Our trip to Disney World was, honestly, one of the most enjoyable vacations I’ve ever taken. True to the cliché, it really did feel magical in lots of ways. It wasn’t perfect — Matt was sick and coughing much of the time and kept both of us awake for a few nights, and I had stomach trouble once or twice — but it was a great opportunity to escape from the real world, get in touch with our inner children, enjoy ourselves, have a couple of great meals, and most importantly, spend some quality time together.

We were totally immersed in the Disney experience from beginning to end. From the moment we boarded a Disney Magical Express bus at the Orlando airport on Sunday morning to the moment we got off the bus and stepped back into the airport the following Saturday evening, we were in Disney’s hands. We were on Disney property the entire time. We slept on Disney property, we ate on Disney property, we shopped on Disney property, we traveled by bus, monorail, choo-choo train, riverboat, and raft on Disney property. We spent time in all four major parks: the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, the Animal Kingdom, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. We went on some rides two or even three times; mid-October is one of the less crowded times of year at Disney World. Not that there weren’t a lot of people; there were. But compared to the holiday season or summertime, it was mostly fine. I can’t imagine what it’s like when it’s really crowded.

I’ll probably write more about the details of our trip, but for now, here are some tangential things I’ve been thinking about:

(1) I kind of wish I were a dad. Whenever I saw a dad with a little kid — on the bus, in one of the parks, in a hotel lobby — I felt a huge amount of respect for the dad and for what he was doing. I thought to myself: that guy is doing something I might never have a chance to do. I’ve been thinking about fatherhood a lot during the last year — maybe because my brother is now a dad — and it makes me kind of sad that I might never one. I’m missing out on that whole stage of life, that whole experience of personal growth and of contributing to the world’s future. I might leave nothing and nobody behind when I’m gone.

(2) I’m a news junkie — particularly when it comes to politics — but I avoided the news almost entirely while we were away, by choice. And when we came back, I realized that I hadn’t really missed anything. You know what? Politics and political news today is totally juvenile and unnecessary: who said what to whom, who got fired by whom, who blogged about what, and so on. Whatever. It’s such a waste of time.

I also didn’t check my RSS feed once. Except for email and posting to Twitter via Foursquare, I pretty much stayed entirely off the internet. It was great.

* * *

And… now that we’re back, I’m sick. I literally got sick as soon as our vacation ended: we were sitting in the cab on the way home from LaGuardia and my throat started to feel scratchy. I must have caught whatever Matt has. I guess my body was holding out via sheer willpower. Yesterday we spent most of the day sitting at home catching up on a week’s worth of backlogged TiVo recordings and nursing our illnesses.

I bought a biography of Walt Disney while we were at Disney World and I started reading it on the plane ride home. I’ve already read a biography of him before, but I wanted to somehow continue the experience. I wish it didn’t have to end.

Matt and I don’t go on very many vacations. We’re just not good at planning things too far in advance. But a couple of months ago we decided it had been long enough, so we planned a trip, and on Sunday we’re leaving for a week at Disney World.

We’re really looking forward to it. Neither of us has been there in years. The last time I went was in 1988, before Disney MGM Studios (now Disney Hollywood Studios) and the Animal Kingdom were even built. I still have a stuffed Uncle Scrooge doll from that trip.

We’re going to stay on-site at the Port Orleans Riverside, which has an Old South architectural theme (minus the slavery, I presume). We’ll be using the Disney World bus system to get everywhere, which hopefully won’t be too bad. We bought seven-day Park Hopper passes, which lets us visit more than one park each day — helpful if we decide to spend the day in one park but have dinner in a different park. I bought them at a discount via Undercover Tourist.

Last month I bought a copy of The Unofficial Guide Walt Disney World 2011, which seems to take a rather Type-A attitude to the place but apparently helps you minimize the amount of time you wait on lines. (The key, apparently, is getting up early, but it also has some suggested touring plans for each park.) Of course, we’re going in October, which is already one of the less crowded times of year, but it should be useful anyway.

I’m looking forward to this trip. It should be a nice opportunity for us to spend time alone together, just the two of us, and enjoy ourselves. We leave Sunday — can’t wait.