The trip planning bug

It was inevitable. I was emptying my binder from Massachusetts, and I got this yearning for planning another trip.

For me, planning lighthouse trips is half the fun. I get out my view binders, my tabs, and a ream of paper for my laser printer. And it begins. I create a Streets and Trips route for the entire trip. I make an Excel spreadsheet with exact timing for the trip. I print out detailed maps between every spot on Streets and Trips. I create notes and history summary pages for every light. In short, I am an enviromentalist's nightmare.

But I LOVE planning my trips. It's half the fun. I love the organizing...the routing...the three-hole-punching and stapling. It's fun! If I could, I'd make a trip in a binder for the entire country, complete with creative name.

Yes, that's right, creative name. I like to make up little names for my lighthouse trips. Massachusetts was Cape2Cape - From Cape Cod to Cape Ann. I planned one for Staten Island called "Staten Island 10301" - a spin-off of Beverly Hills 90210. Long Island will be "Long Islight."

But they didn't used to be so creative. When I went to Southern New England, I called it "Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Southern Massachusetts Lighthousing Adventure". I have had several variations of the Massachusetts element, including Buzzard's Bay, Massachusetts, Massachusetts' South Shore, and Southern Massachusetts. But no matter what, it was too long.

So, I have caught the bug again...and who knows how long it will last this time. Discovering all these local places might keep me going for a while!