Wednesday, June 20: Destination Cook Islands

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We leave for our vacation in just a few days, and we are a might bit excited. Probably annoyingly so.

But after carefully scripting our vacation last year with train schedules and packing three weeks worth of meals to carry with us, this year our plans are delightfully unscripted. And we planned it that way.

Dreaming about a vacation is a great way to channel Spring Fever, but we found that for the sake of each of our work places, we needed to choose our vacation time well in advance of our ability to get past the dreaming stage of vacation planning. So we pulled out our work calendars and settled on the only two weeks all summer long that would work for us to travel.

And then we asked each other where we wanted to go. One thing we could decide on: we had to make it a big trip to take advantage of the fact that we were still traveling with a baby and wouldn't have to pay for a third seat. But other than that, what to do? We talked of so many places that sounded fascinating and fun, how were we ever going to choose?

So we took a classic indecisive approach: we left it to the deal sites. SOS subscribed to just about every travel deal service we know of and browsed for weeks, waiting for the perfect blend of suitable travel dates, interesting place, and affordable price.

And that is how we settled on the Cook Islands for our vacation destination.

And yes, we are excited.

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