What’s in store for 2025?

To be honest, I didn’t think I would write my annual post about our future travels because until a couple of weeks ago we had no idea where we would be going or even if we would be going at all! We had a few months here and there loosely sketched out, but there were a lot of holes in our year.

We seem to have reached that stage where one of us makes a suggestion, and the other says, meh. It’s mostly me, I admit, because as the driver, I am kind of done with big long-distance trips, especially in the motorhome. I don’t mind a repositioning trip, even across the country, but when I get somewhere, I want to stay in the area for a while and make shorter trips in our car.

Originally we had planned to take on the Canadian Maritimes, one of the big RV trips that many folks want to check off their travel list, kind of like Alaska. It has been on our bucket list for years, but now that the time is here, I am just not interested in all that driving. With our current location on the west coast, the Maritimes would be a big commitment in both time and distance. In our early years, I would have been thrilled to pieces but now I am kind of done with that kind of travel. I think. I mean, never say never, but it feels like I am done.

We seem to be craving something different, but at the same time, familiar. It has been a real challenge, but we finally settled on a year of travel that interests us, and feels good when we dive into the planning.

JANUARY

We will hit the road on New Year’s Day, saying goodbye to the wonderful staff and volunteers at Rasar State Park in Washington state. Over the next few weeks we will head south along the west coast, making stops to visit friends in Portland and near Sacramento. Then we’ll hang a left and head to Arizona. Our goal is to arrive in Quartzsite, find a good spot and get ourselves set up in time to have at least one day at the Big Tent. In all of our U.S. travels, we have spent probably 3 or 4 weeks in Q, but only one short day enjoying the festivities. That was enough, frankly, and that’s all we want this time and after that we will just hang out in the desert and chill for a few weeks.

FEBRUARY

While still in the desert, we will take a break and fly from Phoenix to the Big Apple for a few days. I know, like, who visits New York City in February? We do, because we’re going to the theater! We will see Adam Lambert take on the role of Master of Ceremonies in Cabaret on Broadway.

I saw the movie version of Cabaret with Liza Minelli and Joel Grey in a theater in Milan in 1972 when it was first released and I was absolutely hooked. It was dubbed in Italian, which I didn’t understand at all, and at 15 years old, I didn’t really understand the story either, but I loved the music and the performances and it has stayed high on my favorites list ever since.

I haven’t seen much of Adam Lambert since he was on American Idol, but I know enough about his talent to envision him nailing the role of the Emcee at the Kit Kat Club! I cannot wait to see the show! All in all we’re staying in New York City for five days, so hopefully we’ll be able to meet up with friends we haven’t seen since our last trip to NYC.

MARCH

We will make our way out of the desert to visit friends in Phoenix and Tucson, then make our way to the ranch in Texas by the 10th. On Saint Patrick’s Day, Steven will fly to Dublin to see his family, and a week later he and I will meet up in Paris and hop a train south to Le Puy-en-Velay. This beautiful commune in the south of France is the starting point of the via Podiensis, also known as the GR 65 and Le Chemin Le Puy. In other words, another Camino.

We will meet up with three others who will make up our group of eager pilgrims – my childhood friend Cindy and her friend Monica and Nina Fussing, whom many of you know from her blog, “Wheeling It”, who was also one of my fellow Cheeky Chicas on the Camino Portuguese in 2023.

April

On April 1st we start walking! Cindy and Monica will walk the first 12 days to the little village of Conques, while Nina, Steven and I will continue on for another few weeks, walking our way for 750 kilometers (466 miles) to St. Jean-Pied-du Port.

MAY

We should reach St. Jean by May 14th give or take a day or two and, if all goes well, meet up with friends Bill and Kelly and another RVing couple some of you know, Linda and Rick. Bill, Kelly and Linda will have just finished their own Camino adventure as they are walking the Camino Portuguese! I am super excited for them! Linda’s partner, Rick, will join them at the finish line in Santiago de Compostella. They plan to visit a couple of other cities on their way to meeting us in St. Jean. We’ll say goodbye to Nina there and the rest of us will hop on the bullet train bound for Paris where we will spend a few days in one of our favorite cities. We have spent a lot of time in Paris over the last few years, and we love it there, but this time we won’t be in Bijou. Sad. 🙁

JUNE – SEPTEMBER

IDK. We’ll be back at the ranch, but we really haven’t figured out where we will go for the summer. Obviously we have to get out of the south, because summer there is a hard no. We are thinking of making the pilgrimage to Red Bay, Alabama, home of Tiffin Motorhome, and get some cabinetry work done, but if it is already too hot and sticky, we’ll save that for another time.

Most likely we will head north to Michigan and Wisconsin, but we have lots to figure out for this timeframe. By early October, we’ll be back at the ranch and prepare Ruby Red for storage, once again.

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER/DECEMBER

Starting in October we plan to spend a few weeks in Europe. Our first stop will be at the south end of Lake Lugano, in Porlezza, Italy. Our plan is to rent a car and take a few day trips in both Italy and nearby Switzerland. We spent a couple of weeks in this area in Bijou, but it is mountainous and so we did not visit some of the places I wanted to go.

Sometime in November we will move on to France, where we plan to spend some time in Strasbourg. Even though we spent about a year and a half in and out of France while traveling, we never made it to this beautiful city. Well, once, but only to the IKEA store on a boiling hot day while we were waiting for Bijou to get new brakes. We settled in to enjoy the air conditioning rather than visit the city. The thing I am most looking forward to in Strasbourg is the Christmas markets. They are said to be among the best in all of Europe. Of course, each city, town and village says the same about theirs, but I still think this one will be worth visiting.

DECEMBER

After a few weeks in Europe we’ll be back at the ranch for the holidays with family.

So that’s it, 2025 in a nutshell. Right as we publish this post every year, I always wonder if the year will turn out as we have planned. In over ten years on the road, I can say we pretty much nailed it with few plans changing as we traveled. Not counting 2020, of course. Everyone’s plans changed that year! But even though we look forward to our travels, we are always mentally prepared for something different, for our plans to change, whatever the reason.

Happy Holidays, everyone, and here’s to a wonderful 2025!

Up Next: Asia!

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