Your December Travel Horoscope: The Astrology Trip Planner

[Jordan Simon]

Just as astrology can identify, say, business and romantic opportunities or challenges, those celestial bodies slinking about the stars can help pinpoint optimal times and places for travel. And since destinations have their own astro-charts, which interact with yours, astrology can even serve as a kind of spiritual travel agent. It can tell you, for example, about places likely to be harmonious or challenging matches for your temperament, personality, and current astrological indications. Check your travel horoscope for December, below, for some “astro-tripping” paths to consider. After all, Nancy and Ronald Reagan, among many others, planned itineraries by the stars -- why not you?

Two disruptive influences, mated with a bevy of challenging aspects, make December… unpredictable. Chilling and going with the universal flow isn’t merely encouraged -- we won’t have a choice. A lunar eclipse occurs in Gemini on the 21st. Eclipses aren’t good or bad per se, they’re simply unstable, charged periods when we should wait before leaping, especially emotionally. The period ten days prior to and three days after is called the eclipse’s shadow --appropriate since everything seems vague. Meanwhile, Mercury, the orb ruling travel and communications, turns retrograde Dec.10-30. Expect more delays and frustration than usual: Flights cancelled, crucial packages delivered late, mobile signals dying amid a vital conversation with your boss or mate. Traditionally, it’s wise not to sign contracts, especially for big-ticket items (including transportation and lodging). And since it backpedals in outspoken Sagittarius, the sign ruling foreign affairs and journeys, well, let’s just say the New Year’s fireworks could start early. Triple-check reservations and try to postpone final decisions until 2011. May love and joy come to you, and to you your wassail, too (whatever your wassails are, they’ll have plentiful planetary winds to move them along). And happy astro-tripping!

ARIES (March 21-April 19)
Several planets blitzkrieg your ninth (travel, education) and twelfth (subconscious) houses, suggesting explorations should spur inner journeys. Mercury, Mars and Pluto form a tricky troika mid-month, activating your need for adulation or at least affirmation; blogging about adventures could book a publishing gig. Power struggles accompany increased career recognition (and responsibility); de-stress with active, off-the-grid vacations -- how about biking Patagonia or heli-skiing the Caucasus? Your ruler militant Mars puts the Ram in rambunctious rambling: Check travel advisories before gadding anywhere since giddy self-empowerment makes you kookier for coups than Arien war correspondent Lara Logan.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)
New friends, new cuties and new horizons beckon seductively. You exude earthy sensuality and feel like sowing your wild “hautes” by barreling through South Africa's wine country, bundling up in some 18th-century Provence farmhouse, or bending Taurean David Beckham’s ear on Barbados. Any change of scenery at all hits the bullseye for your mate. Or perhaps you’ll see an old friend in a surprising new light (don’t ogle, pounce). Exuberance could lead you Bulls to stampede the china shop (literally and metaphorically), so observe the more delicate mores of other cultures.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21)
It’s the bed sheets versus the spreadsheets as both partnership and career electricity ignite more clashing sparks than Geminis Che Guevara or Colin Farrell. Tango classes in Argentina will both keep you on your toes and slake your thirst for theatrics. Like two other twins, Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie in the romantic thriller The Tourist (opening on the 10th), you’ll be seen to great advantage in Venice, though consider hiding behind one of the city’s famed masks the second half of December: You may have some kinks (however you define them) to work out in relationships.

CANCER (June 22-July 22)
All work and no play makes Jack and Jill a dull couple dreaming of exotic climes (like Cancerian Lindsay Lohan in rehab). Alas, Jack and Jill are also arguing about which hill to climb. Might be time for separate vacations (frightening, yes, but those pincers cling even when you want them to retract). Hitched or single, you’ll find unexpected luck, maybe romance traveling. Stress eats away at you, and that lunar eclipse exposes your soft-shelled crabby side, so a Bahamas spa or snowshoeing holiday at a cozy B&B in Canada will help take the weight off your mind and waist.

LEO (July 23-August 22)
The zodiac’s performers really will receive the lion’s share of attention (you might even enjoy a good body scan or pat down), so flaunt it somewhere the thong-bikinied throng, like St. Barts or the Seychelles. You’ll have more tricks (in every sense) up your sleeve than Leonine Daniel Radcliffe in character as Harry Potter. You also have excess energy if not calories to burn off: A roaring fireplace won’t make you purr when you feel like auditioning for the next Survivor. Ensure your destination offers pulse-pounding recreation -- day and night, perhaps Tahoe or Tahiti (no secluded atolls, though: too Bora Bora boring).

VIRGO (August 23-September 22)
Jovial Jupiter and unpredictable Uranus renovate your partnership house, while several planets crash your “nest” house. Though you crave escape mid-month, tighter purse (and apron) strings rein you in. Think creatively: Book a weekend "staycation," borrow a pal’s summer cottage (your honey supplies insulation), or just paint the town red (which ensures red-hot times back home -- no blushing, now!). Emulate Virgo Patsy Cline crooning, “Come On In (And Make Yourself At Home).” If you can’t travel to family, invite them for the holidays.

LIBRA (September 23-October 22)
With storm trooper Saturn trampling your house of self and jolly Jupe jiving your health house, it’s La Dolce Vitamin reinvention time, darlin’. Early December research medical tourism: Working the 'net and networking nets bargains. Go tropical, then trim flesh with Singapore’s bariatric treatments or grit your teeth through Costa Rica dental restoration (no, hon, we’re not saying you resemble a contestant from The Biggest Loser). Late December’s ideal for extreme home makeovers too, so play domestic and welcome the entire extended family -- just prep them for your partying mood.

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21)
The in/famous Scorpionic stinging repartee and sex appeal guarantee luck whether you let it all hang out gamboling on Hawaiian nude beaches or let it ride gambling in French Riviera casinos. You might even consider joining the mile-high club en route to fleshpots like New Orleans, Las Vegas or bang-for-your-buck Bangkok. If adrenaline’s your hormone of choice, lech around the ski slopes of Lech or Kitzbühel in Scorpio-ruled Austria or hike historic ruins in Cappadocia, Turkey. Even if the cash flow’s a flood, watch overspending, especially around December 16-22, when those kilims or crystal may not be the street bargain you thought.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21)
Activity in your Ego and Finance houses boosts self-confidence -- and your usual outspokenness (we’re kinda nervous what you might reveal at Immigration). Communication proves difficult, especially with family, yet that wandering itch impels you to decide where you want to go in every sense. Indeed, you might suddenly want to plant roots elsewhere à la Frances Mayes and Peter Mayle. You seek cultural immersion, getting off the beaten path, hell, taking unexpected detours. Climbing Mount Kenya, tackling the Taos ridges, even checking out Dubai’s tallest hotels might provide the aerial perspective you crave, bringing The Big Picture into sharper focus.

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19)
Tired of self-exploration yet? Your 12th house of karma remains a fixer-upper (Cappy Kate Middleton allegedly capped her conquest by vowing more charity work as befits a royal). So trek with pals (or some elite group like Hands-Up Holidays) on volunteer vacations, tagging dolphins or digging for dinos. Once that midmonth Mercury-Mars-Pluto ménage-à-trois animates your Me-Me-Me first house, you’ll know you’ve earned that bonus or promotion. Why not check into London’s newly reopened Savoy (it’s green, too, so your own green buys five environmental gold stars)? Just don’t emulate Scrooge; share the wealth even if it’s just tipping more generously.

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18)
Your radical rebel ruler Uranus goes direct December 6 in your Banking and Deep Needs house, liberating not just your value but your value system. With several planets transiting your natal 11th house of friends, groups and causes, you’re cajoling buds onto a bus for a protest rally road trip. How about Ireland, where anti-austerity marches planned in Dublin this month could also satisfy your impulsive need to buck the Establishment; make Web sites like Cheapflights and LastMinuteTravel your pals. You loathe tour groups (too structured), but educational jaunts like Cox & Kings’ "Classic Vietnam and Cambodia" or InSight Cruises’ Scientific American itineraries pair you with like-minded travelers.

PISCES (February 19-March 20)
You Fishies experience a tidal wave of success as several orbs flood your Public Recognition tenth house. Celebrate midmonth with some close pals: somewhere dramatic, even a tad unreal like Hollywood (bypass the sordid bits), Luxor, Jaipur, or the ice hotels in Quebec and especially Pisces-ruled Sweden. Sneak away for some alone time, though; museums prove more restorative than massages. Your career remains full-throttle to the point where family might want to throttle you. Tell anyone who objects you’re no guppy and have other fish to fry. Then bribe them with a New Year’s Caribbean cruise.

For more, check out my Astrology and Travel forum here on Tripatini!

[Jordan Simon]

Glad you enjoyed it, Greg. Taureans have earned their wallowing (wallet allowing) over the next couple of months! Happy holidays! :)

[Greg Lindeblom]

Jordan, this is a lot of fun. As a Taurean, I can tell you my mouth waters at the thought of visiting South Africa (Capetown), Provence or Barbados. You've added destinations to my list that weren't previously there.

[Jordan Simon]

Hey Dale, Geri, Meryl. Many thanks! (Geri, you roar, lioness!).... And yes, Meryl, no reason it can't be done weekly -- it uses the same astrological transits (and principles) as drawing up a "regular" horoscope. So it could even be analyzed daily, which is what Nancy Reagan hired Jeanne Dixon to do for Ronnie. But obviously, that's with the individual's natal chart, so it's much more specific --- and complex.

[Dale Ann Leatherman]

Great job, Jordan.

[Geri Bain]

Very cool and right on target for this Leo!

[Meryl Pearlstein]

Is there a way to do this week by week? Very cool!