Travel

I’ve traveled overseas a fair bit, primarily to East Asia, where I’ve spent nearly half of my adult life.  Travel is both a blessing and a curse: it opens up your eyes to different ways of thinking and living, new varieties of food and entertainment, and the remarkable creations of both man and nature…but when you return to the land you grew up in, you find that you no longer belong, for your values and beliefs, your ideas and tastes, perhaps even your language and personality will have changed, and you may find that you are no longer the person you once were.

Here is a list of places I have lived in or visited thus far; I will try to get them linked up to relevant posts (although some of this travel ocurred before I started this blog).  These places have shaped the person I am today; by and large their people have universally proved to be kind, generous, and friendly, and I am forever grateful for their warm hospitality.

Travel Log:

1. Belize
   Belize City, Caye Caulker, Middle of Nowhere (Belize Zoo)
2. China
   Provinces / SEZs: Beijing, Guangdong, Hebei, Henan, Hong Kong, Hubei, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Macau, Shaanxi, Shanghai, Zhejiang
3. France
   Paris, Versallies
4. Guatemala
   Flores, Santa Elena
5. Japan
   Prefectures (locations): Tokyo, Kanagawa (Yokohama, Kawasaki, Kamakura), Chiba (Kashiwa), Aichi (Nagoya), Shizuoka (Susono, Hamamatsu, Hamanako), Yamanashi (Kawaguchiko, Yamanakako), Mie (Ise), Gifu (Takayama), Ishikawa (Kanazawa), Osaka, Hyogo (Kobe), Kyoto, Nara, Saitama, Okinawa (Naha)
6. Mexico
   Cancun, Villadolid, Merida, Campeche, Palenque
7. Taiwan
   Taipei, Keelung, Jiufen, Ilan, Su’ao, Hualien, Taitung, Green Island, Kenting, Kaohsiung, Hsiaoliuchiu, Tainan, Taichung, Sun Moon Lake, Mt. Ali, Hsinchu
8. Thailand
   Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Krabi, Phi Phi
9. United States
   State/District/Territory: California, Guam, Florida, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, Washington DC, Wisconsin

And because you’ve got to keep those dreams alive when the bank account runs low, here’s a list of places that I aspire to journey to, not knowing when it may happen…

Top Ten Places I Feel an Inexplicable Urge to Visit:

• 10. Greece – Good food, ancient ruins, pretty postcards…yeah, I could take a month off to chill there.
• 9. Turkey – Have you ever met anyone who went to Turkey and didn’t like it?  I don’t know much about it, but everyone loves it, and undoubtedly I would, too.
• 8. Peru – Gotta climb the Inca Trail up to Manchu Picchu to round out my Ancient Ruins of Central and South American repertoire.
• 7. Vietnam – Been to Thailand many a time, but never to Vietnam.  Good food, cheap, pretty, fun…sounds like a good vacation.
• 6. United Kingdom – I’d like to live in London one day, and the UK in general would be fun to visit.  With the loss of Strawhenge and Stickhenge, it seems necessary to visit Stonehenge…and ya gotta go to Loch Ness…and I wouldn’t mind picking up an Irish accent.
• 5. Italy – They say it’s a lot like Taiwan – nice people, great food, insane drivers, lots of mountains, lots of mopeds, lots of coastline, hot springs, etc…
• 4. Australia – Always wanted to see all their funny animals…and backpacking across the outback, while misguided, certainly sounds like fun.
• 3. Tanzania – I’ve wanted to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro for about 5 years now, and I’ve wanted to see the Serengeti since I was a little girl…
• 2. India – Like China, it’s just one of those amazing countries waiting to give you enough stories to entertain tables of friends for a lifetime…
• 1. Egypt – Pyramids, Sphinx, and all that awesome stuff…if I see one place before I die…