I came up with a brilliant idea the other day.
I do not know if the idea is going to work, or if it will ever happen, but I have been doing a lot of research on it lately, and as we all know, research is what I do best.
Okay so...Basically I have decided that every year I want to travel somewhere in the world. There are so many places that I want to go, and depending on how I go about it, it can be surprisingly (relatively) inexpensive. (Fortunately, my tastes and interests allow me to ponder and plan on a small budget.) And while I would love to experience all of the tourist attractions in each place I visit, if only for the experience, I do not want to travel like a tourist. I would rather experience each place and culture as the locals experience it. After all, to understand the people and their way of life in each place is the main reason I am interested in traveling in the first place. To me, what else would be the point? If I only go to meet other tourists and visit places the locals usually do not, that completely defeats the purpose.
Since I am Irish, (and therefore proud of my heritage), naturally the first place I want to visit is Ireland. Of course, I would like to visit Dublin, but in all of Ireland, I am actually least interested in Dublin. It would still be nice to see the east coast, such as (well, Dublin), and especially Wicklow. I also want to visit the south coast, particularly Cork, because that is where my grandmother's father came from. I am probably most interested, however, in visiting the west coast, including Galway, Limerick, and Clare. Ireland is a place that I feel a strong connection with, since my not-so-distant family came from there. That is entirely fascinating to me. It is the only place that I have always wanted to visit, and although I have never been there, I think I want to live there for some time.
Of course, there are many other places I want to visit. Probably second on my list is France because I want to learn to speak French fluently. I am not sure whether I would want to visit Paris or not; I have heard southern France is spectacular, and much less "busy". But then again, you cannot go to France and not see the Eiffel Tower and the Champs-Élysées!
Like any American, my family comes from many places. Although I am mostly Irish (and really only care about my Irish heritage!), some of my ancestors also came from Scotland and Germany, so those are other top places on my list. I do not know much about either country, so I will have to do some major research on them, but I do want to visit them both.
Since I am majoring in Vocal Performance, I want to visit Italy, although I am not yet sure where. I am also considering adding Austria to my list because they have a rich music culture. (I mean, every culture is rich in music, but...you know.."The Sound of Music" was set there--and partly filmed there). I also want to see London, Spain, and Switzerland someday, but they are not at the top of my list.
Each place will require an extent of flexibility in various areas, and I am fully aware of that. But at least with Ireland, I am planning to visit for two weeks in May (2011). This year, I am working during the school year to save enough money. My budget for each place will need to be different for each year. This year it is around $3500 for flight, hotel, transportation, food, and spending money. Fortunately, according to the research I have done, that is a reasonable number.
I am thinking that each summer I will plan a trip for around two weeks, in the following summer. Even (and maybe even especially) when I graduate from college, I still want to be able to travel a lot. Hopefully I will come to a point where I have fully funded it the year before (when I plan it); that way I know it will happen. I do not want to become one of those people who always wishes they could travel, but never ends up doing anything about it. After all, one of my biggest dreams is to travel the world, and I am all about working hard to achieve my dreams :)
I am either a hard-core dreamer, or my thoughts are their own distraction from themselves.
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