"Life is made up of moments, small pieces of glittering mica in a long stretch of gray cement.”
— Anna Quindlen (A Short Guide to a Happy Life)

What does that mean to us, gay travelers? I think it means that as we pound the pavement of everyday life, we always need be on the lookout for twinkling, shiny flecks of delight that shift our focus and ignite a sincere relish for every tick of the clock we’re lucky enough to enjoy.

Here we are coming into the fifth month of 2011 already and I feel like the ball just dropped. Calendar pages have a way of tearing themselves off without much fanfare sometimes. It is only now, as May flowers begin to show face and already temperatures tickle 80 degrees here in Southern California that I realize that I never dusted off my snowboard this season.

Not once.

I remember the first week the mountains got some pow, my friends were ready and rearing to rug up and drive out to the slopes. But I thought, “Nah, we’ve got all winter. I’ll pass this time.”

But I never went.

It’s like the book my sister gave me in 2006 when I moved away from my entire family firmly rooted on the east coast to give life in California a shake. Inside the guide to California Highway 1 is scribbled, “Mary: Enjoy the very best of what California has to offer. Love Carol"

Five years later, the book is beside me on the shelf but I still haven’t taken that drive up the coast alongside the steely blue Pacific.

My annual circadian rhythm of recreation used to align with the academic calendar’s cadence. Years of adhering to it hardwired spring break, and summer vacation, and winter recess into [out of] my routine. But now, at age 30, those forces no longer drive me. I’m too far ...

To hear Mary's resolution, find the full story HERE at our media partners GayTravel.