Travels

No deep reflections today, just mindless babbling. After-all, it's a day off! 

Looking today through past trip photos at places I've been and it got me thinking about places I still want to go. My 'trip map' shows a belt around the world, but it appears that the equator is the 'safe zone.' It's not that I don't have the desire to travel to other places, in fact, it is more that I've let others pick my travel destinations for me in several cases. I think I've had enough tropical islands for a little while. Don't get me wrong, I loved them, and I have wonderful memories from those trips; however, the places I've always wanted to see are a bit less of vacation spots and in some cases a bit less... safe.

Places I have been:
Canada (Moose Jaw) - Zero sightseeing or research - hardly counts.
Mexico (don't even remember the name of the city) - was barely in the country long enough to eat dinner. - Also doesn't really count.
Japan (Tokyo) - Only 24 hours, but some awesome experiences.
Philippines (Manila, Puerto Gallera) - 2 separate trips, one was a missions trip to an orphanage in Manila, the other was a scuba and beach bum trip to Puerto Gallera.
Thailand (Phuket and surrounding islands)
South Korea (Seoul, Taechon, Muido) - Lived here for a year. Getting ready to head back.
Poland (Krakow, Auschwitz)
Germany (Berlin, Frankfurt, Heidelberg, Munich, Berchesgarten)
Kuwait - Lived here for almost two years now.
Jordan (Aman, Petra, Dead Sea, Wadi Rum, Red Sea, Jerash)
United Arab Emirates (Dubai) - Visited twice; once for Christmas, once for visa paperwork.


Top Countries I still want to visit: (in no particular order)
England
Ireland
Australia
Russia (St. Petersberg, Moscow, and the Trans-Siberian Railway)
China (The Great Wall)
New Zealand
South Africa
Egypt (Cairo, Alexandria, the pyramids, and The Sphinx - hoping to stop by this winter)
Israel (hoping for this spring)
Brazil (the Amazon)

I'm sure as soon as I post this I'll think of five more that need to be on the list, but tried to keep it to 10; a nice, round number. My 'top' list is always changing, but these countries have been on it for quite some time and here's hoping that at least two of them will join the top list this year. :)