantly, where should I eat?

Door # 2: A Second Sojourn
I think I have enough cash left in the travel fund to scrape it together for another 6-8 week trip. I wouldn't be trying to recreate my Italy trip, but I would follow the same basic recipe. (But obviously exploring someplace new.) The trouble with this option lies in the fact that the five-year ARM on my mortgage is up for renewal this year. This means I will likely need to refinance and in order to do that, I need to be employed....so, yeah. Not a good time to be out of the country. (Although my friend Sarah makes a good point in that, my rate will most likely be moving toward the Federal Rate, in which case my rate will go down on its own, thus making a refi unneccesary...so perhaps it's not an issue.)

In any case, I want to hear your country suggestions. Right now Ireland and Australia are on the top of my list. I've also had some votes for Thailand and Vietnam. What do you think? Where should I go? Or perhaps more importantly, where do you want to read about (and travel vicariously with me) next??

Door # 3: A Year in Italy
As some of you have warned, this obviously has the most potential for disappointment via trying to "relive" my previous visit. It also represents a looooong time faaaaaar away from family and friends. That's tough. But, it's also a year in Italy! It just doesn't get any cooler than that. This would obviously be the most difficult to coordinate on all levels, and is perhaps the least realistic of the three options. (But that doesn't mean it can't happen.) Plus, who doesn't want to be fluent in Italian?

Obviously, it's possible to combine the options; they're not mutually exclusive. I'm considering this fact as well. However at this point, I've put the most research into staying in the U.S. (it's the most practical and easiest to research). Thus, I'm tending to lean that way...

I appreciate the feedback and great input/thought provoking questions I've gotten so far. At this point, I haven't made any decisions, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on each of the specific options (assuming you've got some to share).

At the very least, I wanted to share where my thought process has been lately (because I get asked this question a lot).