vacation thoughts 5

vacation thoughts 5 from Sally, who says in her introduction:

It is a holiday weekend here in the UK, and the weather forecast for much of the country is not good!!! But we can still dream and so with that in mind I bring you this Friday Five.

1. Getting ready for summer, do you use the gradual tanning moisturisers (yes gentlemen you too can answer this!!!), or are you happy to show your winter skin to the world?

(This also is a major holiday weekend here, often referred to as the unofficial start of summer.) A few years ago I tried just a single tube of a gradual tan product, but found the results blotchy because it was impossible to apply evenly, though the color itself was fine. My complexion is light olive and I tan easily, so typically I wear sunscreen in the 35-50 range and during the days prior to achieving a reasonable real glow use a translucent bronzer, usually Bonne Bell's can't remember the name right now.

2. Beach, mountains or chilling by the pool, what/ where is your favourite getaway?

I love oceans, rivers, streams, rivulets (glaciers, waterfall, etc.) and any sand, restaurant or resting-place that's shoreside, but this is such a tourist destination and paradise in real life beaches here get way way far too crowded during the summer months, so I'll take conversation and food by the pool, ideally a friend's (municipal is okay, but not the YM/WCA) with ready access to a comfortable bathroom and real indoors shade.

3. Are you a summer lover or does the long break become wearing?

Summer! Summer! Summer! Endless, eternal summer, please!

4. Active holidays; hiking swimming sailing, or lazy days?

Active! Whether a vacation-length holiday, or just the long weekend we're anticipating here across the pond from the UK, I gotta keep moving, doing and showing results for my time.

5. Now to the important subject of food, if you are abroad do you try the local cuisine, or do you prefer to play it safe?

Oh, at least some local! In these here parts our local vernacular is mainly burgers and fries and Mexican, but ethnically our population is extremely diverse so you easily can get every kind of Asian and Amerasian fast food and slow food. When I'm home I eat a burrito a day, though in Mexico it's almost always a higher-end sit-down restaurant. Oh, you said "abroad!" I've only traveled abroad of home port to the aforementioned Mexico (San Ysidro/Tijuana is the busiest land border in the world, though I've also spent time in Mexico City), Peru and Guatemala plus a fair swath of central and northern Europe. So I eat whatever, usually allowing myself an occasional really sumptuous meal. But I realize especially in what one might refer to as 3rd and 4th world countries you really do need to have at least a little caution regarding local tap water and also take care since veggies and fruits may have been washed in contaminated water.