XtravelloverX's VirtualTourist Home Page

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--------------------------------------------------------->HELLO 2007, I'M READY TO TRAVEL!<--------------------------------------------------------------

FIRST THINGS FIRST, I COUNT COUNTRIES, INDEPENDENT TERRITORIES AND DEPENDENCIES AS INDIVIDUALS BECAUSE MY GOAL IS TO BE A TRAVELERS' CENTURY CLUB (TCC) MEMBER AND THIS IS HOW THEY RANK SO, VT HAS ME AT 36 AND TCC HAS ME AT 37 "COUNTRIES"...TOMATO, TUHMAHTOE...WHO'S COUNTING ANYWAY, OH WAIT, I AM! :)

It's a dream come true every time I step inside of a plane. Interacting with locals, eating native cuisine, bartering for unique crafts, speaking a new language, walking the paths of history...it's all travel to me. "When in Rome..."; I do! I began traveling in the last decade after a childhood of virtually NO travel! Oh, how did I survive!?! OK, that's a little dramatic but sometimes I feel like I can't live happily w/o planning the next journey.

Italy is my passion location, with Egypt, Jerusalem, Mexico City, Jordan, Washington D.C., Marrakech and the B.V.I. following as favorites. Oh, who am I kidding, I love every place visited thus far! :-)

TRAVEL IS AN ADDICTION!!! :)

Some memorable travel sights: a grown man urinating on a tree in daylight on a busy Paris street; natives washing their babies, clothes and horses simultaneously in a Guatemalan river; topless sunbathers for the first time, during my honeymoon -ah!, on Margarita Island, Venezuela; Acapulco sunset; fried egg on pizza in Rome; THE PYRAMIDS and "Baksheesh for camel?" and 20+ people hanging off the back/front/side of a pickup truck in Egypt; suddenly being surrounded by non-stop spitting Asians in Beijing...watch where you step!; watching children who couldn't be older than 4 or 5yrs. selling three small rocks for one Euro in Jordan, fending off the aggressive salesmen in the souks of Morocco and St. Mark's Square full of pigeons, peddlers and pedestrians, just as I always imagined.

Pyramids, cobblestone streets, waterfalls, temples, baroque architecture, white sandy beaches, clear water, hammocks, Italy, Middle East and Central American locations tempt me constantly. To pop open a glass bottle of Fanta while rocking in a hammock on an island or, making homemade pizza in my little Italian pizzaria tucked away on a Venetian street would be heaven.

I eat, sleep and read about travel. Once I realized that YOU make your dreams come true, I haven't been able to sit still since! :)

***I recently responded to a forum posting and actually surprised myself by what I typed. I summed up my entire feeling about traveling the world and captured my desire to experience every country...travel stimulates my senses, it triggers happiness, fear, anger, passion, love, concern and curiosity. --->"It's all about comfort, common sense and familiarity. If you're uneasy in a new large city that contains a mix of people and a language you're not used to then perhaps, your senses will be on alert and that may give rise to fear or feelings of uneasiness or unsafety. Just be aware of not only your surroundings but your feelings and be open to the differences other countries present, be that conflict, crime and/or extreme poverty, as these are ways of life for so many, including those in the US. The world is not safe so long as we have free will, so, arm yourself with knowledge and understanding and what will be, will be." I travel b/c curiosity drives me to find out what will be.

My hubby and I are pretty serious about photography on vacation. It's taken many trips and unimpressive photos to get the hang of it. He took this gorgeous one in Acapulco a few Decembers ago. We've found that a tripod works wonders and will no longer travel without one! We're finally 100% digital which surely makes sharing on here easier. :)

My true dream...to see the entire world, every continent, every country. Is that possible? I'll have fun trying to prove that it is. :)

+All Eyewitness Travel Guides (LOVE 'EM)

+Anything by Arthur Frommer (books and monthly magazine)

+Insights Travel Guides

+Fodor's Citypacks

+Rick Steves' Guides, DVDs & TV Show

Fantastic Travel Related Quotes Floating Out There:

--->"Travel, in the younger sort, is a part of education, in the elder, a part of experience. He that travelleth into a country, before he hath some entrance into the language, goeth to school, and not to travel."-Francis Bacon as found on Sourbugger's Homepage

--->"There are only two emotions in a plane: boredom and terror."-Orson Welles

--->"I have found out that there ain't no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them."-Mark Twain

--->"If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay home."-James Michener

--->"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page."-St. Augustine

TRAVEL RELATED LINKS

"World's Most Traveled People" (I'm at the "Junior Ambassador" travel level!!!)

"UNESCO Sites"

"World Monuments Fund"

"Travelers' Century Club"

"Warnings for American Travelers"

"Third World Travel"

"Travel Safety"

"How Far Is It?"

COUNTRIES are noted in RED...
Separate trips are distinguished by an "->"

1984:
->Mt. Vernon, Illinois, USA
1986:
->Munfordville and Mammoth Cave, KY, USA
1987:
->Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, USA
1990:
->Indiana; Ohio; Pennsylvania; New Jersey and New York City, NY, USA
1993:
->Iowa City, Iowa, USA
1994:
->Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, USA
->Indiana and Kentucky, USA
1995:
->Indiana; Kentucky; Tennessee; Atlanta, Georgia and Tavares, Florida, USA
1996:
->Paddock Lake, Wisconsin, USA;
->Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA (MY FIRST PLANE RIDE)
1997:
->St. Louis and Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri, USA ;
->Zurich, SWITZERLAND; Munich, Berlin, Koblenz, Trier and Dresden, GERMANY; Prague, CZECH REPUBLIC; Innsbruck and Salzburg, AUSTRIA; Padova and Venice, ITALY; LUXEMBOURG; Reims and Paris, FRANCE;
->Winterset, Iowa, USA
1998:
->Caracas, Margarita Island, La Blanquilla Island and Amazonas, VENEZUELA ;
->Michigan, USA ; Niagara Falls, CANADA ; New York;
Pennsylvania; Ohio and Indiana, USA;
->Iowa; Nebraska; Colorado; Utah; Grand Canyon, Arizona; New Mexico; Oklahoma; Texas and Kansas, USA
->Canton, Ohio, USA
1999:
-> CURACAO; ARUBA; HAITI;
->Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, USA;
->Dallas, Texas, USA
2000:
->PUERTO RICO; St. Thomas, US VIRGIN ISLANDS; Tortola, Marina Cay and Virgin Gorda, BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS;
->Indiana; Ohio; Pennsylvania, Virginia; West Virginia; Maryland and Washington, DC, USA;
->Kentucky, USA;
->Rome, Naples, Pompei and Sorrento, ITALY; VATICAN CITY

2001:
->Indiana; Cave City and Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, USA;
->Ambergris Cay and Caye Caulker, BELIZE; Tikal, GUATEMALA;
->Cancun, MEXICO;
->Indiana Dunes, Indiana, USA;
->Springfield and Cahokia Mounds, Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri, USA
2002:
->Las Vegas, Nevada, USA;
->Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, USA;
->Acapulco, Teotihuacan and Mexico City, MEXICO
2003:
->Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, USA;
->London, ENGLAND; Cairo and Luxor, EGYPT
2004:
->St. Michael, Minnesota and Iowa, USA;
->Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, USA;
->Beijing, Badaling and Mutianyu, CHINA
2005:
->Las Vegas, Nevada, USA;
->Dyersville, Iowa, USA;
->Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, USA;
->Amsterdam, NETHERLANDS; Amman, Madaba, Shawbak and Petra, JORDAN; Busra and Damascus, SYRIA; PALESTINE; Jerusalem, ISRAEL and Venice, Murano, Burano & Mestre, ITALY!!!
2006:
->Dublin, Howth, Malahide, Swords, Monasterboice, Drogheda, Slane, Newgrange, IRELAND; Newry, Armoy, Ballycastle, Antrim Coast, Giant's Causeway, NORTHERN IRELAND;
->Mount Vernon and Champaign, Illinois, USA;
->Munich, GERMANY; Krakow, Oswiecim, Brzezinka and Warsaw, POLAND; Marijampole and Kaunas, LITHUANIA; Riga, LATVIA; Moscow, RUSSIA; London, ENGLAND;
->Mansfield, Ohio, USA ;
->Mount Horeb & DeSoto, WI and Lansing & Harpers Ferry, IA, USA;
->BARBADOS;
->Phoenix, Arizona, USA
2007:
->New York City, NY & NJ, USA;
->Skiing in WI, USA;
->Boston, MA, USA;
->Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming & Montana, USA;
->Jefferson City, MO, USA;
->Phoenix, AZ, USA;
->Las Vegas!!!, NV, USA;
->New York City, NY, USA;
->Starved Rock S.P., IL, USA;
->Barcelona, Figueres & Madrid, SPAIN;
->Marrakech & Ait Benhaddou, MOROCCO!

2008:

->(Jan) Phoenix, AZ; Needles, CA; Las Vegas, NV, USA

->(Feb) Skiing in WI, USA

->(Apr) Burlington, IA, USA

->(May) Land Between the Lakes, KY; Memphis, TN, USA

->(Jun) Santiago, Valparaiso and Easter Island, CHILE; Toronto, CANADA

(in no particular order)

Internationally:
India
Greece
Brazil
Hungary
Cambodia
CHILE...THIS YEAR-2008!!!
Yemen
Peru
Ethiopia

Nationally:
San Francisco, CA
New Orleans, LA
Memphis, TN...THIS YEAR-2008!!!

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A few itineraries I dream of and WILL do one day:

1. BRAZIL, PARAGUAY and ARGENTINA (Iguazzu Falls!)
2. THAILAND, CAMBODIA and VIETNAM (Bangkok, Angkor Wat, Saigon, oh my!)
3. INDIA and NEPAL (The Taj and exotic Kath!)
4. CZECH REPUBLIC, SLOVAKIA and HUNGARY (The motherland is a dream.)
5. GREECE and TURKEY (The Parthenon and Hagia Sofia!)

(in order)

Italy (And I did in Nov. '05!)
Ireland
Egypt
South Dakota
Jordan
Poland
Washington, DC
British Virgin Islands
Russia
Venezuela
Las Vegas (And I will in Jan. '08!!!)
England
China
New York City (And I did in Sep. '07!)
California

Who would have thought that a dog would change my life, but she has, "My Sweet Baby". Still a pup, this Cairn Terrier has ripped up my schedule and warmed my heart over the past months. I love her dearly and wish she could see the world with my hubby and I. :^)