Vacation Envy: How Come Everyone’s Traveling Except Me?

I know what you’re thinking. We’ve been living it up at Revel, chowing down on tacos and Vietnamese food, lounging by the pool, cozying up with hot cocoa and tiramisu as we play Bonopoly (as Kavya likes to call it). But I have news for you: while our babymoon was a blast, I’m still suffering from a major case of, wait for it — VACATION ENVY.

As the coldest winter temps in decades bore down on New York City last week, everyone I knew was getting out of town. And not just, you know, road tripping it to the shore or the Catskills. I mean boarding a plane (or a boat, as the case may be) and jaunting off to somewhere tropical. As I write this, my parents are on their first-ever cruise on Norwegian– which I booked for them, nonetheless — to four islands in the Caribbean and my sister Meena has traipsed off to Mexico. Just yesterday, my business partner, Dhonielle, was lounging on the beach in Goa of all places, and spent some time recently eating kathi rolls in Mumbai.

In years past, around this time, we’ve been relaxing on a houseboat in Kerala during our lovely six month India Honeymoon, in sunny California hanging with the family, celebrating New Year’s in Vegas, or  island hopping in Hawaii to make use of that whole kids under 2 fly free — hula-ing, underwater scootering, and even jumping out of a plane the day after Christmas.

This year, too, with my short-term gig at TheBump.com over and Navdeep’s classes starting next week, we feasibly could have plotted a little mini-adventure, somewhere sunny and warm and beachy (and maybe even budget-friendly, between last minute deals and frequent flyer miles). But for one thing: my big ole belly. At 36 weeks, I am officially waddling. (Yes, I admit it — although Navdeep likes to pretend that I’ve been waddling for a while. I insist: it JUST started this week.)

And these days, given the timeline, I have two doctor’s visits a week. Plus, there’s the fact that you’re not allowed to fly past thirtysomething weeks, and you can’t get on a cruise ship after 24 weeks. They don’t trust us. So here we are in New York City. And although the temperatures reached a relatively balmy mid-40s today, they’re doing nothing to cure my vacation envy.

So what’s a cranky, tired, back-achey and frequent-craving-having pregnant lady (and her put-upon husband and still-chipper toddler) to do? We got plans! With New York as our backyard, there’s a whole range of things we can do that we’ll be compiling in Mission Ishq, (which will be packed full of fabulous food outings and adventurous explorations). But while New York is great and all, we’re already plotting our future travels — with Kavya and the baby!

The new kid will be pretty small this summer and we’re going to make the most of that. We’ve always liked the idea of traveling slowly and taking our time to see a place, so a home exchange sounds right up our alley. Last year, we considered a place neither of us have a huge desire to go to: Paris, because we were put in contact with someone looking for a Home Exchange. It didn’t work out because their place was way too small for the three of us, but the idea of a Home Exchange got us thinking about where else we might go this year.

It seems like a practical, budget-friendly way to really get to experience a new place. Instead of hotel rooms and running around to different tourist spots, we can go for short walks, or if it’s a foreign locale, even a trip to the farmer’s market will be a fun, cultural experience. Maybe a little coastal town somewhere in Greece, Portugal or Italy for a couple of weeks or a month. But it would also be cool to explore a place we’ve been to already or a new place stateside, too, like New Orleans or San Diego, two places I was totally smitten with when we traveled there.

Shortlink: http://goo.gl/euKduk

Are you already plotting your summer travels? Have you ever considered a home exchange?

Sona Charaipotra

Sona Charaipotra is a New York City-based journalist, who works from home and on the road, while wearing her pajamas. She has written for Cosmopolitan, the New York Times, People, TeenPeople, American Way, Modern Bride, and loads of other print publications. She has blogged for CafeMom, Mom.me, MSN, and TheBump. She graduated with a Masters degree in screenwriting from N.Y.U., went on to earn an MFA in Writing for Children from the New School and is currently completing a novel. Find her @sona_c and www.SonaCharaipotra.com

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