My Fiction Fantasy Vacation

Earlier this year, Carrie shared her Bookish Places Bucket List over at Reading Is My Superpower, and it got me to thinking of all the book-related places I’ve dreamed of visiting. So I asked myself,  “If money grew on trees and I could spend one year visiting any and as many of those places as I like, where would I go?” The result was my fiction fantasy vacation:

First stop would have to be Prince Edward Island since I’ve been dreaming of visiting L.M. Montgomery’s Green Gables since I was a little girl.

Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice raved so beautifully of the countryside in Derbyshire it would seem almost sinful not to include it in my fiction fantasy vacation. From Chatsworth to Stanage Edge, there is much to see and do in this beautiful part of England

It may be cliche, but some of my favorite historical romances have taken place along the Oregon Trail. Therefore, I would love the opportunity to retrace or reenact the experience of those brave pioneers (not forgetting the tragedies that went along with this westward expansion). In a perfect world, I could travel back in time and actually join a wagon train for the entire length of the journey – bringing with me my modern medicines and a magical helicopter that could instantly transport me to a very modern hospital in the case of emergency, of course. Barring that, I’d love to do something like the tour outlined here and then take part in a reenactment such as this one.

After my last pick, it will hardly come as a surprise that I also enjoy a well-written cowboy romance. So of course, my fantasy vacation needs to include the closest thing this city girl can get to actual ranching experience:  a dude ranch! Only I’m just crazy enough not to want to simply hang out at a ranch and maybe ride a horse or two. I actually want to muck stalls, drive cattle, groom horses and maybe even learn to lasso. That’s easy, right? Well, whatever the case, I figure one of the top 50 working ranch vacation places listed HERE ought to suit my fancy. 🙂

I’ll probably be all tuckered out after my stay at the ranch. What better way to recharge than a nice long train ride? Yep. I like a good train romance, too. Although I don’t think it is possible to get the full ash-in-your-face, week-long-travel-on-a-hard-wooden-bench experience, these days, I would like to experience traveling from New York to San Francisco by rail. And perhaps while I’m riding, I’ll travel back in time by reading the “first-person” contemporary accounts available HERE.

Then, to round off my vacation, I’ll test my seafaring skills by learning to crew a gold-rush era replica schooner off the coast of my hometown, San Diego.

What do you think? Would you enjoy coming along on my fantasy fiction vacation? What would your fantasy fiction vacation include?

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