One of my favourite games I've always loved playing, which has become more popular in my mind lately (see previous blog), is "If I could go anywhere in the world, where would I go?"
Normally it's on par with the game "if I won Lotto, what would I spend it on?" because you never think you are going to do it. But I am going to do it. As soon as my ship comes in, I will be taking off. And apart from that vague plan, that's about as far as I have gotten in my mind up until now.
I have a lot of destinations I'd love to see and experience, but they are a vague jumble in my mind, a fantasy destination miasma, with little or no thought as to the logistics of putting it all together. And in one sense, I don't want to do that. I don't want some meticulously planned itinerary that has been scheduled down to the enth degree by a travel agent who has no interest in giving me room for adventure.
I tried taking off last year for 3 weeks. Unfortunately the headache of planning my absence, coupled with an insane rise in activity during the time I had organised out of my work schedule, meant I ultimately gave up on the whole shebang and stayed home. Missed opportunities.
Also, when I contacted a travel agent to get some kind of vague plan that would give me the right balance of structure (where would I sleep for the first night of flying into Vientiane, for example) and loose stretches of unstructured time, the task was obviously more than this woman could handle, as she fianlly delivered me a 3-week itinerary with no less than 4 guided tours, an overnight luxury cruise ship ride from Vietnam into Cambodia, and a price tag of $7,300 after I had explained I was interested in backpacker budget scale of activities.
Hmmmmmm.
So this time, I'm doing my own research. Booking my own flights. Giving myself the breathing room once I get to a country to really get the feel of the cobblestones beneath my feet, rather than flying in and out, taking happy snaps and then jumping back on a tour bus!
Here is one website I have been very impressed with so far --> http://www.startbackpacking.
I have to wonder, whether a 30-something (and late in the 30s at that) female travelling by herself with a backpack will raise eyebrows. Possibly. Will I care? Probably not.
My mum reminded me when I told her about my hairbrained scheme to leave it all behind, be "irresponsible" (to my mind) and take off with no fixed point of return, that in my final year of uni I was planning to live and study in Paris. In fact, I had even gone so far as to take both the language and college entrance exams at the same time I was finishing up my engineering degree, plus writing a 40,000 word thesis. I missed out on passes by a matter of a few percentage points, and was working and studying that year to make the exam rounds again. Then I met the husband, and life took a sharp turn to the left. Wouldn't trade any of that experience for quids, but my my wise mum had hit the nail on the head -- this adventure has been 15 years in the making!
Goodness me, I recall memorising the capital cities of every country in Europe as a child, and priding myself in knowing where all the countries were! If anyone were born to travel, I'm it!
And here is that list of experiences that's been brewing under my skin and in my mind over the last 15 years of places I'd like to see, and things I'd like to do:
What destinations would you choose to go to "if you could go anywhere..."?
Normally it's on par with the game "if I won Lotto, what would I spend it on?" because you never think you are going to do it. But I am going to do it. As soon as my ship comes in, I will be taking off. And apart from that vague plan, that's about as far as I have gotten in my mind up until now.
I have a lot of destinations I'd love to see and experience, but they are a vague jumble in my mind, a fantasy destination miasma, with little or no thought as to the logistics of putting it all together. And in one sense, I don't want to do that. I don't want some meticulously planned itinerary that has been scheduled down to the enth degree by a travel agent who has no interest in giving me room for adventure.
I tried taking off last year for 3 weeks. Unfortunately the headache of planning my absence, coupled with an insane rise in activity during the time I had organised out of my work schedule, meant I ultimately gave up on the whole shebang and stayed home. Missed opportunities.
Also, when I contacted a travel agent to get some kind of vague plan that would give me the right balance of structure (where would I sleep for the first night of flying into Vientiane, for example) and loose stretches of unstructured time, the task was obviously more than this woman could handle, as she fianlly delivered me a 3-week itinerary with no less than 4 guided tours, an overnight luxury cruise ship ride from Vietnam into Cambodia, and a price tag of $7,300 after I had explained I was interested in backpacker budget scale of activities.
Hmmmmmm.
So this time, I'm doing my own research. Booking my own flights. Giving myself the breathing room once I get to a country to really get the feel of the cobblestones beneath my feet, rather than flying in and out, taking happy snaps and then jumping back on a tour bus!
Here is one website I have been very impressed with so far --> http://www.startbackpacking.
I have to wonder, whether a 30-something (and late in the 30s at that) female travelling by herself with a backpack will raise eyebrows. Possibly. Will I care? Probably not.
My mum reminded me when I told her about my hairbrained scheme to leave it all behind, be "irresponsible" (to my mind) and take off with no fixed point of return, that in my final year of uni I was planning to live and study in Paris. In fact, I had even gone so far as to take both the language and college entrance exams at the same time I was finishing up my engineering degree, plus writing a 40,000 word thesis. I missed out on passes by a matter of a few percentage points, and was working and studying that year to make the exam rounds again. Then I met the husband, and life took a sharp turn to the left. Wouldn't trade any of that experience for quids, but my my wise mum had hit the nail on the head -- this adventure has been 15 years in the making!
Goodness me, I recall memorising the capital cities of every country in Europe as a child, and priding myself in knowing where all the countries were! If anyone were born to travel, I'm it!
And here is that list of experiences that's been brewing under my skin and in my mind over the last 15 years of places I'd like to see, and things I'd like to do:
- take a camel trek into the desert of Morocco
- meditate and soak up sunshine in Bali
- visit Capri, Rome, the Blue Grotto and the Vatican city in Italy
- eat pizza in Naples
- see the sights of Prague
- clunk steins at Oktoberfest in Germany
- travel down the Mekong river in a beer tube
- see the ancient ruined temples at Angkor Wat
- see Paris again, city of lights
- speaking of Paris, I never did get into the Louvre, that will be a must
- cinque terra region on the northwest coast of Italy
- visit Bruges, if only for the chocolate
- see the Aurora Borealis
- stay in an ice hotel in Finland
- see the beautiful Halong Bay in Vietnam
- absolutely everything about New York
- check out the improv scene in Chicago
- feel the music scene in Berlin
What destinations would you choose to go to "if you could go anywhere..."?
