I took some little quiz online that tells you what kind of traveler you are. This was what came up for me (if you want to get to the bottom, just go to the next line of stars):
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Centric Venturer
"Your significance lies not just in how many people are like you, however. It also grows out of the fact that you are easier to motivate to take a trip or buy a product than the personalities that lie more on the extremes on either side of you. Venturers tend to ignore advertising. Authentics (at the opposite end of the scale) pay attention to advertising but their commitment to a regimen and daily routine makes it more difficult to change their habits and motivate them to take a trip. In contrast, you are more flexible and adaptable, with a willingness to sample new destinations if a travel promoter presents enticing advertising.
It would be easy to assume that you are simply an "average" personality and do not go to extremes on most things. This assumption, however, would cover over your much more unique personality characteristics and behaviors. More than other groups, you use mixed transportation modes for leisure travel. In the same year, you are likely to fly to one or two destinations and drive to a couple of others. In contrast, your counterparts prefer either to fly (venturers) or drive (authentics). Although air travel saves tremendous amounts of time when the distances are great, the convenience of auto travel (take everything that you want with you and leave when you want to), along with the ability to move at your own pace provides its own inherent interest.
Unlike venturers, you prefer at least a modest selection of good hotels and some quality commercial development before you visit an area. A good bed in a nice hotel, food that can be trusted, and a transportation network that can help you get around are what you consider to be basic necessities that you would like to see firmly in place before you visit. But, when over-commercialization sets in, signified by many souvenir shops, the intrusion of fast food outlets, and the diesel smell from too many tourist buses, you will move on to some other place that has not yet lost its qualities of freshness and uniqueness. The kinds of things that you like to buy on trips to foreign lands are the products that various countries specialize in as part of their national heritage. Thus, wool sweaters and skirts in Scotland or England; crystal in England, Germany or Scandinavia; pottery and silver in Mexico; or semiprecious stones from various countries around the world serve not only as reminders of a great vacation, but they can be used when you return home.
The great capitals of Europe have long been favorites, but some of these now seem overcrowded, far too expensive, and unfriendly in how local citizens treat tourists. Therefore, when you go to Europe you might visit smaller towns and enjoy leisurely drives through the countryside. And, when you go into villages, you particularly enjoy staying at quaint little bed and breakfasts (B&Bs) in contrast to well known hotels.
The diversity of the kinds of places that would be of interest to you opens up many more travel destinations of potential interest than is true for either venturers or authentics. You could enjoy a cruise in the Greek Isles, a car trip through gold mining ghost towns in California, or a shopping spree in New York City equally well.
You will probably return to a place that you particularly like every two to four years, interspersing other new destinations (for you) in between. In some respects, you can have the most satisfying travel experiences because of your ability to absorb, and like, such different types of places. If you follow the typical pattern for your personality, you travel both independently (probably with a spouse or a friend) and occasionally take a fully escorted tour. This might include international tours and domestic to see New England's fall colors, visit Southern mansions, or follow historic routes as part of a tour group. Depending upon your age, the Elderhostel program is largely made up of your type.
Cruising has experienced strong growth in recent years, thanks to the fact that you believe that the experience is not as confining as in the past. You have decided that it is affordable and more interesting than you ever thought. And, very important, it's so easy and comfortable because your hotel room goes with you wherever you are and you don't have to pack and unpack every day. You may also own a time share, the concept of owning one or two weeks of vacation time in a condo in a resort area. Time shares tend to offer excuses for travel and most of these owners venture forth regularly.
You have mixed media habits, combining both TV and reading. You enjoy quite a few shows on TV, read an occasional book, and some of the popular magazines.
In summary, you are part of a group that is very important to the travel industry, including destinations, airlines, hotels and restaurants. And, because you are generally easier to motivate for travel through advertising and are willing to visit a variety of destinations, most travel companies desperately try to focus on you and your needs. They offer lots of special deals and incentives to get you to travel. You use mixed modes of transportation to get there, tend to return to a place only if you especially like it but no sooner than three to four years, and you also mix up the kinds of lodging that you use. On the same trip you might stay at a three or four star hotel, an economy/budget motel, and a B&B."
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I'd say that this is pretty accurate for myself. This classification was based on about a 10 question quiz, where they listed a statement, and you indicate between 1-6 if it's something that you strongly agree / strongly disagree, and everything in between.
Then it also indicated what my top 30 destinations would be for me, both within the United States and International.
Summary:
United States:
1. Hawaii
2. Monterey Peninsula, Northern California
3. Alaska
4. Oregon
5. Maine
6. San Francisco & Bay area, California
7. NYC, New York
8. San Diego, California
9. Washington DC
10. South Carolina
11. Seattle, Washington
12. New Hampshire
13. New Mexico
14. Reno/Lake Tahoe, Nevada
Of these, I haven't been to #2, 5, or 12. Maybe #2 might have to be on the upcoming travel list, since it's ranked higher for me.
There are the International top places for me to go:
1. Czech Republic (I would love to go to Prague)
2. Florence, Italy (There's quite a bit of my bucket list for Italy.....looks like I'll have to go!)
3. Ireland
4. Wales
5. Prince Edward Island, Canada (This reminds me of Anne of Green Gables. Looks like I need to update the bucket list.)
6. England
7. Scotland (I want to learn how to play bagpipes. Bucket list needs to be updated.)
8. Israel
9. Quebec Province, Canada
10. Brazil
11. British Virgin Islands
12. Bermuda
13. Tahiti
14. Hong Kong, China
15. South Korea
I'm not sure how exactly I came across this little quiz, but it's kind of fun. Whether or not it's actually applicable to me, it's just fun to see where I could possibly go in this world! :)
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Thursday, December 16, 2010
#70 - Ride a cable car in San Francisco
This spring, I got to take an amazing road trip with two of my friends. Planned literally two weeks before we left, it was much an impromptu trip; not necessarily the kind that I'm used to.
As an accountant, my vacation can never really happen anytime before April 15. We decided to head out right after tax season was over. Initially the trip started out as a "let's go skiing/snowboarding out west!" Eventually, we realized that we could head all the way out to San Francisco. The guys had never been there before, so we figured it'd be something new for the majority of us (two out of the three).
We headed out and drove for about 20 hours before we hit Snowbird, UT. We spent the night in the van and woke up to go skiing/snowboarding. The guys went snowboarding; I maintained my skiing position, as I have for the past twenty years :)
This was the first time I'd ever skied in Utah. I've skied Colorado, Montana, Oregon, Wisconsin and Minnesota (obviously), but never Utah. I was pretty excited to do that really. We skied Snowbird, which I probably wouldn't do again. I wasn't that impressed. But then after skiing, we basically headed straight out to San Francisco.
In SF, we arrived early in the morning, booked our hotel in the parking lot, and started walking along the pier. The boys had never been there before, so it was of one of those "let's go explore the area and see what there is to do" kind of days. We hit the pier that had boats going to Alcatraz. I really wanted to go to Alcatraz, so we definitely took up that tour. That was a ton of fun; one of my favorite parts of the tour was seeing how they opened up the cells. One of the guides/workers there showed us the contraption that they used to identify which cell they were going to open and how they would move the different levers to open the inmate's cell. It was interesting for the fact that we were basically on an island, and that's where they housed some of the criminals.
Anyways, our third day in San Francisco, we took a cable car from one end of town to the other. It was pretty cool; we got to stand on the edge and hold onto the railing, as we were basically out of the cable car. Literally, the Rice-a-roni song came into my head, as well as the Meet Me in St. Louis song, The Trolley Song. I thought that standing on the outside of the car while it was moving was pretty awesome; totally the kind of "cable car" experience I was expecting!
As an accountant, my vacation can never really happen anytime before April 15. We decided to head out right after tax season was over. Initially the trip started out as a "let's go skiing/snowboarding out west!" Eventually, we realized that we could head all the way out to San Francisco. The guys had never been there before, so we figured it'd be something new for the majority of us (two out of the three).
We headed out and drove for about 20 hours before we hit Snowbird, UT. We spent the night in the van and woke up to go skiing/snowboarding. The guys went snowboarding; I maintained my skiing position, as I have for the past twenty years :)
This was the first time I'd ever skied in Utah. I've skied Colorado, Montana, Oregon, Wisconsin and Minnesota (obviously), but never Utah. I was pretty excited to do that really. We skied Snowbird, which I probably wouldn't do again. I wasn't that impressed. But then after skiing, we basically headed straight out to San Francisco.
In SF, we arrived early in the morning, booked our hotel in the parking lot, and started walking along the pier. The boys had never been there before, so it was of one of those "let's go explore the area and see what there is to do" kind of days. We hit the pier that had boats going to Alcatraz. I really wanted to go to Alcatraz, so we definitely took up that tour. That was a ton of fun; one of my favorite parts of the tour was seeing how they opened up the cells. One of the guides/workers there showed us the contraption that they used to identify which cell they were going to open and how they would move the different levers to open the inmate's cell. It was interesting for the fact that we were basically on an island, and that's where they housed some of the criminals.
Anyways, our third day in San Francisco, we took a cable car from one end of town to the other. It was pretty cool; we got to stand on the edge and hold onto the railing, as we were basically out of the cable car. Literally, the Rice-a-roni song came into my head, as well as the Meet Me in St. Louis song, The Trolley Song. I thought that standing on the outside of the car while it was moving was pretty awesome; totally the kind of "cable car" experience I was expecting!
Monday, December 13, 2010
#33 - Travel to Alaska
Alaska. It was such an amazing trip, and I'm so glad I got to do it.
The summer after I graduated college, I had a few months before I started working. My dad was ready to do his annual fishing trip with his friend, Harry. This year, they had decided to go fishing up in Alaska together. My dad decided he was going to drive up to Alaska to meet up with Harry, then when their trip was over, my mom was going to fly out to Alaska to meet up with my dad, and they were going to drive back down through Oregon and visit the relatives.
Since I had nothing to do, my dad asked me if I wanted to drive up to Alaska with him and go fishing, and then fly back home. I had never been to Alaska, and since it was between fishing with my dad and sitting at home, the former sounded pretty good. And I can't pass up a good road trip.
When we were on the road, we saw this Winnebago drive by with this on the spare tire:
I just had to take a picture - growing up, every single road trip our family took started off with Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again" jamming through the van. It was a staple of every road trip we took. My mom took every chance she could to get rid of my dad's Willie Nelson collection. No matter how many times his cassette/CD went "missing," my dad found a new one at a gas station along the way.
My dad and I headed out and went up through Canada. As we crossed Canada, we made a few stops and rented some cabins on a couple of lakes. There, we got to do some fishing before we hit Alaska. We surprisingly found some lakes that didn't have anybody on them; basically, we were fishing by ourselves for quite some time.
At one point in Canada, my dad and I stopped at a museum. We were half way through the museum when my dad's license plate was called over the speaker, with the request for the owner to come to the front. My dad headed to the lobby, only to find out our van had been broken into.
The only thing we saw that was taken was a case of beer we had. It literally wasn't until hours later that I realized my suitcase was stolen as well. There I was, two weeks ahead of me with no clothes. An immediate trip to the store was planned.
Anyways, we did the huge trek up to Alaska by car. The scenery was amazing. My pictures do not do justice to the beauty of the mountains/lakes that we saw. The water was more blue than the Caribbean Sea, and the landscape was right out of a calendar.
So we finally arrived in Alaska and went to the Kenai peninsula. It was here that for the first time I did fly fishing, as well as fished within the river and not in a boat. It was an awesome experience. We were fishing for king salmon - my dad and I both caught one. I also got a red salmon (I think?). It was so cool to be standing in the river fishing; we stood in this little pool right off of the river. We'd cast into the rushing river, where the salmon was. Once we hooked one, we'd try to move it into the pool, where we'd pull it in.
After a few days of fishing up in Alaska, I took a flight back home the day before Harry flew up to meet my dad. It was a great trip and the last fishing trip I got to take with my dad. I'll never forget it, and I hope I'll be able to get back up there again.
The summer after I graduated college, I had a few months before I started working. My dad was ready to do his annual fishing trip with his friend, Harry. This year, they had decided to go fishing up in Alaska together. My dad decided he was going to drive up to Alaska to meet up with Harry, then when their trip was over, my mom was going to fly out to Alaska to meet up with my dad, and they were going to drive back down through Oregon and visit the relatives.
Since I had nothing to do, my dad asked me if I wanted to drive up to Alaska with him and go fishing, and then fly back home. I had never been to Alaska, and since it was between fishing with my dad and sitting at home, the former sounded pretty good. And I can't pass up a good road trip.
When we were on the road, we saw this Winnebago drive by with this on the spare tire:
My dad and I headed out and went up through Canada. As we crossed Canada, we made a few stops and rented some cabins on a couple of lakes. There, we got to do some fishing before we hit Alaska. We surprisingly found some lakes that didn't have anybody on them; basically, we were fishing by ourselves for quite some time.
At one point in Canada, my dad and I stopped at a museum. We were half way through the museum when my dad's license plate was called over the speaker, with the request for the owner to come to the front. My dad headed to the lobby, only to find out our van had been broken into.
Anyways, we did the huge trek up to Alaska by car. The scenery was amazing. My pictures do not do justice to the beauty of the mountains/lakes that we saw. The water was more blue than the Caribbean Sea, and the landscape was right out of a calendar.
So we finally arrived in Alaska and went to the Kenai peninsula. It was here that for the first time I did fly fishing, as well as fished within the river and not in a boat. It was an awesome experience. We were fishing for king salmon - my dad and I both caught one. I also got a red salmon (I think?). It was so cool to be standing in the river fishing; we stood in this little pool right off of the river. We'd cast into the rushing river, where the salmon was. Once we hooked one, we'd try to move it into the pool, where we'd pull it in.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
#18 - Swim with Dolphins
Dolphins. For as long as I can remember, I had wanted to swim with dolphins SO much. I had always loved dolphins, and I think when I watched the Full House episode where the girls got to swim with dolphins, I knew I needed to do it as well. I mean if Michelle is doing it, I knew it had to be good.
When I went on my first cruise, my friend Sara and I had wanted to go swimming dolphins. There was one stop that had an excursion where you could swim with dolphins; too bad it was filled up and the only thing that was open was to watch people swim with dolphins. You could pay money...to watch other people...swim with dolphins. That sounds like fun....(yes, that was filled with sarcasm).
So obviously, I didn't get to swim with dolphins, and I still wanted to.
When I went to college, my parents decided they'd get a time share. We started going down to Mexico each year in January during my break. Each time we went there, it seemed like my dad's mission to find a place where you could swim with dolphins, since he knew I really wanted to do it. My dad was infamous for heading out early in the morning to check out the area, as well as talk with anybody with ears.
The second year we were in Mexico, there was a place right next door to our resort where you could go swimming with dolphins. My dad went every morning to see if they had any available spots, but because of all of the cruises, they didn't have any open spots.
The third year we went down to Mexico, my dad was talking to some people who let him know where there was a place you could go swimming with dolphins. Lucky for me, they had one spot open, and my dad booked it immediately.
While I wanted to do the dorsel fin ride, like on Full House, I couldn't do that. It was so awesome. There were about ten other people in my group. We would bob around and the dolphins got to swim amongst us, as well as we got to swim up to them and touch them. I'm pretty sure I was on cloud nine.
Then we all got in line, and apparently since I was in the front, I got to go first. We laid on our bellies with our arms out and floated on the water. Then two of the dolphins came behind us and pushed us on our feet so we were basically like flying upwards. Kind of like superman. But not. :)
It was an awesome experience, and it meant a lot to me that my dad really pushed for it to happen.
(That's me on the far left.)
When I went on my first cruise, my friend Sara and I had wanted to go swimming dolphins. There was one stop that had an excursion where you could swim with dolphins; too bad it was filled up and the only thing that was open was to watch people swim with dolphins. You could pay money...to watch other people...swim with dolphins. That sounds like fun....(yes, that was filled with sarcasm).
So obviously, I didn't get to swim with dolphins, and I still wanted to.
When I went to college, my parents decided they'd get a time share. We started going down to Mexico each year in January during my break. Each time we went there, it seemed like my dad's mission to find a place where you could swim with dolphins, since he knew I really wanted to do it. My dad was infamous for heading out early in the morning to check out the area, as well as talk with anybody with ears.
The second year we were in Mexico, there was a place right next door to our resort where you could go swimming with dolphins. My dad went every morning to see if they had any available spots, but because of all of the cruises, they didn't have any open spots.
The third year we went down to Mexico, my dad was talking to some people who let him know where there was a place you could go swimming with dolphins. Lucky for me, they had one spot open, and my dad booked it immediately.
While I wanted to do the dorsel fin ride, like on Full House, I couldn't do that. It was so awesome. There were about ten other people in my group. We would bob around and the dolphins got to swim amongst us, as well as we got to swim up to them and touch them. I'm pretty sure I was on cloud nine.
Then we all got in line, and apparently since I was in the front, I got to go first. We laid on our bellies with our arms out and floated on the water. Then two of the dolphins came behind us and pushed us on our feet so we were basically like flying upwards. Kind of like superman. But not. :)
It was an awesome experience, and it meant a lot to me that my dad really pushed for it to happen.
The (ever-changing) bucket list
1. Learn how to salsa dance in Spain
2. Learn how to drive a manual transmission
3. Snowboard in Queenstown, New Zealand
4. Go skydiving in Aukland, New Zealand
5. Go zorbing in New Zealand
6. Learn how to sail
7. Be proficient in a second language
8. Be an "extra" in a major motion picture
9. Get a tattoo
10. Set up a scholarship in my dad's name
11. Attend the Super Bowl and World Series
12. Go bungee jumping
13. Go backstage and meet the headliner at a concert
14. Skinny dip
15. Complete a coast-to-coast road trip
16.Go fishing and eat my own catch
17. Gut a fish like a pro
18.Swim with dolphins
19.Ride a jet ski in the ocean
20. Ride in a hot air balloon
21. Go heli-skiing
22. Sleep beneath the stars
23. Swim with Great White Sharks
24. Fall in love and get married
25. Raise children
26. Take a full year off from work
27. Travel to Europe
28.Travel to South America
29.Travel to Australia
30. Travel to Asia
31. Travel to Africa
32.Travel to Hawaii
33.Travel to Alaska
34. Travel to Antarctica
35.Take a vacation on a cruise ship
36. Take a trip without any destination in mind
37. Attend the Olympics
38. Drink a Guiness in Dublin, Ireland
39. Go to St. Patrick's Day in Dublin
40. Kiss the Blarney stone
41. Participate in a camel caravan in the desert
42. See the pyramids in Egypt
43. Drink beer at the Oktoberfest in Germany
44. See Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany (the real castle the Sleeping Beauty castle was modeled after)
45. See Stonehenge
46. See a musical in London
47. See Big Ben
48. Ride on the London Eye
49. See the Queen's palace
50. Walk on London Bridge
51. Have high tea at Fortnum & Mason in London
52. Stand on the Great Wall of China
53. Visit the Taj Mahal
54. Ride on an elephant in India
55. Stand at the foot of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
56. Kiss under the Eiffel Tower
57. See the Mona Lisa
58. Walk along Champs Elysees
59. See Moulin Rouge
60. Eat sushi in Japan
61. Drive on the autobahn in a fast car
62.Visit Wrigley Field
63.Visit Fenway Park
64. Visit Safeco field
65. Scuba dive off the Great Barrier Reef
66. Hold a koala
67. Touch a kangaroo
68. Take an around-the-world cruise
69. Play an 18-hole game at par
70.Ride a cable car in San Francisco
71. Visit all 50 states (only 5 to go!!)
72.Climb the Rocky Stairs in Philadelphia (done 8/26/2010 with Liz)
73. Sleep under the stars in Yosemite
74. Visit the Seattle space needle
75. Throw a fish at the fish market in Seattle
76.Find the celebrity with the same size feet/hands at the Chinese Theater in LA and remember who it is (did as a kid, but don't remember who it was) (Completed 12/31/2010)
77.See the Bellagio water show in Vegas
78. See a Vegas show
79. Visit the Jurassic Park set in Hawaii
80. Visit the Lost set in Hawaii
81. Surf Hawaii
82.See the Liberty Bell (done 8/26/2010 with Liz)
83.Visit Boston (done 8/13-15/2010)
84. Go to the Salem witch trials area
85.Climb the Statue of Liberty
86.Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Boston, MA
87.Go on a cruise
88.Learn how to play chess
89. See the fall colors on the east coast
90.Go whale watching
91. See the cherry blossoms in DC
92.Take a cab in NYC (done 8/7/2010)
93. Visit Carnegie Hall
94. See the Rockettes at Radio City Hall
95. Learn how to Hula in Hawaii at a luau
96. Pan for gold in Alaska
97. Go to Niagara Falls
98. Go to the Kentucky Derby and have a mint julep
99.See an independent film play at Sundance Film Festival and shake the producer's hand
100. Go to the Cannes Film Festival
101. Go on location for the Sound of Music in Austria
102. Ski the Alps
103. Visit where Grandma Johnson was born in Sweden
104. Visit the relatives in Sweden
105. Go on a safari
106. See a lion and cheetah in the wild
107. Swim in the largest swimming pool in the world, off the coast of Chile (it's more than 1,000 yards long, covers 20 acres and has a 115-foot deep end, and holds 66 million gallons on water)
108. Have an authentic Chinese meal
109. Have a conversation in Mandarin Chinese
110. Meet a celebrity and have a conversation.
111. Ring the bell on the NY Stock Exchange
112. Stay in a hut above the water in Fiji/Bora Bora
113. Walk the Aztec Trail
114. See Machu Picchu in Peru
115. Visit Bali
116. Visit Thailand
117. Visit Prague, Czech Republic
118. Visit Santorini
119. Visit Athens
120. Visit Myokonos
121. Visit Brazil
122. Visit Chile
123. Visit the Galapagos
124. Visit Dubrovnik, Croatia
125. See the leaning tower of Pisa
126. Be a street performer
127. Visit the colussium in Rome
128. Eat an authentic Italian meal
129. Have authentic Italian pizza
130. Take a gondola ride in Venice
131. Paint a picture with oil paints in Venice
132. Adopt a pet
133. Learn how to say "hello" in 20 languages
134. Learn how to say "I love you" in 20 languages
135. Dive in a submarine
136. Go fire walking
137. Drive a race car
138. Climb Mt. Everest Base Camp
139. Watch a space shuttle blast-off up close
140. Break a Guinness World Record
141. Take up photography
142. Solve the Rubik's cube
143. Throw a great dinner party
144. Put something in the world and find it 20 years later
145. Make a list of 100 books to read
146. Make a list of 100 movies to watch
147. Write a travel book
148. Drive a Lamborghini
149. Sleep in a castle
150. See penguins in their natural habitat
151. Milk a cow
152. Throw out the first pitch at an MLB game
153. Go backpacking in a foreign country
154. Reverse pickpocket someone
155. Tip someone $100
156. Write my initials on the bottom of dollar bills and wait to find it again
157. Make a time capsule and bury it
158. Go to the airport and buy a same-day plane ticket to a destination that looks interesting.
159. Build a house on The 40 up north
160. Practice unconditional love
161. Learn how to play the bagpipes in Scotland
162. Go to Prince Edward Island, Canada and see Green Gables....and maybe find a Gilbert ; )
163. Successfully crack an egg with one hand
164. Stay in a haunted house/hotel and live to tell about it
165. Make a film
166. Celebrate Mardi Gras in Lousiana
167. Meet enough people to know someone with a birthday every day.
168. Drink wine directly from the barrel
169. Create a signature dish
170. Collect honey from a beehive
171.
2. Learn how to drive a manual transmission
3. Snowboard in Queenstown, New Zealand
4. Go skydiving in Aukland, New Zealand
5. Go zorbing in New Zealand
6. Learn how to sail
7. Be proficient in a second language
8. Be an "extra" in a major motion picture
9. Get a tattoo
10. Set up a scholarship in my dad's name
11. Attend the Super Bowl and World Series
12. Go bungee jumping
13. Go backstage and meet the headliner at a concert
14. Skinny dip
15. Complete a coast-to-coast road trip
16.
17. Gut a fish like a pro
18.
19.
20. Ride in a hot air balloon
21. Go heli-skiing
22. Sleep beneath the stars
23. Swim with Great White Sharks
24. Fall in love and get married
25. Raise children
26. Take a full year off from work
27. Travel to Europe
28.
29.
30. Travel to Asia
31. Travel to Africa
32.
33.
34. Travel to Antarctica
35.
36. Take a trip without any destination in mind
37. Attend the Olympics
38. Drink a Guiness in Dublin, Ireland
39. Go to St. Patrick's Day in Dublin
40. Kiss the Blarney stone
41. Participate in a camel caravan in the desert
42. See the pyramids in Egypt
43. Drink beer at the Oktoberfest in Germany
44. See Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany (the real castle the Sleeping Beauty castle was modeled after)
45. See Stonehenge
46. See a musical in London
47. See Big Ben
48. Ride on the London Eye
49. See the Queen's palace
50. Walk on London Bridge
51. Have high tea at Fortnum & Mason in London
52. Stand on the Great Wall of China
53. Visit the Taj Mahal
54. Ride on an elephant in India
55. Stand at the foot of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
56. Kiss under the Eiffel Tower
57. See the Mona Lisa
58. Walk along Champs Elysees
59. See Moulin Rouge
60. Eat sushi in Japan
61. Drive on the autobahn in a fast car
62.
63.
64. Visit Safeco field
65. Scuba dive off the Great Barrier Reef
66. Hold a koala
67. Touch a kangaroo
68. Take an around-the-world cruise
69. Play an 18-hole game at par
70.
71. Visit all 50 states (only 5 to go!!)
72.
73. Sleep under the stars in Yosemite
74. Visit the Seattle space needle
75. Throw a fish at the fish market in Seattle
76.
77.
78. See a Vegas show
79. Visit the Jurassic Park set in Hawaii
80. Visit the Lost set in Hawaii
81. Surf Hawaii
82.
83.
84. Go to the Salem witch trials area
85.
86.
87.
88.
89. See the fall colors on the east coast
90.
91. See the cherry blossoms in DC
92.
93. Visit Carnegie Hall
94. See the Rockettes at Radio City Hall
95. Learn how to Hula in Hawaii at a luau
96. Pan for gold in Alaska
97. Go to Niagara Falls
98. Go to the Kentucky Derby and have a mint julep
99.
100. Go to the Cannes Film Festival
101. Go on location for the Sound of Music in Austria
102. Ski the Alps
103. Visit where Grandma Johnson was born in Sweden
104. Visit the relatives in Sweden
105. Go on a safari
106. See a lion and cheetah in the wild
107. Swim in the largest swimming pool in the world, off the coast of Chile (it's more than 1,000 yards long, covers 20 acres and has a 115-foot deep end, and holds 66 million gallons on water)
108. Have an authentic Chinese meal
109. Have a conversation in Mandarin Chinese
110. Meet a celebrity and have a conversation.
111. Ring the bell on the NY Stock Exchange
112. Stay in a hut above the water in Fiji/Bora Bora
113. Walk the Aztec Trail
114. See Machu Picchu in Peru
115. Visit Bali
116. Visit Thailand
117. Visit Prague, Czech Republic
118. Visit Santorini
119. Visit Athens
120. Visit Myokonos
121. Visit Brazil
122. Visit Chile
123. Visit the Galapagos
124. Visit Dubrovnik, Croatia
125. See the leaning tower of Pisa
126. Be a street performer
127. Visit the colussium in Rome
128. Eat an authentic Italian meal
129. Have authentic Italian pizza
130. Take a gondola ride in Venice
131. Paint a picture with oil paints in Venice
132. Adopt a pet
133. Learn how to say "hello" in 20 languages
134. Learn how to say "I love you" in 20 languages
135. Dive in a submarine
136. Go fire walking
137. Drive a race car
138. Climb Mt. Everest Base Camp
139. Watch a space shuttle blast-off up close
140. Break a Guinness World Record
141. Take up photography
142. Solve the Rubik's cube
143. Throw a great dinner party
144. Put something in the world and find it 20 years later
145. Make a list of 100 books to read
146. Make a list of 100 movies to watch
147. Write a travel book
148. Drive a Lamborghini
149. Sleep in a castle
150. See penguins in their natural habitat
151. Milk a cow
152. Throw out the first pitch at an MLB game
153. Go backpacking in a foreign country
154. Reverse pickpocket someone
155. Tip someone $100
156. Write my initials on the bottom of dollar bills and wait to find it again
157. Make a time capsule and bury it
158. Go to the airport and buy a same-day plane ticket to a destination that looks interesting.
159. Build a house on The 40 up north
160. Practice unconditional love
161. Learn how to play the bagpipes in Scotland
162. Go to Prince Edward Island, Canada and see Green Gables....and maybe find a Gilbert ; )
163. Successfully crack an egg with one hand
164. Stay in a haunted house/hotel and live to tell about it
165. Make a film
166. Celebrate Mardi Gras in Lousiana
167. Meet enough people to know someone with a birthday every day.
168. Drink wine directly from the barrel
169. Create a signature dish
170. Collect honey from a beehive
171.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
#87 - Go on a cruise.
The first cruise I went on was for my senior Spring Break in high school. What a trip - planned about a year ahead of time, we had about 30+ people in our group. My friends from high school and their families all went together on a week-long cruise through Eastern Caribbean.
We took our vacation on Royal Caribbean's ship, Explorer. Such a huge ship, there was even an ice skating rink in the middle of the ship.
It was so much fun having all of my friends in one spot on vacation. While the majority of the vacation was spent sitting out in the sun, we did take a little bit of time to go explore. We stopped in Puerto Rico, St. Marten, St. Thomas, and the Bahamas. One of my favorite stops was in the Bahamas - we got off the boat and explored the Atlantis resort. There were certain areas that the public can access; I remember walking through the casino, watching a lady drop $100 coins into a slot machine.
I personally love cruises as vacations. They're just so relaxing; you don't have to worry about anything. I don't like to have relaxing vacations all of the time, but when I need to unwind, a cruise would be what I'd want. It's so crazy how cheap cruises are these days. If I lived in Miami, I'd take a weekend cruise every now and then, just to get away.
We took our vacation on Royal Caribbean's ship, Explorer. Such a huge ship, there was even an ice skating rink in the middle of the ship.
It was so much fun having all of my friends in one spot on vacation. While the majority of the vacation was spent sitting out in the sun, we did take a little bit of time to go explore. We stopped in Puerto Rico, St. Marten, St. Thomas, and the Bahamas. One of my favorite stops was in the Bahamas - we got off the boat and explored the Atlantis resort. There were certain areas that the public can access; I remember walking through the casino, watching a lady drop $100 coins into a slot machine.
I personally love cruises as vacations. They're just so relaxing; you don't have to worry about anything. I don't like to have relaxing vacations all of the time, but when I need to unwind, a cruise would be what I'd want. It's so crazy how cheap cruises are these days. If I lived in Miami, I'd take a weekend cruise every now and then, just to get away.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
#29 - Step foot in Australia
Australia. Sadly, I was only there for a week, and yet, it was such a great trip!
My friend Danielle was studying there for my last semester of college. In three years, this was the longest that we'd gone without seeing eachother, so since I was graduating, I wanted to have a great Spring Break trip. My other college friends either had trips planned or didn't want to go anywhere; it was a rather last minute decision to head off to Australia - literally, I think I booked my flight about two weeks before I left. One day, I was just curious to see how much it would cost to go out there; airfare was incredibly cheap (at least for the average MSP-SYD ticket). I tried to get a hold of Danielle to see if it'd even be possible to go out and visit her - after a few days of no communication, we got in touch, and the spring break week worked out for her schedule! I booked my flight and was to leave in a few weeks.
This was my first trip to a foreign country alone. Surprisingly, my anxiety/nervous-ness was exteremly low for trying to figure out the train schedule to get to Danielle. After 24 hours of travelling, I finally landed in Sydney. Getting through customs was pretty easy - I told Danielle I'd bring her the biggest bottle of Ranch dressing I could find, among other things. I had to smooth talk the customs guy to get the monstrous bottle through - Danielle's lucky he didn't spike it to the ground. ;) I had to take a train down to Wollongong. After getting onto the wrong train, I managed to figure out where I was and get down to the Wollongong stop; almost missing it, because there were so many people on the train, it was hard to maneuver through them.
Nothing was better after travelling around for 24+ hours than to get off the train and see a familiar face :) Danielle was waiting at the station, which was perfect, because as soon as I got off the train, I realized I didn't know where to go next.
It was such a great week hanging out with Danielle. I barely got any jet lag, which was nice, because I didn't miss out on too much by sleeping through it.
Danielle had met a ton of great people out there - it was so nice to finally put faces to the names (regardless of already seeing pictures from Facebook posts....). But to meet everybody was great. Of all the people, I will never forget Danielle's roommate, Stan. I don't think anybody who meets Stan can ever forget him. He talked about the dirtiest things in broken English. Anything and everything was turned sexual, with most of his statements told in yelling form. Of all the stories Danielle told me before, nothing could've prepared me for actually seeing him in person. Oh, Stan.
But it's been great, since Danielle's kept in touch with so many of them (even still lives with her roommate from Australia, Ally) that it's been fun to see them even to this day, almost five years later.
One of the highlights during the week was going up to Sydney for a few days to celebrate Danielle's 21st birthday. Not only that, but her birthday falls on St. Patrick's Day; so Sydney turned into a green blur of crazy. We went out to a nice restaurant, right next to the harbour bridge; it was here that I had alligator and kangaroo for the first time. Loved the kangaroo; alligator was ok (and probably something I'd never get again). But that kangaroo - definitely good. Then we went out onto George Street for some bar hopping.
Another great time was in the hostel that night. We took over a huge room and had about 20 people with about 15 beds. Actually we even carried a few people over into the second room, where there were a few other older adults staying there; they probably hated us that night.
One of my other favorite things from Sydney was this street "performer" who played the recorder. He held about three recorders in his hand; yet he only played the same note on one over and over and over again. Same tone, repeated non-stop. I wasn't sure where this talent was, but it kind of gave me a little hope to be a street performer......
......speaking of which, I forgot to add one thing to my bucket list - at one point, somewhere, I want to be a street performer. I'm not sure what I'd play, or where I'd play it. I wonder - and maybe someone can help me out on this - is there some kind of street performer etiquette? Mainly, I wouldn't want to be taking up someone's "spot" and make somebody rather upset. Is it just free-for-all for finding your spot? But anyways, sometime I would like to do that for a day to see how much money they actually make. Well, who knows what kind of talent I have, so there's a good chance I will not make any.....
But I digress...
The week flew by very quickly; most of it spent in Wollongong on the campus. We only went to Sydney for the few days for Danielle's birthday.
It was a great week, yet, I barely saw anything of Australia. I definitely want to go back, but to a different area. I already have on the bucket list to go to the great barrier reef. I'd also like to just go to the west side of the country. I know at some point, I'm going to get back there, but at least the first time was such a great time! :)
I'll post some pictures later :)
My friend Danielle was studying there for my last semester of college. In three years, this was the longest that we'd gone without seeing eachother, so since I was graduating, I wanted to have a great Spring Break trip. My other college friends either had trips planned or didn't want to go anywhere; it was a rather last minute decision to head off to Australia - literally, I think I booked my flight about two weeks before I left. One day, I was just curious to see how much it would cost to go out there; airfare was incredibly cheap (at least for the average MSP-SYD ticket). I tried to get a hold of Danielle to see if it'd even be possible to go out and visit her - after a few days of no communication, we got in touch, and the spring break week worked out for her schedule! I booked my flight and was to leave in a few weeks.
This was my first trip to a foreign country alone. Surprisingly, my anxiety/nervous-ness was exteremly low for trying to figure out the train schedule to get to Danielle. After 24 hours of travelling, I finally landed in Sydney. Getting through customs was pretty easy - I told Danielle I'd bring her the biggest bottle of Ranch dressing I could find, among other things. I had to smooth talk the customs guy to get the monstrous bottle through - Danielle's lucky he didn't spike it to the ground. ;) I had to take a train down to Wollongong. After getting onto the wrong train, I managed to figure out where I was and get down to the Wollongong stop; almost missing it, because there were so many people on the train, it was hard to maneuver through them.
Nothing was better after travelling around for 24+ hours than to get off the train and see a familiar face :) Danielle was waiting at the station, which was perfect, because as soon as I got off the train, I realized I didn't know where to go next.
It was such a great week hanging out with Danielle. I barely got any jet lag, which was nice, because I didn't miss out on too much by sleeping through it.
Danielle had met a ton of great people out there - it was so nice to finally put faces to the names (regardless of already seeing pictures from Facebook posts....). But to meet everybody was great. Of all the people, I will never forget Danielle's roommate, Stan. I don't think anybody who meets Stan can ever forget him. He talked about the dirtiest things in broken English. Anything and everything was turned sexual, with most of his statements told in yelling form. Of all the stories Danielle told me before, nothing could've prepared me for actually seeing him in person. Oh, Stan.
But it's been great, since Danielle's kept in touch with so many of them (even still lives with her roommate from Australia, Ally) that it's been fun to see them even to this day, almost five years later.
One of the highlights during the week was going up to Sydney for a few days to celebrate Danielle's 21st birthday. Not only that, but her birthday falls on St. Patrick's Day; so Sydney turned into a green blur of crazy. We went out to a nice restaurant, right next to the harbour bridge; it was here that I had alligator and kangaroo for the first time. Loved the kangaroo; alligator was ok (and probably something I'd never get again). But that kangaroo - definitely good. Then we went out onto George Street for some bar hopping.
Another great time was in the hostel that night. We took over a huge room and had about 20 people with about 15 beds. Actually we even carried a few people over into the second room, where there were a few other older adults staying there; they probably hated us that night.
One of my other favorite things from Sydney was this street "performer" who played the recorder. He held about three recorders in his hand; yet he only played the same note on one over and over and over again. Same tone, repeated non-stop. I wasn't sure where this talent was, but it kind of gave me a little hope to be a street performer......
......speaking of which, I forgot to add one thing to my bucket list - at one point, somewhere, I want to be a street performer. I'm not sure what I'd play, or where I'd play it. I wonder - and maybe someone can help me out on this - is there some kind of street performer etiquette? Mainly, I wouldn't want to be taking up someone's "spot" and make somebody rather upset. Is it just free-for-all for finding your spot? But anyways, sometime I would like to do that for a day to see how much money they actually make. Well, who knows what kind of talent I have, so there's a good chance I will not make any.....
But I digress...
The week flew by very quickly; most of it spent in Wollongong on the campus. We only went to Sydney for the few days for Danielle's birthday.
It was a great week, yet, I barely saw anything of Australia. I definitely want to go back, but to a different area. I already have on the bucket list to go to the great barrier reef. I'd also like to just go to the west side of the country. I know at some point, I'm going to get back there, but at least the first time was such a great time! :)
I'll post some pictures later :)
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
#28 - Step foot in South America
The summer after graduating high school, I went down to Peru with my church for a missions trip in Lima, Peru. We went into a small village, which was completely different than what I was expecting.
We were walking around the homes, and the dirt roads between the two "buildings" were only about 5 feet wide. The houses were basically just aluminum structures. There were clothes lines strung between the houses, with kids running around and the roads with chickens and other animals. Some of the families invited us into their homes and cooked us dinner; their houses were about the size of my kitchen, but housed families of five. The food they served us was amazing; we had lots of chicken and rice, but it was so good.
It was a life-changing experience. That was just a little bit of what we experienced.
We stayed in a cute little hotel-like place; every single morning, they would cook us breakfast, which included a fried egg, toast and some chicken (I think). Our group was large enough where we basically occupied the entire place. The coolest part of the place I thought was the roof; we were able to climb up to the roof and sit up there each night. It was gorgeous and overlooked the city, and one night, my friend and I stayed up there to look at the stars that lit up the sky.
One of my favorite things about their culture was how they greeted people. What I remember was when you were in a group talking and someone new would join the group, the conversation would stop and the new person was introduced to the group. It was a personal introduction, as well as you'd touch your cheeks against each other. It was so personable and you felt a connection with each person you met.
I'd love to go back there to see Machu Picchu and walk the Inca trail. There's much more I'd like to see and experience the culture even more.
We were walking around the homes, and the dirt roads between the two "buildings" were only about 5 feet wide. The houses were basically just aluminum structures. There were clothes lines strung between the houses, with kids running around and the roads with chickens and other animals. Some of the families invited us into their homes and cooked us dinner; their houses were about the size of my kitchen, but housed families of five. The food they served us was amazing; we had lots of chicken and rice, but it was so good.
It was a life-changing experience. That was just a little bit of what we experienced.
We stayed in a cute little hotel-like place; every single morning, they would cook us breakfast, which included a fried egg, toast and some chicken (I think). Our group was large enough where we basically occupied the entire place. The coolest part of the place I thought was the roof; we were able to climb up to the roof and sit up there each night. It was gorgeous and overlooked the city, and one night, my friend and I stayed up there to look at the stars that lit up the sky.
One of my favorite things about their culture was how they greeted people. What I remember was when you were in a group talking and someone new would join the group, the conversation would stop and the new person was introduced to the group. It was a personal introduction, as well as you'd touch your cheeks against each other. It was so personable and you felt a connection with each person you met.
I'd love to go back there to see Machu Picchu and walk the Inca trail. There's much more I'd like to see and experience the culture even more.
Monday, October 25, 2010
#16 - Go fishing and eat my own catch
I grew up, making fishing a part of life. Thanks to my dad. In talking to my mom, we think that my dad had my brother and I go fishing with him, just because he wanted to go fishing - someone to be around for his hobby. Yet, I really do like fishing.
I remember when I was in early elementary school, my dad took my brother out to a fishing camp. There weren't that many people at this camp, yet there were a ton of workers there - so basically, everybody got their own fishing guide. My dad let my brother go off on his own with one of the guides, while my dad and I went off with another one. There I remember one of the times we went out, it was just my dad and I at the time, and I caught 13 fish, while he caught one. Yeah, definitely something I never let him forget. :)
But of all the fishing trips my dad and I did together, I loved our fly-in trips. I was able to do two fly-in fishing trips with my dad.
The first one, I was in middle school - the summer between 7th and 8th grade. My dad didn't tell me what all was included in a fly-in trip. I quickly learned as I stepped off the plane that toilets and showers were non-existent for the next week. While I adapted to an outhouse, there is nothing like going out on a lake with absolutely nobody around you for miles. We were the only ones out on the lake; seeing the natural beauty around us was amazing. Then catching fish was fantastic - it was like they were just waiting for you to drop your line. It felt like you were catching fish before even baiting your line; they might as well have just jumped into the boat. Ah, there's nothing like fresh fish. Every meal was walleye or northern. So good. I absolutely love walleye.
The second one was right after graduating high school. Here, my dad taught me how to gut/fillet a fish. He and my brother had gone on another fly-in trip with a few of my cousins. The guy who flew them in was an Indian who lived just a ways down from where they flew in. He taught my dad, brother and cousins how to gut a fish and get the perfect fillet. So my dad showed me how to do it at this trip. I'd love to have the opportunity to do that again - that was over seven years ago, so hopefully I can try it again and see if I still remember how to do that. This trip, I was able to go with a few of my other Portland cousins, as well as my brother. It was kind of funny, because we did the food shopping basically before we left - it was a bit of a last minute shopping. As soon as we stepped off of the plane, I think we (or I) realized that our shopping was a bit...off. All of a sudden I realized we had a couple cases of beer, a case of pop....and like six bottles of water. And really not that much extra food. We finished it all basically within the first few days, so every morning we'd wake up and the goal was to go catch food for the day. I just remember being in the middle of the lake with my dad, blue skies, sun shining down, and all of the fish around just waiting to be our lunch. That was a great week with my family.
I remember when I was in early elementary school, my dad took my brother out to a fishing camp. There weren't that many people at this camp, yet there were a ton of workers there - so basically, everybody got their own fishing guide. My dad let my brother go off on his own with one of the guides, while my dad and I went off with another one. There I remember one of the times we went out, it was just my dad and I at the time, and I caught 13 fish, while he caught one. Yeah, definitely something I never let him forget. :)
But of all the fishing trips my dad and I did together, I loved our fly-in trips. I was able to do two fly-in fishing trips with my dad.
The first one, I was in middle school - the summer between 7th and 8th grade. My dad didn't tell me what all was included in a fly-in trip. I quickly learned as I stepped off the plane that toilets and showers were non-existent for the next week. While I adapted to an outhouse, there is nothing like going out on a lake with absolutely nobody around you for miles. We were the only ones out on the lake; seeing the natural beauty around us was amazing. Then catching fish was fantastic - it was like they were just waiting for you to drop your line. It felt like you were catching fish before even baiting your line; they might as well have just jumped into the boat. Ah, there's nothing like fresh fish. Every meal was walleye or northern. So good. I absolutely love walleye.
The second one was right after graduating high school. Here, my dad taught me how to gut/fillet a fish. He and my brother had gone on another fly-in trip with a few of my cousins. The guy who flew them in was an Indian who lived just a ways down from where they flew in. He taught my dad, brother and cousins how to gut a fish and get the perfect fillet. So my dad showed me how to do it at this trip. I'd love to have the opportunity to do that again - that was over seven years ago, so hopefully I can try it again and see if I still remember how to do that. This trip, I was able to go with a few of my other Portland cousins, as well as my brother. It was kind of funny, because we did the food shopping basically before we left - it was a bit of a last minute shopping. As soon as we stepped off of the plane, I think we (or I) realized that our shopping was a bit...off. All of a sudden I realized we had a couple cases of beer, a case of pop....and like six bottles of water. And really not that much extra food. We finished it all basically within the first few days, so every morning we'd wake up and the goal was to go catch food for the day. I just remember being in the middle of the lake with my dad, blue skies, sun shining down, and all of the fish around just waiting to be our lunch. That was a great week with my family.
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