Confession: I’m not very good at winter.

I know, I know, it’s sacrilegious for a Canadian to say that right out loud. I’ve done my share of skiing in and out from the road, a quarter of a mile hauling a sled full of groceries, or babies, in hip deep snow. I’ve shoveled out more than a few stuck vehicles. I’m an expert at de-icing a windshield that’s half an inch thick with ice after being splashed the whole way across the river on the ferry at midnight.

I love to ice skate; I can even do pirouettes and skate backwards. When we lived in New Hampshire I used to love to strap on my cross-country skis and take off during nap time to shuss my way along the fire trail deep into the forest in the unnatural quiet of a winter’s afternoon. There’s nothing nicer than a hot cup of tea, a warm fleece blanket and a thick snowfall observed through a picture window with a book for company.

Nothing, that is, except for that same book on a warm beach somewhere several degrees closer to the equator.

I’ve had a long standing tradition of escaping February. Even when we were kids my parents would sometimes head for the deep south for a few months instead of slogging through the deep dark of winter.

For years before we started traveling for a living we traveled in February: Mexico, Hawaii, Mexico, Hawaii, Mexico… you see the pattern. 

The past three winters have been warm: Africa & Central America. February has found us in Marseille, France (not warm exactly, but not Canadian cold either!) Mexico, Guatemala & Belize. I don’t like to be cold.

I guess I can’t blame my friends for being shocked that this year is different.

We’re in the States for the winter but I’m still escaping February, just not in my usual direction.

There are two trips planned and both will take me north instead of south.

The first is a secret. I really can’t tell you a thing about it because the people affected read the blog. But I can tell you that it’s going to be the surprise of the decade, there will be jumping up and down and I will be freezing my backside off. I’d rather go where I’m going than to any balmy beach in the world. Stay tuned, you won’t have to wait long!

The second has long been on my bucket list: The Man and I are going to Iceland for the better part of a week! WITHOUT the kids!

Volcanic hot springs, slow moving glaciers, and with a little luck, the Aurora Borealis (come on, solar flare!!) Is there anything more romantic?

Sure, it will be cold, but we can make our own heat! 😉