Need something to look forward to in 2008? Start planning your next trip with these suggestions. Wisconsin Destinations Point Beach State Forest: This beautiful, 6-mile, sandy and serene beach on Lake Michigan just north of Manitowoc-Two Rivers allows you to soak up the sun and listen to the waves.

It is a wonderful life, especially working in travel. Both of us hit the road regularly and have the privilege of visiting some of the best destinations in Wisconsin, the Americas and the world.

So this is what it’s like to go home for the first time. The patches of woods amid gentle slopes of farmland seem familiar, but the primary crop grows on vines that can extend more than 20 feet skyward.

Sure, it feels like traveling to another country, but you can leave the passport at home, because you can get in and out of Madison without it. “The Athens of the Midwest,” as locals would once tell you, or “64 square miles surrounded by reality,” as former Gov. Lee Sherman Dreyfus observed, is well known and certainly is a trip. Even better, you can experience a good slice of Mad City at very low cost.

It’s never the wrong time to stock up on books with Wisconsin connections, but the holiday season is the perfect time to give the gift of good reading—especially when it involves travel tips, murder mysteries, golf, coffeehouse lore or being kind to wild birds.

If I simply want a massage, I open the phone book at home and pay about half the price of a resort massage. When traveling, what I’m seeking in a spa is a one-of-a-kind experience, not value.

According to Cruise Lines International, the cruise industry has been growing at about 8% a year since 1980 and almost 10 million people enjoy a cruise each year. If you’re one of the few who has yet to dip a toe in the water, here’s a place to start.

I`m the first to show thin skin when the mercury drops, so I know that planning a warm-weather vacation can be a therapeutic way to soften the approach of winter. But I`m getting fussier. A long stretch of beach, by itself, is no longer enough to satisfy me—particularly if local character is lost to big-name hotels and chain restaurants. And booking an all-inclusive resort, no matter how posh, will seem too confining if the property is isolated. Those are my peeves, and you`ll have your own.