And now I give you letter P for the A to Z Challenge! Some of my favorite places in the world, in no particular order.
1. Dingle, Ireland. A little town on the Dingle peninsula, with a real-live dolphin as a mascot. It is my plan (when I’m all grown up and my dreams are coming true) to go back there and write a novel! I’d probably be happy to live anywhere in Ireland, really, because, look at this!
2. Adelboden, Switzerland. An adorable, quintessential Swiss village tucked in the mountains, full of little Swiss gingerbread houses and surrounded by the Alps (and even as someone who grew up in the Rockies, there ain’t nothin’ like the Alps!).
3. Machu Picchu, Peru. This was one of those places I’d always heard about that completely surpassed my (already high) expectations. Watching this famous mountain rise out of the mist at sunrise was unbelievable.
4. Ha Long Bay, Vietnam. Not only was this beautiful, but it was so fun to explore caves, explore the main island, Cat Ba, and even kayak a little!
5. Montana. This wide-open, gorgeous state will always have a piece of me, and always, in some way, be “home.”
6. The Gulf of Thailand. While on this coast, we stayed with a friend-of-a-friend, who took us to a small island never visited by tourists. It was gorgeous! We also stayed on Koh Tao and learned to scuba dive.
7. Vancouver Island, Canada. A perfect corner of the Northwest!
8. Henry’s Lake, Idaho. Right on the border of Montana, a perfectly picturesque lake that feels like it hasn’t changed in 100 years.
9. Point Loma, San Diego, California. My cousin went to school here: it’s breathtaking!
10. Isla de la Plata, Ecuador. The poor man’s Galapagos! Includes blue-footed boobies and giant turtles.
11. Bruges, Belgium. Bruges was everything I could have hoped for from Europe, with amazing food, views, canals (and crowds, unfortunately). We biked, we drank delicious beer, we tried exotic chocolate, we wandered the canals for hours, and we ended up attending a music festival that included roller-skating, a “silent” disco, polka-dancing and a club!
12. Edinburgh, Scotland. Oh beautiful, beautiful Scotland! E had already visited here, and talked it up quite a bit, and I completely loved it.
13. Reykjanes Peninsula, Iceland. Iceland was a last-minute addition due to a layover, and I was surprised at how charmed I was by this island. It’s definitely a unique country, in both the culture and landscape!
14. Orcas Island, Washington. I obviously have a fondness for this island (and sort of islands in general, apparently).
15. Rural China. Both rural Sichuan and the area around the Great Wall were incredible.
I’m linking up again with Casey’s Fresh Face Friday! It’s her last one for a while, so be sure to check it out!
