I’ve been a big fan of the Olympics since they started way back in 776 B.C. (Well, not quite since then. I was born a year later.) I particularly enjoy seeing sports like the luge and the bobsled, where athletes are judged not for being the most athletic, but for being the most aerodynamic. I feel like I have a chance at winning at something like that.

It’s a good enough reason to go on a trip to somehwere “just because,” but not many people have the opportunity to go to international competitions like the Olympics. These worldwide contests serve as great events to start or end a trip. As you probably already know, the 2008 Olympic Summer Games will be held in Beijing, China, next year, but not everyone can keep up with where the next Games will be held.

I’ve consulted my favorite research tool, and found that the 2010 Winter Olympics will be held in the beautiful Canadian city of Vancouver. If you can’t make that, try to make the 2012 Summer Games which will be held in London, a small hamlet in the south of England. If you’re a real long-term planner, learn your Cyrillic alphabet and apply for your visa to attend the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia.

But the Olympics aren’t the only international games that would be a blast to attend. In 2010, the World Cup will be held in South Africa. If, by some strange occurrence, I have any money left, I will see you there. If that’s too soon, the 2014 World Cup will be in Brazil. Buy your red, white, and blue body paint and book your tickets already.