Vacation in less than a month

In less than four weeks, I'll be getting on a plane and heading to Ottawa for my friend Rob's wedding. The last time off I took was basically back in February, and I spent that walking around rainy Seattle for only a few days. This trip, however, promises to be a lot more interesting, and hopefully more relaxing. The only real things that I have on my plate are my friend's wedding, a trip down to Toronto to see a few people, and then a visit to Quebec City (since I never spent any time there when I lived out east).

I'm pretty sure I'm going to bring a suitcase with some dress clothes in it, and then a big backpacking bag with all my (small) camping gear. I'll probably rent a car, and spend most of that week staying in the wilderness. I'm hoping to bring along a few books, and just spend the majority of it as far away from a computer as I can get.

The reason I know I need a vacation is not because I'm planning this one, but because I've actually started planning the one after too. I was thinking the other day that I haven't been anywhere really warm or tropical in a few years. I was supposed to go to an all inclusive resort last November for a wedding, but thanks to the kick in the head, I had to cancel. I think I'm going to start thinking about going to somewhere warm in the winter when I get back so I can see something new and bask in the warm Caribbean sun.

I fly out the night of August 23rd, and am thankfully flying business class the entire way. Hopefully I'll actually be able to sleep on the plane. If anyone is out that way, drop me a line and maybe I can swing by to say hi.

I want to also point out that I have a few friends working at Nokia in Finland. Those guys get *six weeks off* of vacation every year. In fact, the Nokia office shuts down for the entire month of July and everyone goes to Paris, London, etc. Rough Life.

We really have our priorities backwards here in North America.