South America Calling!

I've been trying to think of where to spend my next summer...naturally! I have a month and a half off and I'm not about to waste it away in Virginia. I had planned to visit in Europe with my sister but with the dollar in the pits, and trying to live on a budget, that's just not going to happen right now. I do however, have some co-workers who are from Colombia who are going there for the summer and invited me. I don't have a ticket but it's looking like that's a definite possibility. And, I made a friend who also has next summer off and is looking for some adventures so we are tenatively planning a trip to South America at the moment. Colombia is on the list for sure and hopefully Argentina. I would love to hit up Peru too and Brasil would be ideal. My question to all you readers, who's been to South America and can tell me where I have to go? I'm taking recommendations!

I'm stressing!!

I am leaving next Friday for a cruise with the family. We're having a little family renunion and I'm super excited. There's 28 of us going on the cruise, which sounds like a lot but being that my Dad is 1 of 10 kids it's not that many. Nine of the his siblings are going (one aunt couldn't make it) and some of my cousins but there's a good amount not coming...which saddens me because there's some I've never met, let alone know their names. It's actually pretty pathetic but my Dad's never been one to stay in touch well with his family so this cruise is a pretty big deal and I'm looking forward to getting to know some of my aunts, uncles and cousins better. Although, my cousins that are going I grew up with so I know them, I just haven't seen them in a while.

My immediate family, plus Joe (my sister's boo) will be leaving Virginia on Friday afternoon and making the nice long drive to Miami...it's 18 hours if you didn't know. I guess it worked out cheaper to drive together than flying. Personally, I'd rather fly but I don't get to make those kind of decisions, being that I'm the youngest. Going on an 18 hour car ride scares me a little because I haven't done a family road trip in at least 9 years...this should be interesting. My brother has a big Ford F250 with lots of space so we should fit comfortable. I fully intend of staying in the bag sleeping on the mattress we're putting in the whole time...away from everyone. I'm sure in the long run they will appreciate it because my family brings out an interesting side of me that I like to keep locked away. Stay tuned for posts on that drive! My family road trip is not what's stressing me out though.

Next week starts off my traveling adventures. I will be in and out of town for the next four months, only home for a week or so at a time before I head off to my next trip. As fun as it's going to be, I have A LOT to do before I go and I'm worried I might not get it all done. Thankfully, I've become a gym goer so that reduces a lot of my stress (and probably takes too much time) but I can't seem to shut my brain off at night to let myself sleep because I'm too busy worrying about all the things I have to do. I am a graduate student in my last semester so I have that to worry about. I'm also taking 2 online classes I need to finish up to qualify for my teaching license and it's seriously pure torture for me. I'm a huge procrastinator and each day that passes is less time I have to complete the courses and more work I have to do...it officially sucks. And the classes are so boring...economics and the history of England, ugh! I need to just suck it up and finish them already! They've been hanging over my head for months and I just want them done. Also, I'm the step team coach at the school I work at and we are competing this Friday. The team has been practicing hard and I think they are going to do great, we might even win, but who knows. I'll be posting a video of that this weekend. And also, this weekend I'm going to be performing some hula dances with some girls in my hula group so I have to practice those dances as well. Add all those things up what do you get? One very stressed out and not very fun to be around Amy!!

Costa Rica...Here I Come!!

I have been talking about spending the summer in Costa Rica for a while with my friends and I don't think they believed I would actually go but I just booked my ticket and registered at a Spanish Academy. I'll be taking 5/hrs of spanish classes a day from Monday-Thursday at CRLA.I looked at a few language schools and decided I felt the best with this school. After a few emails back and forth to address some of my concerns I worked it all out and I'm going...YAY!! I will be spending at least 8 weeks there from May 24th-July 19th. My best friend is getting married July 26th and being the good friend I am (I'm a bridesmaid) I am coming home for her wedding. Depending on how well my spanish is going at that point, I might go back to Costa Rica for 2 more weeks to get a little more practice in. I've been trying to learn spanish for the last 2 years (not always so diligently) and have taken 3 classes at the university level but I still suck at it. Hopefully after this summer I will be able to get over the hump I'm stuck on. Yay...I can't wait. If you've been there and can recommend any cool places I have to see let me know. I have the weekends to do my own thing and plan to visit all the hot spots, as well as try to go to Guatemala, Panama and maybe Nicaragua. Oh yeah, the best part is the school has a free gym so I can continue to work on my fitness and not lose any progress I've made...which, I've lost 3 inches to date :)

Jamaica Anyone?

Right now I have a roommate from Germany who works for an airline. We are planning to go on a cruise of the Caribbean the first week of April together. I'm also going on a cruise with my family 2 weeks before my vacation with my friend. Tonight we were talking and she said she had a few days off the week I get back from our family cruise so we are trying to decide whether or not to go to Jamaica. If we go then I'll stay in Miami and wish bon voyage to my family and meet my traveling buddy at the Miami airport and head to Jamaica. Then, when we come back home for a few days and head down to Puerto Rico for our next vacation. I'm pretty sure I'll be broke when all my travels are done. But hey, you only live once right? Has anyone been to Jamaica...where should we be sure to go visit? We'll be flying to Montego Bay so if you have any hot spots let me know :)

Upcoming Itineraries!

I'm going on a few trips in the next few months that I'm pretty excited about. The first trip will be a family reunion cruise with all of my Dad's family (9 of the kids are going with their spouses and kids)! I think we will take up half the boat!! We leave out of Miami on March 15 and come back on March 22nd. We're going on the Norweigan Sun cruise boat. We will be stopping at:
- Roatan Island, Honduras
- Belize City, Belize
- Cozumel, Mexico
- Stirrup Cay, Bahamas
I'm looking forward to spending the week with my aunts, uncles and cousins. Look for pictures in March.

My next trip is also on a cruise with one of my girl friends. We're flying to San Juan, Puerto Rico (I love that place) on March 30th to leave on our cruise and returning on April 8th or 9th. My friend and I are going on the Carnival Destiny cruise. We will be stopping at:
- San Juan, Puerto Rico
- St. Thomas, USVI
- Dominica
- St. Lucia
- Antigua
- St. Kitts
- Barbados
We're going to have a blast. I just hope I have a nice base tan from my first cruise so I can lay out even more on this one. Caribbean beaches here we come!

When I come back from that trip I'll be home for a week or so again and then I'm off to Hawaii for 11 days. I'm going to Oahu and Maui. My friend is getting married and I had enough frequent flier miles to go so I thought...why not? I lived in Hawaii for two years while I finished my undergraduate degree and I can't wait to go back. It's been almost for years since I left there and Hawaii has a special place in my heart. I only hope I have the willpower to come back home because I'm sure I won't want to leave!

After I get back from Hawaii I have to work some to make up for all of my travel expenses and if all goes to plan I will be leaving for San Jose, Costa Rica on May 31st for the entire summer. I'm going to be attending a Spanish language academy. I've been trying to learn Spanish for a while now and I really need to be fully immersed in it to finally get it down. While I'm there I plan to visit Panama, Guatemala, and Nicaragua...if money allows. This trip unfortunately is not already booked so it's not for sure. I'll keep you posted. I don't think it will be a problem but you never know, it's still 4 months away and a lot can happen in that time. I look forward to blogging about all my future travels!!