On Being Selfish

I really love to travel. I do. I've been all over the world. But I kind of have a newfound appreciation for it this year. At the risk of potentially sounding a bit whiny or ungrateful or burdened (and I'm not any of those things), in the past, I've always traveled for other people. I'd fly to Illinois to see my family. I went to France to see a roommate. I went to Australia to see a then-boyfriend. I'd drive to LA to see friends. Not that I don't want to see those people - I LOVE seeing my family and friends! But traveling solo with no one waiting for you on either end has really really huge perks.

Earlier this season, the first time I went up to San Jose for a Hawks/Sharks game, it was really kind of cool to realize "Wow, it's really late, I don't want to drive three hours now and I don't have to work tomorrow. I can stay here for the night and it will affect exactly no one!" It was even better when I was down in LA for other games over the past few months; I stayed at the Queen Mary, went on the ghost tours, because I wanted to. I stayed at the JW Marriott downtown & got treated like a princess. I didn't have to convince anyone to go with me or spend their money on something I wanted to do. I had the money; I had the time; I had the desire. I could just go.

I'm doing the same thing again this summer. In a couple weeks, I'm going to Vegas for three days. By myself. For no reason other than there are two shows I want to see (Penn & Teller's show at the Rio - I really hope they do the Magic Bullet! - and the annual NHL Awards Show at the Palms, because I've never seen a live awards show for anything and I love the NHL, although it will not be a nice feeling if I have to see Vancouver players with the Cup =P). Then next month, I'm going to Chicago. Not to see family (although I do have a few days planned with them - like I said, I do actually enjoy their company occasionally), but to do something I want to do, like go to the Blackhawks Convention and a Cubs game.

I'm 30 years old and I want a weekend in the city without restrictions. There are things that just are more fun with a group, but then you always have to plan things and work out schedules and transportation and be dependent on whoever you're seeing, at least to a certain extent. But what happens when you don't have a group handy? Your friends either aren't interested in what you want to do or don't have the money handy or have to work or something? Do you put your plans aside and wait for the perfect combination to occur? I, personally, say no. Life is way too short to wait for convenience. Just go. So I'm going.

And I can't wait!