That didn't take long at all.

Last night, I did a very bad thing. I googled "South America tours". I knew I shouldn't do it. I should've just worked on my knitting. But something else took control of fingers and typed it. Big mistake.

I found this 124-day tour of South America. We're talking 3-4 days in each location, 4 day cruise down the Amazon (but they have snakes there - big ones), hiking the Inca trail, Iguacu (sp?!) falls, Buenos Aires, OMG SO MANY AMAZING THINGS!!! And, because it's a more "adventure-y" trip, and more focused on local culture than grand tourism, it's cheap because you're on local transportation and staying in small local places (read: no amenities) and sometimes even camping and getting eaten by whatever you get eaten by in South America. Turns out the same company also has a trip to Antartica (which is also a bit less than most trips to Antartica - which are usually really expensive, because, hello, it's Antartica, not Vegas).

Okay, here's the thing. When I finished school, I did a quick trip of Eastern Europe and then went to Oz/NZ for a couple months. That was supposed to be my grand trip (for the next couple years) because then I would be joining the workforce and becoming a responsible adult and be limited to 2 weeks vacation. So my vacation focus was supposed to shift to the U.S. and be city jaunts to places like San Francisco and New York City and Seattle and Boston and Savannah and places I needed to see there. It would work perfectly - I could knock locations off my "to-see" list, but the destinations were close enough they could work easily into my time off.

Then Sept 28th hit. And I realized a year before I had been on a plane to Oz. And I remembered how free I felt. (Not that I couldn't feel that free in Charleston, but still) A couple weeks after that, I went to Contiki.com (BAD! BAD! BAD!) and noticed the Morocco trip fell over the Thanksgiving weekend this year - and that the trip is only 9 days long (including two travel days) - so, really, I could do it with only 4-5 vacation days. Then I could see Morocco AND get a 4th continent! Then last night.

Googling was a mistake. Last night, as I lay in bed, dreaming of 6 months in South America (and a 4th and maybe even a 5th continent!!!), dreaming of staying in a jungle resort in the middle of the Amazon and meeting indiginous peoples, I started cursing myself for not going for (completely) broke. It was the smart decision - but last night, I was wishing I wasn't so smart.

I thought I was happy with the U.S. plan. It wasn't perfect, and I knew it would only hold me over for so long - but I thought it would last longer than 6 months. I thought I'd at least get to one city before I was sucked back into the dreaming. I didn't think I'd bail this quickly. I just need to stick to the plan. I need to start sightseeing lists for San Fran and NYC and everywhere else so I get excited about those instead.

But Antarctica has penguins!!!!!!