What a fitting topic for today's post -- travel! We just got back last night from what I expect will in retrospect be considered one of my favorite weekends of the year! After a couple days with my husband's best friend, we went to Mobile for Mardi Gras with my best friend and her family, plus her new family -- her husband and their twins, plus a bunch of friends. So much fun!! My dress for the ball (a Nicole Miller!) was a big hit and it was fairly comfortable. Unfortunately, my shoes were not comfortable. Crazy. I wore them in a wedding in October and they were great, but not so at the ball. By about midnight, I was taking them off as often as possible. We danced a lot, so we'd be on the dance floor, I'd look for a dry spot (it's supposed to be no drinks on the dance floor, but people en masse seemed to disregard that this year), then take off my shoes and keep them under my dress. The dress has to be floor length according to the dress code, so it just made the dress look too long, but so much more comfortable! But walking home was painful, to the point that I walked halfway back to the hotel barefoot. After some rain and after Mardi Gras. Talk about disgusting! But I think I was intoxicated enough it didn't bother me as much as it would in reality!

Anyway, I'll see if I can add a few weekend pictures at the end of this post. But now, on to the designated topic:

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

FMM: Travel

1. Where did your most recent trip take you? Last week we were in Alabama for Mardi Gras with friends. Got home last night.
2. Is there a place that you’d like to visit that you haven’t yet? If so, where? Tons. My list, in order I think, is Israel, China, Egypt, India and South Africa. And that's just the top 5 -- the list is long. As I said, I've been to about 45 countries, and I'd love to go to the other 145!
3. Do you travel lightly, or do you cram as much into your luggage as possible? Is it possible to do both? I attempt to avoid checking luggage as much as possible, including when going to Europe (though it doesn't always work), but I try hard to get a lot into my bag. We almost never take road trips, but when we do, I pack heavy -- try to bring everything I might possibly need. But I'm much happier just taking a single manageably-sized bag on a big trip.
4. Do your eating and exercise habits change when you travel? If so, how? Yes, with exercise I tend to mix it up more or take rest days when travelling. At home, it's a constant routine of boot camp and running with friends, with some yoga, spin or whatever mixed in. But on the road, I'll run solo sometimes -- just running somewhere new can be a big change as I mentioned last week -- yikes, LOTS of hills in Alabama! -- but sometimes I'll also do things like using weight machines (I usually prefer body weight stuff, and sometimes use small 8-10 pound dumbbells, but on the road, I'll sometimes play around in a gym), trying a new class (my one and only Zumba experience was while on vacation in Sweden), doing things like renting bikes, kayaking, whatever. My exercise routine is a lot less regimented on vacation, but still fun. My eating changes for the worse though. We don't eat out a lot at home, but of course do a lot on vacation. Sometimes we'll do crazy things like making sure we eat pizza and ice cream every day. And I drink on vacation, but in a standard week at home, I don't usually drink at all. As I posted last week, maybe it's a good thing I don't get as much vacation time as I'd like! That could be quite dangerous for me.
5. Tell us about a place you’ve been that you’d like to go back to. We go to Calabria in southern Italy pretty much as often as we can. Hubby has family there. We got engaged there. We got married there. Some day we want to move there. It's unlike a lot of the rest of Italy in my mind because it is not full of tourists. It's much more authentic. It's very beautiful, mountains and sea, and then beautiful churches and streets in between. We were in Florence one time at a restaurant and some awful loud American woman was whining at the waiter, "you mean you don't take dollars???!!!" Oh, we were mortified and glad we usually speak Italian on vacation instead of English because we did not want to be identified by that woman. It just doesn't seem like something that would happen in Calabria because that woman would never be there in the first place. I love the routine of the towns there. Getting your coffee in the morning, the big lunch, sitting in the piazza during the afternoon or evening, a small dinner, a lovely stroll. Ahhh, I wish I were going with hubby next month -- it will be the first time he's gone to Italy without me since we got married...
6. Do you prefer to travel at a certain time of year? We usually like to take our big overseas trip in the spring or fall. I love getting out of Dallas in the summer, and we always go home to see my folks in the winter, but overseas works best for us in the spring or fall.
7. If you had to choose, would you go to the beach or the mountains? Tough call. I would not object to either. I think we had this question before on one of these Monday posts, and I said beach, but today I'm in a mountain mood. I think it was running all those hills in Birmingham!
8. Have you ever needed a passport to travel? Not in 2012 yet, but I will of course when we go to China in the fall. In my life to date, I've been to Europe, Asia, Africa and South Africa -- so I guess my missing continent (that I want to visit) is Australia. I've had a passport with stamps since high school I guess (before that I'd been to nearby places like Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, but no passport needed).
9. Do you collect anything in your travels? I love foreign coin currency! And I often get something else small that reminds me of the place, though I did one major overseas purchase -- a beautiful silk rug for our living room. My best friend collects shot glasses, so I usually try to look for one of those, but not so easy to find in non-touristy places.
10. Where do you plan to go next? March travel for me will be to White Sands, New Mexico for the marathon!

Now it’s your turn! Don’t forget to come back to share a link in the comments at alltheweigh.com! Happy Monday friends!

Mardi Gras in pictures:

Alabama = Mullet (but he was the dj at one of the hotels and did an awesome job!)

One of my best friend's twins:

Ah, and another amusing site -- check out the mustache of this guy watching the parade:

COC parade:

MOT Ball:

MOT queen:

People dancing (note that this picture is clearly taken from a seated position!):

Jagerbombs:

Bad food (I ate a funnel cake):