Polkadot Mama Travel Agency, at your service.

Last night, as I sat talking with one of my favorite people, a sweet little Italian lady from Brooklyn, she asked, 'if you didn't have children, what do you think you would be doing?' You mean besides wishing and praying for them several times daily so much so that it became my sole focus to birth a child of my very own? Oh right, right, so with all the free time I had leftover, I then answered, 'travel.'

Do I have places in mind to travel? Oh you bet your sweet bippy I do. Here are my Top 5:
Of course you get to read all about it, hey maybe I am giving you your next idea for a vacation.

1. Tahiti, more specifically, Bora Bora.
Ok, so this is my numero uno pick. Um, excuse me, but who would not like to stay in one of these bungalows over the water? Go ahead try and resist it, you can't. There are 12 islands that make up Tahiti, the French Polynesia, as a whole, similar to Hawaii with this idea. I specifically chose Bora Bora, because it has been said that it is the most beautiful not just out of the Tahitian Islands, but of all the islands in the world. Despite all that, do you see the water, do you see the view? Come on. Do you see that you have a glass floor in your room that is over water that is clearer than the kids tub on bath night?
Hello Mr. Turtle. It is said that sea turtles live about 75 years, in that case, hopefully I will see you when I come to visit...you'll make it.
Flight time from Philadelphia is 14 hours. I think I could manage.

2. Italy.
In no way shape or form am I Italian. I do not even have one relative that is Italian. However, something about Italy appeals to me, primarily the food and the wine, but the scenery, the art, and the people are all something I would like to experience first hand. I could not even narrow it down to one specific area in Italy I would like to see, and so, I think it is best that we take a month off and tour it off the beaten trail. Take bus, train, and those itty bitty cars and tour the country, the beaches, the mountains and the cities in Italy. Eat gelattos along the rivers, dance to Italian tenors deep into the night. So romantic, I know, I suppose Andy can come. Kidding, duh. I mean, don't you want to eat a big bowl of pasta and sip some wine that you made by stomping on grapes with your own bare feet at this farm? Come with us.

3.San Francisco, Yosemite National Park, & The Napa Valley.
I have no interest in southern California right now, nothing against it, I am just drawn more to the city of San Francisco. It's artsy culture, Lombard Street, Alcatraz, the famous Golden Gate Bridge, it's hills, it's cable cars...out of all the U.S. cities, this is one I would just like to experience the most. I think my fascination with San Francisco started back in the day with 'Full House,' you know in the opening credits where they are sitting in the open field with the Victorian row homes on the hills? I used to think how cool would it be to live there?

And why not hit a national park why we are at it? I think I should start making it a purpose to visit as many national parks as I can since I have been to many. It is only a 3 hour drive or so from San Francisco.
I have also heard that there are different options to traveling to the Napa Valley from San Francisco; ferry, cruise, train, car, air...and I would love to see the Napa Valley. I think I could easily talk Andy into this wine drinking land. I would also like to take a hot air balloon ride over the valley, this I would be doing without Andy, no talking him into that.

4. An African Safari.
Andy has been to Zimbabwe. Loved it. He said he would love to take me back. Listen, I don't care where in Africa it is, I really don't know much about the country, and maybe it's true, we should stick with what we know, however, I want to see animals in their natural element. Enough with these zoos, theme parks recreating safaris. Personally, I always feel bad for these animals in these caged up places having to have humans stare at them day in and day out. The animals never look happy, despite the people who take care of them trying to convince me otherwise. It just isn't natural. This is similar to urges I get while in a pet store to release all of the puppies so that they can run free, I hate that they are kept in those glass front boxes with no one to cuddle them and nowhere to run. I mean this is how bad I am, we have 2 goldfish in a bowl in Kendall's room, and everyday when I feed them, I apologize to them.

I am way into animals, specifically when they are free and in their own element. So I would just about be in my glory on an African safari. Sure I would probably pee my pants and be scared out of my mind if one got super close, but you can't beat that experience. Of course if we went to Zimbabwe, then I could see Victoria Falls, since even though I am terrible with African geography know it is somewhere near there, and Andy thinks that is the most amazing thing in all the world to see.


5. Maldives.
I know, another island vacation. However, I would pick a beach vacation first, over any other.I would certainly do Hawaii in a second, and it is definitely one of my places to go, but this is a dream list, ok? The Maldives is an Asian country, well islands, in the Indian Ocean, can you get further away to reach serenity? Since the Indian Ocean had an terrible earthquake in 2004 causing tsunami's on many of the islands of Maldives, they need our help bringing its tourism industry back, let's get on that. I will volunteer...well if they pay for it, and something tells me they can't. I chose this pic to represent Maldives well because look at that water, could it be any clearer? And look at that hammock. It is screaming my name, I can hear it from here. It is telling me that there is no whining anywhere in its vicinity, and no wash to do, and all it wants me to bring is a big straw sun hat, some sun glasses, and a book.

This flight time is 19 hours from New York, with a pit stop in London. I may go a little batty, but again, I would do it for the hammock.

So there you have it, it was even nice to visit these places in my head as I reviewed my list for you.

I, of course, am not saying you cannot travel when you have kids, but when you don't have kids, you have nothing to miss terribly at home, you can really just pack up and go if you wanted to, and you would even have a little more cash to afford to do this if you spent your money right.

But I happily give up all these destinations to have 2 little ones to go to the Please Touch Museum with, the zoo, camping, so on and so forth. I just showed Kendall the hammock and told her, 'Mommy loves you so much that I gave up lying in this hammock.' She answered, 'well we can hang a pam-ock on the porch for you Mommy.' Something tells me it just ain't the same, but if you see my on my porch, lying in my hammock sipping wine; don't bother me, I just came from Italy with this bottle of wine as a souvenir, and landed in Maldives.

So where is your top vacation picks?