Happy New Year!   

While we reflect on the past year and set resolutions for the next year, keep in mind lessons from the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people.  The Dalai Lama’s Instructions for Life teaches us, “Once a year, go some place you’ve never been before.”  While His Holiness may not have intended His advice to be taken literally, I often refer to it when I create my travel resolutions for the New Year. 

In fact, with utmost respect, I would like to extend His teaching to “Once a year, go some place you’ve never been before AND some place you’ve been before”.  This combination of old and new will surely keep your travels fresh and memorable for years to come.

My travel resolutions for 2009 are as follows: 

Old

1) San Antonio, Texas in January for the marriage of two of my favorite people

2) Atlanta, Georgia in February to visit the aquarium with the only manta ray in captivity in the USA

3) India for the summer to visit family and study Mathematics in exile

4) Houston, Texas for Thanksgiving to spend my favorite holiday with my family 

New

1) Mexico City, Mexico in February to observe a wintering site of the Monarch butterfly migration

2) Switzerland for Spring Break to ski in the famous Swiss Alps and visit the birthplace of my beau

3) Cocos Islands, Costa Rica in May to SCUBA dive in the Pacific Ocean with large marine life

4) Iceland en route to India to experience the midnight sun during the summer solstice

Now that I have created my travel resolutions for the year, I’m set on keeping them.  Stay tuned for travel planning and shared experiences to come.  Let me know if you have any cow tips or care to join the herd on any of these adventures!