Places to go...

Nathan keeps giving me such good blog ideas! After looking at his list of things that he wants to do/see before he dies, I started thinking about my own list. Mine consists mostly of places to go, not surprisingly. I think I must have wanderlust. Anyway, here is the start of my list.

Ride the Trans Siberian Railway. I want to do this so bad! All the way from Moscow to Vladivostok. I don't know what season I want to do it in, but the whole thing sounds so adventurous and romantic.

Go North. In a similar vein, I would like to travel up to northern Canada. The Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut. Mostly, I think I want to see the landscape and the wildlife. Especially the musk ox. They're so cute and shaggy!

Walking tour of Spain. This actually fits quite nicely with Nathan's desire to go on a pilgrimage, and we didn't even plan it that way! I have a Lonely Planet book that is exclusively walking tours and they all look absolutely amazing. Now to pick one...

Australia. I want to go back just as a tourist. I want to go back to Adelaide and Uluru and then I want to go down the west coast. I know that the Great Barrier Reef is on the east coast, but the west is so wild and untamed and unpopulated that I think I would like it better. The natural land formations are amazing.

Fiji. I only stopped there for an hour on my way to Australia, but I've been in love with it ever since. The sunrise was beautiful, the airport was so quaint, and it just had an atmosphere that seeped into my soul. Must go there during the day next time.

Go on an African Safari. I don't care where. So long as there's hippos, I'll be happy. Lots and lots and LOTS of hippos. And yes, I know they won't let me cuddle them.

Develop our family tree. My uncle in Denmark has traced a branch of our family to way back in the middle ages (15th or 16th century, I can't remember) and I would like to expand on what he's done. Also, I'd like to do it was software program so we don't have to worry about losing a page or something. Inspired by these ideas, I bought a program on Amazon yesterday. It's even got website publishing software on it, to publish your findings. I'll keep you posted!

Become a gardener. I will make no aspirations to becoming a GOOD gardener, but I want to be one. I like to play in the dirt and watch things grow. Still hoping this will be my hobby.

Have a dog. I want one of my own. I want to do agility with it and cuddle it and love it. Must restrain myself....

And the big one...

Have a low stress, enjoyable, flexible, well paying job. 'Nuff said.

Well, that's my list so far. Like I said, mostly places to go, but I think it's all attainable eventually. I'd like to tick off the low stress job sooner rather than later, but that requires a certain effort by myself that I'm not quite willing to do yet. For the moment I can cope and my job has 2 of the 4 characteristics: well paying and enjoyable. Of course, the high stress has a negative impact on the enjoyability....

The world awaits. Travel safe!