When I chose our homeschool curriculum, I had 4 Social Studies topics from which to choose.  I chose Geography & Cultures. Over the past month we’ve been homeschooling, we have reviewed the continents and oceans, and then went to Europe.  We discussed the continent as a whole, located all the countries on a map, and have studied deeper about the bigger countries.  We have about one more week to spend in Europe, and then we will move on to Africa.  My traveling dream has really sparked seeing all the breathtaking pictures and videos about these beautiful countries.  The kids are definitely not as fascinated as I am though. 

As a kid, I didn’t care that much about traveling. We took our vacations to the beach every year and occasionally went to the mountains. We weren’t that family that just flew or drove anywhere and everywhere. 95% of our traveling was no more than 4 hours from our house, and that was fine by me. Even though I loved our vacations, and the traveling to and from the destination didn’t bother me since I slept the entire trip, I was (and still am) a big homebody.

The older I got, the more I wanted to travel, but still wanted to stay “close to home.” I still had no desire to “cross the pond,” I just wanted to see the contiguous United States. I’ve often thought about purchasing an RV so I would be able to accomplish this dream. That way I would be able to be at home without being at home.

There are basically three types of dreams: realistic dreams, dreams that aren’t outrageous but still probably unobtainable, and knowingly unobtainable dreams. These types of dreams are different for everyone. For me, an example is a realistic traveling dream would be the kids and I vacationing at the beach this summer. An example of the second kind of dream would be me purchasing an RV and visiting 48 of the 50 states. The third type would be me traveling the world. Sure there is a chance they could all come true, and there is a chance none of them could come true.

I am too much of a realist to put too much thought into unobtainable dreams. However, it doesn’t hurt to fantasize. I will continue to look at pictures, and will probably add more countries to my fantasy list as we learn more about other countries. Currently, my top two places are England and Finland. I may even search how much it would cost. I just don’t see this dream becoming a reality.

I have already looked at the prices of RVs, and also learned how difficult it is to maintain them, which is why this is a dream that isn’t necessarily outrageous, but it probably is unobtainable for me. However, this would be a dream for which I would start saving money. It would be more like an “after the kids go to college” type of dream.

The plans for the beach vacation are already in the works, thanks to a nice little nudge from my sister. It will be nice to put my toes in the sand and stay in my happy place for a few days.

What are some of your dreams, realistic or other? I would love to hear about them!