Since today is Saint Patrick’s Day, I shall type this in green, but the holiday isn’t really the subject of this post.

We are less than one week from the beginning of spring. Soon we will be seeing new growth. Plants and animals will go from a winter’s worth of inactivity to fresh new life, invigorated by vernal energy.

We humans don’t sleep in caves all winter (although sometimes I wish I could, at least). However, we all go through seasons. Sometimes plans that we hold so dear must enter hibernation.

The last sentence probably made you wonder what the heck I’m on about, so I’ll explain:

During my childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood, I developed all sorts of ideas and plans and goals for what I wanted to do in life. Over time, some of these things have fallen by the wayside, while others remain strong. Naturally, I have also come up with new ideas as I’ve aged.

One idea that has been kicking around in my head for maybe five years now: I would love to one day take a road trip, maybe a week or two in length, where I went to a different amusement park and/or waterpark each day. (If we’re talking a two-week trip, maybe 9-10 parks? I’d need the occasional day off to recuperate.) I’d also like to document my journey through a travelogue and maybe eventually a book, where I would review each place’s rides and quirks and such, complete with pictures/video where helpful.

I started saving for the trip years ago – sometimes in whole dollar amounts, other times in just dimes and quarters! This plan has been largely hibernating, though, even as my modest saving keeps it alive. It hasn’t grown much; I don’t want to start making plans until I’m closer to actually taking the trip. Yet the dream has never died.

I’m still not to my goal. This spring and summer will bring back memories of adrenaline-soaked days, of coasters and water slides and overpriced food and brightly colored lights and silhouettes of steel tracks against the sky at dusk. Maybe I’ll make a visit to Kings Island this year, but I won’t take The Trip.

Kind of anticlimactic, perhaps, but this idea will hibernate some more before it takes form. Then one day, it will be time, and my plans will spring forth like a frenetic traveling butterfly, and the journey will begin. And so, dear reader, may it one day be for your plans and ideas too!