No More Avoidance

Somehow, I didn't use a single vacation day in 2007.

Sure, I was in Spain and Egypt for half the year, but not one of those days was a proper day off.

And I am facing weeks of "use-it-or-lose-it" time that must be used by the end of 2007.

I have loads of frequent flyer miles and I'm jonesing to add a new country to my passport--the last new countries were Kuwait and Bahrain in early 2006 and before that? An overnight in Lesotho in 2005. Since then, I've just kept repeating myself, and always for business.

Last night I passed the new GAP store on Sixth Avenue. Yes, Canadian group travel company GAP has its own storefront in New York City. So I stopped in and picked up a catalog. There's a trip to Bolivia that's under $600. Similar operators would take me to Tunisia, another place I've always wanted to go. And if I had lots of money, I'd go up to Manitoba and see the polar bears immediately.

But really, shouldn't I be taking that time off work to sit at home and work on my book proposal for "Curse of the Hippo?" It's been a year since "Stalking the Wild Dik-Dik" came out. I can't find it anymore in half the bookstores I visit. And I haven't even bothered to look for an agent or publisher yet.

It's time.