Quebec & New York City Plans

Well, I waffled all over the place this year. To those who don’t realize, I have my own small tradition going. For the past seven New Years I’ve been in another country when the proverbial ball dropped to usher in a new year. The first year, in Edinburgh, Scotland, there was no long ranging plan. I went because I’d heard about the Hogmanay street party in Edinburgh and I was curious. I had also been to the UK the first time earlier that same year and had the bug to see more.

The following year it was seeing another year arrive in Rome and enjoying the beauty of Italy because I had enjoyed Hogmanay so much. You see New Year had never been a big deal for me before. I didn’t always even stay up to see it roll in. I’m not a big party person at all, never have been, and am unlikely to change. But it was an interesting way, almost symbolic, to see a New Year doing something ‘new’ (in fairness, I did see two New Years in Edinburgh).

Anyway, what would be the 8th was coming and I pushed around a lot of ideas. I’ve been in the throes of revising and polishing my print gallery much of the year, so there was lots of fuel for the imagination. For a time I considered Italy again as it’s been so long now. I even batted around Ireland for a few days. After all, I dearly loved my time there and there’s much more to see. I’ve long since repeated myself so that was no worry. And many warm destinations came and went in my imaginations.

A couple of problems, though, there was no clear winner for the longest time, just the fantasy of the moment. Add in that this year has been, I hate to say, disappointing financially. For awhile, I considered that maybe my New Years abroad tradition was finally over. I don’t really think I’ll travel each New Year for the rest of my life at any rate, so it wil inevitably reach a conclusion. I considered a few times seeing the New Year in somewhere in the US, maybe on a road trip or some such.

And then the gears finally turned and I remembered our neighbor to the north, still uncharted by me and figured surely I could swing it. The ironic thing is that the result is not one but two destinations. For reasons only the airlines can explain, when I searched airfares, I discovered it was actually a $100 cheaper for me to add New York City to my return itinerary. If I flew from Quebec City back to Atlanta it was more expensive than spending some time in New York and flying back from there.

So, I’m going to see 2012 arrive in Quebec City where I’m spending a week, followed by a 5 night stop in New York City and then home. There may yet be a small road trip in the offing after that but it was hard enough for me just to iron out these travel plans!

So, I know things have been quiet on my travel blog of late, but stay tuned, I’ll surely be posting some updates in December/January at long last out on the road. At least once more unto the breach!

And for those who have been to Quebec City or winter in New York, I welcome your suggestions for things to do and see!