butterfly_girl's VirtualTourist Home Page

Thanks for visiting my travel site! If you need any information about any of the places I have been, please e-mail me, I love to talk travel and will be happy to provide you with any information that I might know.
Also, If you like poetry, you can visit my poetry site at www.poetrypoem.com/butterflygirl

"One cannot divine or forecast the conditions that will make happiness; one only stumbles upon them by chance, in a lucky hour, at the world's end somewhere, and holds fast to the days." ~William Cather

Happy Traveling!

Please note: all pictures on this site are my own, please do not use without permission. Thanks

Some of my Favorite Travel Moments: Camping in Sedona during a lightning and thunder storm; in Kenya at sunrise seeing lions, giraffes and zebras on the plains; in Sequoia National Park walking in the forest filled with giant trees and trying to put my arms around them, snorkeling in Belize with nurse sharks and rays; being in a Buddhist Monastery in Nepal on Tibetan New Year as the sound of chanting filled the air, in Bend, Oregon sitting in a lava cave in the pitch dark singing; walking from the bottom of the Grand Canyon and not thinking I could make another step and then getting the energy to run to the top; in Costa Rica watching monkeys swinging from tree to tree and a sloth moving from one branch to the next...in Peru, hiking the Inca Trail, on Day 4, waiting for the clouds to part, and then suddenly they do, and before me was....Machu Picchu; snorkeling in Akumal, Mexico and seeing a giant sea turtle...! I will keep adding to this list as my journeys continue...stay tuned.

"There are only two ways to live your life.
One is as though nothing is a miracle.
The other is as if everything is."
~Albert Einstein

If you want a FREE postcard of a picture of Sadhus that I took in Nepal, send me your address and I will send it on its way!

"The real treasure, that which we all seek, is never very far;
there is no real need to seek it in a distant place, for it lies buried within our hearts.
And yet, there is this strange and persistent fact, that it is only after a journey...in a distant region, in a new land, that the way to that treasure becomes clear."
~Heinrich Zimmer~

"I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time."
~Jack London

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is bliss, taste it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.
-Mother Teresa-

Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won. It exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours."
~Ayn Rand

ARIZONA
Flagstaff (Gateway to the Grand Canyon)
Grand Canyon (Hiked to the bottom 9 hours!)
Phoenix (Sprawling desert city)
Prescott
Sedona (New Age paradise, Chakra Center)
Tempe ( I lived here for a while in this Desert Oasis)
Tucson (Beautiful Cactus everywhere)

CALIFORNIA
Anza Borrego Desert
Big Sur (Beautiful, along the Pacific Coast HWY!)
Encinitas (I lived in this beautiful, spiritual coastal community)
Eureka (Hippies and giant trees)
Idywild (nice little mountian town)
La Jolla (I lived here for many years, expensive, but beautiful!)
Lake Tahoe
Los Angeles
Malibu (Movie stars and Pacific Coast HWY)
Monterey
Napa Valley (Wine country)
Newport Beach (I lived here in this party town on the coast like The OC)
Palm Springs
San Francisco (Hip city!)
Santa Monica (I lived here for a few years)
Sequoia National Park (Amazing, giant trees, worth a visit!)
Santa Barbara (I lived in this lovely, coastal city)
Santa Cruz (Cool city!)
Topanga (I lived in this hippie town of LA for a few months, you wouldn't believe you were so close to LA here)
Yosemite (Gorgeous!)

COLORADO
Boulder (Pretty, cool city with a Hippie vibe)

CONNECTICUT
Fairfield
New Haven
Trumbull

FLORIDA
Bonita Springs
Clearwater
Fort Myers
Key West (Funky, beach living)
Miami (Tropical city with an international flare)
Naples (Pretty white sandy beaches, a bit expensive)
Sarasota
Tampa

HAWAII
Maui (Beautiful surfer's paradise, but I was too young to appreciate it when I went)
Oahu

IDAHO
Somewhere driving through

ILLINOIS
Chicago

IOWA
Somewhere for Pie and ice cream driving through

KENTUCKY
Louisville

MASSACHUSETTS
Martha's Vineyard (Nice spot!)

MINNESOTA
Minneapolis (Very happening city!)

NEVADA
Las Vegas (Neon Glitz)
Reno

NEW MEXICO
Albuquerque
Santa Fe (Arty, cool Southwest town)
Taos (Spectacular sunrises, beautiful Native American vibe)

NEW YORK
Binghamton
New York City
Syracuse

OREGON
Bend (I spent a summer in this gorgeous mountain town, this place is one of my favs in all of the US)
Eugene
Portland (Coffee shops and cool people)

SOUTH DAKOTA
The Badlands (very cool!)
The Black Hills

TEXAS
Austin (Where I am now! A place with a pretty river, lots of music and cool people)
El Paso
Hill Country (Lots of lakes and wildflowers, very pretty)
Houston (Big and sprawling city)

UTAH
Zion National Park (Very, very scenic, great spot for hiking)

WISCONSIN
Eagle River (lakes everywhere!)
Hayward (Fishermen's paradise)
Mequon
Milwaukee (Old buildings and a bar on every corner)
Three Lakes (more lakes than 3, water, everywhere)
Wauwatosa
West Allis

BELIZE
Caye Caulker
Ambergis Caye

CANADA
Vancouver (Great city, one of the best I have ever seen...beautiful ocean, cool people, nice parks)

COSTA RICA (TWICE...this is my top pick for a place to visit!)
Arenal Volcano (Volcano was covered in clouds)
Cahuita (Has a Jamaica feel, Rastafarians, reggae and tropical beaches, I love it!)
Heredia
Manuel Antonio (Monkeys, Sloths, beautiful birds everywhere)
San Jose

ENGLAND
LONDON (Only for 6 hours on my way to Kenya, cool city though!)

JAPAN
Only in the airport for a couple hours on my way to Nepal (does that count?)

KENYA
Aberdees (Great Mountain Lodge for viewing animals)
Lake Elementaita (Flamingos!)
Lake Navasha
Masa Mara (Animals everywhere...lions, zebras, giraffes!)
Naroibi

MEXICO
Cabo San Lucas
Ensenada (Great Lobster!)
Rocky Point (Beautiful town in the middle of nowhere)
Tijuana (Crowded, dirty, party town with good shopping)

NEPAL (I LOVE THIS COUNTRY!)
Chitwan (Jungle safari, elephants)
Dhulikhel (Nice mountain town)
Kathmandu (Crowded, spiritual, interesting city)
Pokhara (Lakeside Bliss)

PERU
Aguas Caliente
Cusco (beautiful narrow streets, mountains, cathedrals)
Lima
Machu Picchu (breathtaking!)

THAILAND
Bangkok (overnight on my way to Nepal, stayed at the Asia Airport Hotel)