Travelchili's VirtualTourist Home Page
| Page Views: 37,019 | TRAVELCHILI WELCOMES YOU by Travelchili - last update: Oct 21, 2009 |
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HAPPY TRAVELS IN 2009
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Postcards from VT friendsPostcard count: 736 cards received Oh, and I can't resist, but kindly ask you to send me a postcard from your next travels - please :):)**************************************************************************************************************************************************** |
| Beautiful fall colours in Viljandi, Estonia |
TRAVELING ******************************************************************************************************* A warm hello and thanks for stopping by. I am delighted that I can share this wonderful travellers community with you. Like many here, I am mad about travelling and I can't stop dreaming about new and exciting destinations to visit. I have been fortunate to visit nearly 70 countries and have lived in five of them for longer periods (Estonia, USA, Germany, Sweden and Czech Republic). As of today, I can say that my goal is to visit up to 100 countries during my lifetime, although I am not sure how realistic that is considering the fact that I live in Europe and have seen all European countries, but three. Thus, for new destinations I have to travel far and the older I get, the less I want to travel too far away. But we'll see; it's nice to have dreams at least :) ****************************************************************************************************** |
| Always preparing for my next trip... |
2003 - 2009 TRAVEL HIGHLIGHTS *******************************************************************************************************
*Trips in 2009* took me to various places in the region I live: Finland, Sweden, Norway, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, but I also had a wonderful long-haul trip to Singapore, Malaysia (Melaka, Johor Bahru) and Indonesia (Bali) where I got to meet some dear friends, explore around, enjoy delicious food and truly relax. *Just back from Crete, Greece. More trips to come this year *
*2008* will be a hard year to beat in terms of travelling, above all because my long-time dream to visit Japan came true and not only once, but twice. First trip (May 16-May 25) took me to Tokyo, Kyoto and Nagoya and during the second trip (October 4-18) I was able to experience a lot more variety as I visited not only big cities, but also smaller places, mountains, beaches, etc - Osaka, Kobe, Takayama, Shirakawa, Hiroshima, Fukuyama, Miyajima, Himeij, Kii Mountains, Mt. Koya, Nara. It's always hard to say which countries are my favorite, but in case of Japan I can easily say that it's in top three if not my all time favorite. I can't wait for my third visit to Japan - hope it'll be possible soon! Besides Japan I was also able to take a wonderful trip to Africa, visiting mostly Namibia (simply wonderful), but also Botswana (Chobe National Park) and Zambia (Victoria Falls). European journeys included London (long weekend with old friends), Monaco (great day trip with lovely walks and delicious meals), Cannes (great food, new people, lovely atmosphere and sunshine), Stockholm (work combined with some fun), Berlin (first German wedding that I ever got to attend - great experience), number of trips to Finland (work and fun) and finally Prague (long weekend trip with my parents).
*2007* was a fantastic travel year. At the beginning of the year I was in US (Nevada) and Mexico (Mexico City, Puebla, Cholula, Teotihuacan, Acapulco) and a bit later in India (Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Aurangabad, Ellora Caves, Ajanta Caves, Mumbai). Trips within Europe included Czech Republic (once), Lithuania (twice), Latvia (twice), Finland (5 times), Germany (Cologne, Aachen), Estonian islands of Vormsi Prangli and Saaremaa (great spa weekend!) and finally a roadtrip through parts of Italy and France (Milan, Como and lake region, Bergamo, Crespi d'Adda, Verona, Padua, Vicenza, Ferrara, Florence, San Gimignano, Tuscany, Corsica (Bastia, St. Florent, Porto, Ajaccio), Aix-En-Provence, Orange, Pont du Gard, Lyon, Grenoble, Torino.
*2006* was brightened by trips to Copenhagen (twice), Englad, Finland (twice), roatrips throughout Estonia, Monaco, France, Rhodes (Greece for the first time!), Lithuania and finally a roadtrip around Portugal (Guimaraes, Porto, Sintra, Lisbon)
*2005* well, can't say that 2005 was a bad traveling year. I got to visit three new countries and plenty of new & old destinations - London, Dublin, Spain, Morocco, Estonia, around the Czech Republic, China (yay!), Copenhagen (twice), Germany, Russia, Hungary, Moldova, Kazakhstan (another yay!) and Finland.
*2004* started out with a wonderful one-month trip to South Africa and Lesotho. It turned out to be one of the greatest traveling years with trips to Germany (4 times), Serbia and Montenegro (twice), Albania, Kyrgyzstan, England, Estonia, Slovenia, Hungary, Austria(twice), Slovakia, Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Russia & many trips around the Czech Republic
*2003* was a really great traveling year: Austria, Germany (4 times), Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Poland (twice), Lithuania (twice), Estonia, Slovenia (twice), England, Scotland, Italy, Portugal & many places in the Czech Republic.
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| My favorite mushrooms... NOT! Great for photos tho |
WHY EUROPE? *******************************************************************************************************
Many people have asked why my profile says "Europe" and not an exact place where I live, so I better forsee further questions on this and explain my view: while I've traveled to 70 countries and lived in various places, I've come to understand that I can be at home in many places. The famous saying of Socrates - I am not an Athenian nor am I a Greek, I am a citizen of the world - is what I believe in. Today world is smaller than ever and I feel that I am much more citizen of the world than of any particular place (not that I am not proud of being born in one place (Estonia, that is) and having a certain connection to it, but many other places have contributed to my life and to who I am today, too, so I am a sum of many-many experiences that I've had in varous places at different times). Hope it makes sense :)
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| My best friend Freddie :) |
FREDDIE *******************************************************************************************************
Four years ago I made one of the best decisions of my life - I took a dog! I dreamt about having a dog all my life, but never had a chance to make my dream come true. Even back in 2005 I wasn't fully sure if my decision was a right one as I am a busy girl... now in 2009, however, I can say that I made the best decision ever as my pup has grown to be my best friend and we always have time for tons of fun. I couldn't imagine my life without him anymore! Any other big dog fans out there??
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HOBBY - POSTCARDS:) *******************************************************************************************************
I am a big postcard collector. Please read more about my hobby under the 'Postcards from VT friends'
If you would like to make me happy by enriching my collection by a card from your home or travels, please drop me a line and I will be glad to share my postal address. And, of course, I would be always glad to send you a postcard from my home or travels. Just ask!
THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE ALREADY SENT ME CARDS!!
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| Rice terraces of Bali, Indonesia |
TOP COUNTRIES PAST & FUTURE **************************************************************************************************
DREAMS: Top 10 countries that I want to visit in the future (not in order)
* Argentina * Madagascar * Brazil * New Zealand * Peru * Australia *
Oman * Bhutan * Jordan * Uganda *
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DREAMS THAT CAME TRUE: Top 20 countries that I have already seen (not in order)
* Japan * South Africa * Haiti * Slovenia * India * Namibia *
Kyrgyzstan * Mexico * Georgia * Morocco * China * Scotland * Canada * Portugal * Montenegro * USA * Czech Republic * Botswana * Morocco * Mexico *
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 Comments for Travelchili | | | | |
KernelPanic Thu Nov 5, 2009 07:36 UTC
Nice page, great travels. I am rooting with envy. | JohnniOmani Sun Oct 25, 2009 03:09 UTC
Thanks for the comments :) You are seriously well travelled :) | starship Fri Oct 23, 2009 17:07 UTC
Fabulous new picture of you & Freddie! Hope all is well with you. | danangvietnam Fri Oct 23, 2009 13:51 UTC
Hi! your look nice! Nice too meet you |
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