My Dad passed away on January 29th, 2012.

My husband, Russ, and I celebrated Christmas late that year due to Dad’s illness.  The last few months were beyond precious to our family.

Russ, who is the most AMAZING husband/planner EVER, gave me the BEST Christmas gift!

It was a cold night in February.  We still had our tree up and the stockings were still hung.  Russ was making all sorts of commotion outside.  I wasn’t sure what was going on but I just let it be.

After a lovely dinner it was time for our gift exchange.

We started with the stockings (of course, doesn’t everyone?) where I found 3 darts.  Russ then guided me onto the back porch where there was a world map hanging and a list of rules.  

W H A T ????

Russ and I have always been adventurous but I hadn’t really experienced many adventures outside of the US, aside from visiting Canada when I was 18.

This was the perfect time for us to step up our travel game and start new adventures together.

BOOM!

Rules:

We both throw 3 darts, each getting 1 “do over”

Out of our 3 dart landing spots, we both choose our number 1 location.  We then go jump onto our computers and research both areas and diplomatically choose our final destination.  We usually rotate years with who makes the final call.

We have solidified the rules throughout the years figuring out what works best.  We definitely don’t take it too seriously, especially when we throw blindfolded. 😉

We have made this a tradition and throw darts every Christmas. It gives us something to look forward to every year.

Here is our list of places (in order) that we have visited:

Spain

Paris, France~ with a bonus 24 hour layover in Brussels

Sweden~with a bonus 24 hour layover in Iceland

Chile

Philippines~with a bonus layover in Tokyo~but not enough time to leave the airport 😦

Biarritz and Bordeaux, France

Bermuda

Portugal

2020’s trip was Thailand…but Covid hit.  We haven’t thrown a dart since.  Once we get to Thailand, we’ll get our dart game back on.

GOOD news….We’re headed to Thailand in November, 2025!!!!!

My favorite part is diving into these areas to find out the best places to stay, where to eat, visit, what to do, shop, which museums to see, etc. It’s SO much fun!  My secret travel research weapon is the New York Times Travel section.  They have an AMAZING “36 Hours” Itineraries, which include pretty much every city around the globe.  It is SPOT on!  From secret waterfalls in Maui, finding the best Icelandic snacks, to a hotel in Portugal that has a pillow menu…seriously!

I would love to share all of our great finds with you.  Here goes…..

I would also like to mention that the NY Times “36 Hours” Itineraries paused during COVID…as we all did.. and thankfully got back at it in 2022.  PHEW!