Villa Riviera, Long Beach, CA

Two weeks from now, I'll be boarding a plane headed to Venice, Italy. From there, it takes us about two weeks to go through Florence, Milan, Lake Como, Cinque Terra, Pisa, Rome, Naples, Capri, and back up to Rome.

44 hours later, I arrive in New Zealand for another two weeks. I land in Auckland, and road trip from the north island to the south island, continue to Lake Wanaka where my brother and his wife live, then to Christchurch, then back home.

I've always said that 50% of traveling is the anticipation of the trip. That's one of my favorite aspects of the entire process. You get to dream about all the amazing places you'll be visiting, research what adventures you'll take, choose which cities to stay at, talk to friends that have been there, and the list goes on.

My last hike through Italy has mostly fallen into oblivion due to a poor memory and unfortunate circumstances. I left my backpack in a taxi cab. It happened around two weeks into a month long excursion around Europe, and I had just switched memory cards. As you might have guessed, the memory card, with all my photos, was in the backpack... along with the camera's battery charger. I came home with almost no pictures, but with a big smile on my face.

Live & learn. Two weeks into this trip, my pictures get sent home on a hard drive, memory cards get flushed, and I start again. I hope to have all of my photos in two places at once while traveling, and come home with some beautiful shots.

After the next three two week adventures, a smile is a foregone conclusion.