Travel Tips

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The Arctic Circle, Alaska

A little about me

I was born and raised on the South Side of Chicago. I studied journalism in college, first writing about music and then sports. My career hit a road block in the form of September 11, 2001. I had only been out of school for about two weeks before terrorists attacked the United States.

A couple months later I found myself working as an intern at a newspaper in Birmingham, Alabama. I really didn't like the idea of living there permanently, so I eventually moved back to Chicago.

When I returned to Chicago, I started my "career" as a traveler. The only times I had been out of the United States at that point were brief stops in Mexico and Canada. I had planned to visit Ireland in 2001. But the day I planned to buy my plane tickets was ironically the day Al Qaeda attacked my country.

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Alhambra in Granada, Spain

The oddessey begins

The first place I visited on my four-year oddessey was Puerto Rico. My brother was getting married and instead of having a bachelor party, we went on a five-day getaway.

While waiting in line at the airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico's capital, I heard an announcement that anyone willing to give up their seat for the next flight to Chicago would be given a $500 credit voucher for American Airlines and be rescheduled for a later flight. I jumped at the opportunity.

Six weeks after returning from Puerto Rico, I was off to Phoenix, Arizona, to visit a friend. Two weeks after that I was off to Alaska. I had been looking for full-time jobs, but the job search still did not produce results. After returning home from Alaska, I had enough frequent flyer miles for a roundtrip ticket to Europe.

I spent most of the next year traveling throughout Europe. I figured I had my whole life to work. Why not travel while I was young? I eventually got a job in Chicago, but my wanderlust did not go away. I have visited 33 countries and five continents. I hope to visit Australia and Antartica some day, but I have other places to go before that.

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Palmyra, Syria

Why post so much stuff on VT?

I studied journalism in college and still write for a couple newspapers on a part-time basis. My full-time job is selling real estate in the Chicago area. I would like to become a travel writer or a foreign correspondent for an American newspaper or magazine. Traveling and writing are two of my passions, so it only makes sense to combine those two loves. Posting information on VT is kind of my "portfolio in progress" for a future travel writing job.

If anyone knows of a good English-language newspaper in a fun country, send me an e-mail. Maybe some day I will work there. I would love to work in Argentina, Brasil, Syria, Lebanon or any country in Europe.

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Rumeli in Istanbul, Turkey

More "best of" lists

Coolest castles, fortresses and other stone structures (pre-1800)
1. Belgrade citadel (Belgrade, Serbia)
2. Krak Des Chevalier (Hosn, Syria)
3. Aleppo Citadel (Aleppo, Syria)
4. Yedikule (Istanbul, Turkey)
5. Rumeli Hisari (Istanbul, Turkey)
6. Tower of London (London, England)
7. Parthenon (Athens, Greece)
8. Bran Castle (Bran, Romania)
9. Alhambra (Granada, Spain)
10. Colesium (Rome, Italy)

Coolest beaches
1. Dubrovnik, Croatia
2. Miami Beach, USA
3. Cannes, France
4. Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
5. Lagos, Portugal
6. San Juan, Puerto Rico

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Fes, Morocco

Places to spend your money

Best bazaars
1. Aleppo, Syria
2. Istanbul, Turkey
3. Damascus, Syria
4. Fes, Morocco
5. Sarajevo, Bosnia