The making of a road trip

I have been a bit distracted lately.

For the past several months, I have been suffering from travel fever. The need to get away has been getting stronger and stronger, to the point that the prospect of a trip, any trip, has been on my mind more than anything else and more tempting than a Jimmy Choo shopping spree.

So now that a trip is finally approaching – and not just any trip, but one I would be looking forward to even if I wasn’t this travel-deprived – I have been pouring over travel books, and planning itineraries… basically being a full-immersion Spain-obsessed traveling control freak. It’s not pretty, people.

Some people totally don’t get me when I’m like this. When I share bits of my travel fever they make a face and say “But I thought you were happy in Switzerland, now” (subtext: finally, you whiny, pathetic, spoiled thing.) But it has nothing to do with being unhappy – or rather, it doesn’t necessarily.

It’s the need for change.

No matter how good things are, how happy I am, I never find myself wishing “I hope things were always like this.” (Sure, there are some things I woulnd’t mind being constants. Like Stella sleeping through the night. Or having no breakouts.)

I know so many people who are upset or overwhelmed by change. I seem to kind of thrive on it. It keeps things interesting!

But I don’t think that is so uncommon – think of how many people change jobs all the time. Or how many redecorate constantly. Or how many cannot commit – no wait, that’s inexcusable. Although, isn’t committing to a place much the same as committing to a person? Maybe I haven’t found my geographic soul mate?

But I digress. That’s a rant for another time.

I have been planning our summer vacation. We are going to Spain – do you know how long I’ve wanted to go to Spain? Forever. The fact that we are driving there would be a deterrent, except  we are stopping in Barcelona on our way to the Costa Blanca. Barcelona! One of the top places in my travel bucket list.

I don’t like to overplan my trips. But I do like some semblance of structure, mostly because there are usually thing I want to see before I leave. For the rest, I pretty much like walking around almost aimlessly, which is really fun because you feel less like a tourist and more like an explorer

But when I started reading this Guide to Barcelona and this Spain Travel Guide I saw just how much there is to see, especially in Barcelona, which is really just a long layover for us on the way to our actual destination.

And that’s when I started obsessing. Kinda. A little bit. ’cause I just had to figure out how to see as much as possible without over-scheduling – which is when a vacation starts feeling like work, so you want to steer clear of that.

So far, this is the plan for our road-trip vacation:

Day 1: Drive from Zurich to Barcelona

Day 2: visit Barcelona.

The fountain at Park de la Ciutadella in Barcelona, shared on Flickr by Klaus Dolla

Day 3: spend morning in Barcelona, leave after lunch for Benidorm, on the Costa Blanca.

Day 4-13: visit Valencia, Benidorm, Alicante, Gandìa (a must for someone for anyone interested in the history surrounding the Borgia family), and spend the rest of the time walking on the beach, swimming in the Mediterranean, eating paella and pescados y mariscos. And I bet I’ll have my share of sangría and Alsace Riesling, too.

view from the castle of Santa Bárbara in Alicante, captured and shared on Flickr by Pedro Pablo Arias

Day 14: Leave the Costa Blanca to start the trip back home; stop over in Montpellier, France, for the night. Walk around, visit the city.

Day 15: Leave Montpellier, drive to Lake Geneva and spend some time around Morges before driving to Zurich; maybe stop in Berne to walk around the old town and have coffee with my best friend M.

The Tulip Festival in Morges, on Lake Geneva - shot and shared on Flickr by Diegojack

Damn, it does sound a little more like work than a vacation at times. But boy, wouldn’t that be great? To get paid for traveling and seeing gorgeous places? Sign me up!

What are your plans for this summer?