It seems that no sooner had I returned from my trip to Alaska then I turned right around and made plans for my next trip. That’s the way it goes with inveterate travelers, I guess.

When I returned to work, I had some busy times. So much so, that I wanted to find out how much vacation time I had coming to me. I’ve been with my current employer for nearly eight years, and a benefit I get is more vacation time once past the five year mark. I asked the woman in HR for my paid time off (PTO) time and she sent me a spreadsheet.

The way I read this is that at the beginning of the year I had a little over three weeks vacation time coming to me (based on a 40 hour work week). By the time I returned from Alaska, I had accrued more and burned 64, resulting in — a little over three weeks coming to me at the time of this writing (July 30). In effect, I burned down four hours since the beginning of the year. Yes, I know this is a creative way of looking at it, but since I can’t accrue more than 240 hours, It’s a bit of a wash.

So, I decided to start looking for other destinations. Lo, and behold! The good folks at Road Scholar had a trip to the city of my childhood, Vienna, Austria. Called a “City Walk: Exploring Vienna’s Neighborhoods,” I was touched with a sense of wistfulness. I also felt that Road Scholar was the best choice to go and learn things I never knew about a place I lived in for five years (albeit when I was a mere child – 18 months to 5 years of age). I have since visited several times, but each time was more of a “passing through” than an investigation.

This time, I’ll spend eight days and seven nights in the company of a native guide, learning about the history, the culture, the food and the natives of this central European country.

Late September and early October will be my travel days. That should be absolutely perfect weather for such a trip, not yet wintery cold, and mostly past the summer heat.

I’m looking forward to it!

Oh, when I return, I should have approximately three weeks of vacation time coming to me!