Traveling?

Looks as though I have a couple oppurtunities for travel in the near future. I was eating Sunday dinner with Tony and his uncle when his uncle asked out of nowhere, "Would you like to take a long weekend at the end of November or early December to go to California?" He was saying that if he could find cheap tickets, he'd take us out to this little Victorian town in Northern California that would be right on the coast.
Yeah, take me! I've yet to visit California.

I've also asked Greg if I could come and stay with him in South Africa for a couple months. I feel this is something I can't pass up and I'm very excited about the prospect of staying in Africa and being able to do some volunteer work while there. Also, I'd love to play some soccer/futbol with the locals : ) .
I'm just hoping past experiences won't mar my chances of being able to go...