Scotland

In my brain I want to go to Scotland. It would be a more affordable vacation than Hawaii, or going back to visit in-laws in Chile, especially during the eclipse. It would be less affordable than another New England camping trip--and we didn't even manage that last summer.

Scotland would have some similar scenery to Iceland without being quite as expensive or having the inconvenience of learning another language.

I like single malt Scotch.

I have a cousin living in Edinburgh, though she might be moving back to the States soon.

I went to nursery school in London. I listen to the BBC a lot. I watched a TV show and some movies that were set in Scotland. People in Scotland have a cool-sounding accent.

Are they called Scots?

They have pretty islands in Scotland. In fairness, there are some pretty islands off the Maine coast.

There are castles in Scotland.

Scotland would be a more fun reason to renew my passport than simply knowing we might want to drive to Canada someday.

On Instagram, my friends and relatives post photos of California and other various beautiful spots in the Americas, of Europe and Asia. I post photos taken when I'm stuck in traffic on Route 3 South. There are some pretty wetlands visible from the highway, and interesting shadows in the cement barriers and underpasses, and plucky weeds--some with purple flowers--sprouting up through the asphalt. Still, it would be nice to have, I don't know, actual scenery.

I have a kid about to go to college, next September. She'll need financial aid.
And another kid who'll go to college after that.
I'll probably have to wait 10 years to go to Scotland.
My cousin probably won't be living there then.

It is good to be frugal, and earn a decent salary, and not to have any serious worries about money.

Still. I wish I could travel.

To Paris, to see the Louvre: I may have been there when I was 3 years old, but I don't remember. I'd like to go back to Venice, to find out what that painting was that I saw in the 1990's and can't find on any Internet archive. Supposedly of Saint Rocco, but the cherub had a lewd knowing look in its eye--the scene had wisps of a fancy bordello. To Tuscany to eat another savory chickpea-flour pancake. To Africa--Botswana, or Camaroon, or Some Place--Some Place Very Different. To climb Mt Fuji and tour Kyoto. I want to see the Alps, if not the Himalayas.

But Scotland would be nice. Scotland would do. Could I rationalize it? Could it fit into my budget?