My Travel Wish List

I've been lucky enough to have travelled a lot. Back in the old days (pre-mortgage) travel was a priority and I'd try and head overseas at least once a year. So it is with disappointment that I must reveal that I haven't left the country for almost 3 years. I miss the buzz of planning trips, working out the movies that would be shown on the flight,

I was reminded of some of my unrealised travel dreams when I stopped by The Urban Vegan's blog and found her post about a recent trip to Belize. Belize...how I want to visit you! I did an assignment on Belize's eco-tourism industry at university and decided that it was a place I had to visit. Now I've seen these pics I remember why. Sigh.

Here are my other travel dreams (the current list anyway). I hope I get to go to these places while I'm still young enough to enjoy them.

• New Mexico - another travel dream inspired by a university tourism assignment. It has my perfect mix of food, culture, architecture, art and landscape.
• Japan - I'm fascinated by Japan! I love the food and in my mind everything is so cute and compact. I would love to go there during the Spring Blossom festival and see geishas, punks and schoolgirls while singing at karaoke bars, travelling on bullet trains, visiting pagodas and eating lots of sushi.
• England - When I actually lived in England I didn't have the knowledge of the Tudor era that I have now, so I really have to go back and check out all of Henry viii's palaces as well as those of his wives. And since I'm over that way I'd have to make a pilgrimage to Hampshire - Jane Austen Country. Economies of scale and all.
• Byron Bay - I want this to be a place full of surfing, massages, lotus positions and spiritual epiphanies. I suspect that it is all that...tinged with binge-drinking high school kids.
• Bhutan - I guess from a professional perspective I'm intrigued by the way that Bhutan is managing it's tourism. Visitors pay at least US$200 a day just to be there - that includes almost everything though. Can't think of any other country that is taking this approach to control the types of people that visit and the influence that tourism has on locals. I'd love to know if it's working.
• Singapore, Hong Kong & Macau - to see friends there and to see how Chinese New Year is really done. I had planned to do this trip this year (the Flight Centre still has my $100 deposit) until I realised I couldn't really afford it.

Runners up - Sabah (Gorillas), anywhere in the US, Cuba, Greek Islands, Italy (only a dream).

As I write this list I realise how much I want to go to these places. Especially the ones I've been dreaming of for years. I need to make some of these dreams come true. No excuses!!