Forget travel, it's all about the company!

Not everyone wants to travel the world, but most people can identify at least one place in the world they’d like to visit before they die. Where is that place for you, and what will you do to make sure you get there?

You know, it's strange. I'm sitting here, thinking about all the places that I've been lucky to visit in the two decades of my life: India, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, London, Paris, Mexico...and I don't really know where I would yearn to return, or still long to go.

Up until recently I would have jumped at the chance to go to Italy (particularly Rome) and Greece, but, for some reason, I don't really mind that anymore.

Even within the US, I can't really say there are a lot of places that I have a strong desire to go to: Not California or New York or Florida.

And so, after thinking about all of this, I realized it's not really the location that matters to me, obviously a nice location (maybe warm, with a good breeze), but the company I'm with.

There's a saying that goes "Half the fun is getting there" (in regards to a trip). I think the other half is who you go with. I recently had the opportunity to go back to school last weekend (which I mentioned in my last post) and I had the most wonderful time doing very little. I spent a day at the park and wandering around some neighborhoods (including stopping by the Chancellor's Residence), I went to a Waffle Shop that doubles as an online, live show, and I saw a band play on the steps of the library. This summer I'll definitely be going back up, and I'm also spending a weekend in New York City to visit a friend who is interning up there.

Seeing my friends isn't easy though. It involves working crazy overtime hours during the earlier parts of the week (10-11 hour days) so that I can take off Friday and either drive the 4-5 hours (to Pittsburgh) or go home and bus the 4-5 hours (to NYC) to see my friends. Then I get back late Sunday night, and if my return location is home, it means sleeping little, waking up early (4:30am) and then driving the last 70 miles from home to work on Monday morning. It's not easy, and it can hardly be qualified as fun (because it's never fun to leave your friends, but maybe to get there), but if that's what it takes, that's what I do.

So, if you were to ask me where I wanted to go before I die, I'd answer quite honestly: I want to go where my friends are. It's not so much a place to visit as much as it is the memories I take away. A location can't give me the same sense of happiness that my friends can. And I think that's the most important thing of all.