You Spin Me 'Round

The one thing that's always been at the top of my wish list is travel. I'm woefully lacking in both world travels and experiences, and if I could, I'd close my eyes, spin a globe, and journey to whatever destination landed under my finger. But if I got to pick and choose, eyes wide open? Ooh, with all the possibilities of the entire world at my disposal, I'd first go to...

1. Europe

Yes, it's a bit of a cheat to select an entire continent, but hey, I'm dreaming aloud here...anything goes. I'd trounce through every country, reveling in the combinations of tradition and modernity, of decidedly European style with each location's unique stamp on the bigger picture. Ireland, Spain, Germany, Italy, Poland, France, Sweden, Wales...the list can (and does) go on. 

Each country, packed together as closely as my humble United States, offers different worlds and languages and customs -- beauty, variety, and the unexpected -- the possibility is intoxicating.

2. Japan

Language is my bread and butter. I crave words and ideas and communication, and visiting a place with such a vastly different language would present me with the best type of challenge: to truly see the world from another perspective. 

Besides the intricacies and beauty of the language, an island-country whose urban growth requires vertical development is a land unto itself. I see no purpose to travel if not to see that which is completely new to me.

3. Key West, Florida

And yet, for all my bravado about new experiences, I find peace in the familiar. Key West is my happy place. The breeze off the water cools the blazing sun, the Key limes saturate the pies and pancakes and drinks (oh yes, the drinks...) and life slows down, not because it's dragging its feet, but because it's okay to enjoy the beauty in each moment. Paradise.

4. Brazil (namely, Rio)

Things aren't always what they seem, which is why they need to be experienced firsthand. But if Brazil offers one iota of the color, vibrancy, and passion it appears to have, I can't imagine a place to be where I'd feel more alive. It's like adding jumper cables to the day-to-day experiences; we can all use a jolt sometimes.

5. Australia...or Canada

Hear me out -- these two countries might seem highly different from one another, and in many ways they are -- I'm drawn to the idea of a vast expanse with people and places and animals scattered intermittently in a collage of natural wonders and man-made developments. 

I adore the notion that, in either location, a few hours in one direction could take me from scenic isolation to old-world charm to the most modern cities and back again.

If you seek, you will find, and I can't wait to find the treasures hiding throughout the world...some day...I hope...