The new column this Friday is all about making sure that we’re not letting the opinions of others effect our choices in boyfriends — and I suppose the same can be applied to girlfriends. Check it out!

On another note, does everyone but me take an annual vacation? My colleagues take phenomenal vacations. One was talking about how he and his girlfriend are spending 3 days in Miami, and then going on a 7 day cruise. Another of my friends just spent a few days sunning in Arizona.

Do you know where I’ve been in the last 12 months (or even 24 months) — a big fat nowhere! It’s my own fault. I’m one of those people who wonders what everyone does with all of their vacation time.
I have no concept of relaxation. My friend Lorrie goes to Mexico every year around Labor Day with her mother and a group of her mother’s friends. Every year, she says “I would invite you, but I know you can’t sit still for very long.”

She’s so right. I like to have an agenda. Laying on a beach for hours isn’t fun for me. First, because I don’t really need a tan, and second because I would become antsy after about 1/2 hour.

I like to build vacations into business trips. I actually had to go to South Africa for a few weeks on a press tour, and believe me — that was about as close to a vacation as I normally get. It was a memorable trip, and as fun as any vacation. And the best thing? I paid for nothing, and I had a lot to write about upon my return.

My last true go-away-for-longer-than-two-days-to-a-planned-destination trip was to Puerto Rico with an ex. Given our relationship, that could have gone very wrong, but it turned out that we traveled together far better than we co-existed at home.

I always threatened to run off to an island alone, but I never planned it.

Maybe this year, I’ll finally plan a real vacation. Just maybe.