Plans for 2026

Although Tim and I have been home for just over two weeks, I am already thinking about travel plans for this year. We have already booked four cruises with Viking, but flights, hotels, and other logistics remain to be worked out.

Cruising begins in April with two back-to-back river cruises from Amsterdam, The Netherlands. “Tulips and Windmills” is a ten-day voyage to discover Holland and Belgium, and since I adore tulips and have always wanted to visit Amsterdam, this cruise seemed a perfect choice. This is the description:

Admire the genius of the Dutch Masters at Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum. Explore Enkhuizen’s seafaring heritage, Dutch World War II history and Antwerp’s Renaissance splendor. See colorful tulips in bloom, and sample Belgian beers and chocolates. View well-preserved medieval buildings in Middelburg. Roam Keukenhof Gardens, the world’s largest floral park. The best time to see the Low Countries is spring, and the best way to see them is on our 10-day voyage.

Tulips and Windmills Cruise

“European Sojourn” immediately follows the “Tulips and Windmills” cruise and is a journey on three rivers and through eight countries between Amsterdam and Bucharest, Romania. Every destination on this cruise will be new to me, and I am looking forward to exploring parts of Eastern Europe. This is the description:

Sail Amsterdam’s canals. See castles on the Rhine. Behold the grandeur of Vienna. Celebrate folk traditions in Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania. These travel icons—and more—await you on a 23-day journey combining our “Grand European Tour” and “Passage to Eastern Europe” cruises. Discover eight countries in Western, Central and Eastern Europe while cruising the Rhine, Main and Danube. Enjoy a lifetime’s worth of experiences on a single voyage. 

European Sojourn Cruise

Tim and I enjoyed our just-completed Expedition cruise to Antarctica so much that we decided a cruise to the Arctic would be a perfect complement. While we were on board, we booked the “Canada and the Northwest Passage” cruise, a 27-day itinerary that will take us from Toronto, Canada to Nuuk, Greenland, and beyond this coming July. This is the description:

Witness the majesty of floating icebergs and rugged lands as you embark on a journey to the Canadian High Arctic and Greenland. View towering icebergs, expansive icefields and deep-blue fjords that are rich in marine life. Get a glimpse of life in the Arctic Circle, learn about Inuit communities and traditions that have sustained for generations. Bask in the endless rays of the midnight sun as you join us on a voyage of discovery to far-flung lands. 

Canada and the Northwest Passage Cruise

Our final cruise of the year will be a return to Europe in mid-November during the slower season. The “Adriatic and Mediterranean Sojourn” cruise will begin in Rome and end in Istanbul. Over a period of 22 days, we will explore so many iconic destinations with a new port almost every day. Although we have visited some of the Mediterranean cities, all the ones in the Adriatic are completely new to us. This is the description:

Witness a sweeping landscape of cultural riches and historic wonders on this fascinating cruise that combines “Italian Sojourn,” ”Venice, the Adriatic & Greece,” and ”Ancient Mediterranean Treasures.” Sail around Italy’s boot, discover breathtaking Croatia and medieval Montenegro, and walk among ancient ruins in Ephesus and Troy. Overnights in Venice, Athens and Istanbul afford you ample time to delve into the eastern Mediterranean’s famed and hidden treasures. 

Adriatic and Mediterranean Sojourn Cruise

Whew! That seems like a lot of days at sea, but I’m up for it! We did, however, decide to cancel our two back-to-back cruises for Spring 2027, “Magnificent Mekong” and “Far East and Alaska.” We’ll try to plan that itinerary for some other time.

More Travel Planning Underway

While I continue with my research for our upcoming World Voyage, I have spent the last few weeks planning my next trip. This coming Wednesday, I am embarking on a 12-day road trip that I’m calling my Midwest National Parks Trip.

One of my long-term goals has been to visit as many national park units as possible. Originally, I had hoped to visit every one, all 429 of them. In the last year or so, I’ve become more realistic and have set a goal of visiting all units in the Continental United States. I’m not sure how many that might be, but I have been to 356 so far.

The Red Dots Indicate National Park Units I've Not Visited

Tim and I visited most of these parks while we were traveling in our RV, but several large gaps remain, mostly in the Northeast. However, there are also a number of parks in the Midwest, and I’ve been trying to get to those for quite some time. Now is the time!

It’s going to be a whirlwind trip, especially since I added on the two newer units in Missouri and the one in Kentucky. I’ve also included three state capitols that are on the way. In between these major stops, I’ll also visit several National Heritage Areas and National Historic Trails. If I can complete these visits, I’ll just have the two Chicago area parks to complete the Midwest. Tim has wisely decided to stay behind this time, since the hectic pace did not seem like fun to him! Smart man!

Here’s my planned route. 

My Midwest National Parks Trip - Planned Route

In the middle of all this planning, Tim and I also decided to book two Viking River cruises for 2026. Yes, we do plan ahead. I’ve wanted to see the tulips in bloom in Amsterdam, so we are taking the Tulips & Windmills itinerary. When we disembark from that one, we will embark on the European Sojourn itinerary. We have heard so many great things about sailing the Rhine River, so we decided to check it out.

Tulips & Windmills

European Sojourn

While I was reading one of my favorite blogs last night, I finally learned the condition that I am afflicted with – dromomania! Rose, a fellow traveler who will be on our World Voyage, discovered the word and did a little research. Here’s what she learned:

When I looked up the definition in Wikipedia, the entry said: “Dromomania was a historical psychiatric diagnosis whose primary symptom was an uncontrollable urge to walk or wander. Dromomania has also been referred to as traveling fugue. Non-clinically, the term has come to be used to describe a desire for frequent traveling or wanderlust." 

The Miriam Webster dictionary simply defines it as “an exaggerated desire to wander”, but the American Psychological Association defines it in a way that gave me pause: 

n. an abnormal drive or desire to travel that involves spending beyond one’s means and sacrificing job, partner, or security in the lust for new experiences. People with dromomania not only feel more alive when traveling but also start planning their next trip as soon as they arrive home. Fantasies about travel occupy many of their waking thoughts and some of their dreams. The condition was formerly referred to as vagabond neurosis. 

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Once I discovered the word, I had to know more. An article in Atlas Obscura talks about how the diagnosis was used in the late 19th century to put “wanderers” into asylums to prevent their “pathological tourism”. Then all of a sudden, with the outbreak of World War I in Europe and borders being closed, the “diagnosis” just disappeared. The article goes on to say that, “Today, occasionally dromomania is mentioned int he context of homelessness, or to refer to the disorientation associated with dementia. And it has splintered—as wanderlust it has been completely depathologized, and has become something desirable and attractive.”

BINGO! That’s me in a nutshell! Like Rose, though, I am not spending beyond our means, nor am I sacrificing Tim and our security. Wanderlust or dromomania, whatever the case may be, my condition has a name.