* In the USA, pretty much all the states in between Florida -Michigan. Nothing exciting. Oh, and West Virginia, where I went white-water rafting on the Upper Gauley which was awesome. Class 5 rapids are an excellent way to feel energized.
*Peru 2007. Spring break traveled with a group and saw Machu Picchu, Cusco, the Amazon, Lima, etc. Ate piranha and alpaca and had a great time but realized that I dislike tour groups and much prefer independent travel.
* Mexico Christmas 2007. Went to Mazatlan with family for Christmas. Missed our connecting flight in Mexico City–due to delays in O’Hare, of course. Got to spend the night in a swanky hotel in Mexico City on AeroMexico’s dime, which was better than sleeping in the airport but made a more boring story.
* 2008 was a sad year with no travel. Never again.
* Ireland 2009. Traveled to Ireland backpacking for two weeks with my mom. Loved Ireland. Who doesn’t? Saw Northern Ireland, Dublin, and the Dingle Peninsula–a beautiful area altogether. Dingle town was a place I could have stayed in forever, I think, or at least until I got tired of stunning scenery, friendly people and Paul Geaney’s Pub (best fish and chips EVAR.)
* Canada 2009. Ok, this barely counts as I only spent the night there but drove to Canada through Sault Ste. Marie and drove up to Batchawana Bay with a friend. The Canadians were friendly and let us in, but on the way back out the US border patrol decided we looked like suspicious characters (me with dreads and she with long hair and both of us in what could be interpreted as “hippie” clothing) so the vehicle got ripped apart, we got to sit around forever and get our belongings searched. Was the first time I’ve ever had any issues crossing borders and it was with our friendly neighbors to the North. Hmm.
* Europe 2009-2010. From October 6-January 13th, I traveled through Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Italy, France, and Spain. This was the best trip of my life. The majority of this blog is dedicated to it, and if you’re interested in the details you can find the posts I made while on the road in the archives.
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Future Trips: While I realize my traveling has been somewhat limited so far, I absolutely love it more than anything else. I have many future trip ideas planned in my head. My goal is to visit 100 countries in the next 8 years, and to eventually visit all 197 countries of the world. (So far I have seventeen! Only 180 to go! Haha)
*Teach ESL in Budapest and Japan
*Road trip to Alaska
* 1-2 year RTW trip, hitting all continents and at least 20 countries for under $20,000.
* Backpack Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile
* SE Asia, especially Thailand
* Do the work/holiday visa in Australia for a year.
Ohhhh, that crazy border patrol.
No, this is not our car, and no we had no business in Canada.
Except, of course, for the Canadian Mafia Convention.
Obviously we were there for that, yes. AND while we were there for the mafia convention, we thought wed get the most suspicious looking people ever to smuggle back q few kilos of high quality bc bud.
In the last 5 years I’ve been through California, Illinois, NJ and New York. All throughout Australia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Vanuatu. In Europe have been throughout Ireland and the UK. Spain, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, San Marino, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia. Looking forward to a trip to Japan and New Zealand (and maybe to US again) in the next year or 2…
Tips? Don’t smoke crack in Soho with Jaimaican dealers when you have your snowboarding in the Alps money unlesss you want to lose it. And your phone. Wallet. And have a knife stuck to your friends throat. Simply; watch yo self!