Ok here we go - this weeks Listography is 'Top 5 Places You've Visited'.
I loved doing this one as firstly it reminded me that I wasn't always a boring middle aged housewife, and secondly I got to get out all my old photo albums and relive some magical times I had forgotten about. Doing this list has also taught me that it's not just about the place you visit - it's the experience that you have there that really counts.
So here's my Top 5:
1. Byron Bay, Australia.
Ah Byron - my no. 1 place in the world. This is where I met my future husband, but even so, I don't hold that again it. For those who haven't heard of it Byron is kind of like the hippie capitol of Australia. This is where I travelled to, on my own, when I was 25, met my future husband on my first night there and spent 3 hazy months swimming in the ocean, walking in the rainforest, meeting great friends, revelling in my new found freedom, and generally having the best time of my life.
2. Tijuana, Mexico.
No not the seedy tourist location all the american students head to, the 'real' Tijuana that you don't get to see on a weekend visit. When I was 22 I spent 6 months in TJ (I'm allowed to call it TJ because I spent 6 months there). I was lucky enough to stay with an amazing community doing voluntary work with families who lived in shanty towns that had built up by the American border by people hoping to better their lives by skipping over into the dreamland that is California. Not many made it and the rest remained in their corrugated shacks - often whole families in one room. These people were full of life, smiles and kindness despite all their hardship, and taught me valuable life lessons that I hope have made me a better person.
3. Koh Phangan,Thailand
My desert island paradise. This was the first beach my OH and I stayed at on a 3 month trip around the Islands of Thailand (or as the Irish say Thigh-land) and it was tough to beat. Yes that is me in the hammock and no I don't know why I ever left either.
4. Devon, UK
Just to show you don't have to travel to the other side of the world to find a favourite place. This was taken a few years ago on a family holiday to Peter Rabbit Cottages in Devon. A fabulous place and I learned to surf (well kind of)...
5. Lake Bohin, Slovenia
For our honeymoon we travelled through Germany to Slovenia and spent a glorious few weeks finding little gems such as the one below. It's a stunning country with views that are so perfect they look like they might be a painted backdrop that the country's Tourist Officials have hung up to fool us. I would go back in a heartbeat (with or withour the husband).
So what are your Top 5 favourite places? Join the Listography by writing your list on your own blog and then adding your name and url to the linky below so others can find you too. Look forward to visiting. x
I'm jealous. You've been to Slovenia! I would love to go. There's a metal festival held there every summer, called Metalcamp, which although full of dirty rockers, has a backdrop of the Slovenian mountains and lakes.
ReplyDeleteBliss.
I'll have a think for my list. It's gonna be a toughie! x
Lovely list Kate! Thailand looks idyllic *sighs*. Right, off to start thinking about my list :)
ReplyDeleteOh love this entry!
ReplyDeleteRight my top 5 places would have to be:
1) Montreal, Canada
I lived there as as student for 4 years. I love Canada as a whole and have yet to find a better country. Would move there in a heartbeat!
2) Stockholm, Sweden
My favourite city for over 15 years now and had the number 1 spot until I lived in Montreal
3) Barcelona, Spain
I discovered this little gem of a city only last summer. Where have I been?!
4)Manila and the surrounding areas (Tagaytay, etc) The Philippines
Would've been at number 3 had I not gone to Barcelona. Incredible natural beauty all around. Never seen anything like it.
5) Buenos Aires, Argentina... but I'm a bit biased here as my dad's from there. Still I visited for the first time in my life when I was 19 and totally fell in love with it.
Great list - I'm jealous!
ReplyDeleteByron is beautiful isn't it. Although it's no longer a hippie town, it's cashed up now and very trendy. Get this - my parents had a house there and they sold in when I was in my last year of school!! To use a great Strine expression, "I was SPEWING."
Great listography again, thanks Kate!
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Excellent List Kate - I haven't been to Byron since I was 16. Apparently it has changed heaps and is now super glitzy and trendy.
ReplyDeleteI would love to go to Slovenia, I have a blog reader from there who checks in daily which always makes me smile!
Wow, Kate! You are so well traveled. That is a list to envy!!
ReplyDeleteI feel so boring now. I did grow up in Hawaii, but that is as cool as it gets. :-)
Love how your list suggestions make me think.
ReplyDeleteThank you xx
Thanks again for a great question Kate. Just popped mine up x
ReplyDeleteMy, you've had some great adventures! I would love to hang out in Byron Bay for a few months, sounds ideal.
ReplyDeleteThanks for putting this one together Kate--reading and writing about travel is really the antidote to the parental wintertime blues. Loving the listography idea in general--keep up the good stuff!
~M
What a fab list - so many cool adventures!
ReplyDeleteI want to be in Koh Phangan right now...please? *struggles to affix hammock across living room*
ReplyDeleteLexie
will be making my list! am inspired
ReplyDeleteDevon made your list, yay! It's a pretty cool place to live I have to admit :)
ReplyDeleteLove Listogrphy! will try and take part as often as possible! :-)
ReplyDeleteI have to comment again because I'm just going through everyones and there are some brilliant places - wish I could visit them all!
ReplyDeleteLove your list. I loved that your honeymoon destination wasn't an obvious one either. It looks absolutely gorgeous though, great choice.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great list Kate, mine looks so pedestrian by comparison. Still I won't complain, as I love my places, and the list is always growing! I love travel.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great idea! I've not been to Devon since I was very little and I don't remember it at all. It's somewhere I'd love to visit, I think of it as being very far away which is silly, as nowhere in Britain really is!
ReplyDeleteA great choice for Listography, keep them coming!
ReplyDeleteHere is mine http://chocorangecitymum.blogspot.com/
OOPS I joined up but stuffed it so the link on this page doesn't work. Technology is so often not my friend.
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