Travel Shortlist

On Keith Law's blog, he posted his travel shortlist of ten places he'd love to go. The rules include: you can't have been there before, and time and money are no object. I figured I'd make my own list instead of start studying for the PE like I should. In no particular order:

1. Tokyo. The city sounds amazing. I've always found the Japanese culture interesting. Plus, the food sounds great. One of my favorite parts of Kitchen Confindential is when Anthony Bourdain describes his meal in Tokyo, complete with fish eyes.

2. Prague. Eastern Europe has always seemed appealing to me, and this is one of the cities whose names I know. I would hope to eat some good sausages and enjoy a lot of medieval Gothic architecture.

3. The Serengeti. A photo safari, especially one which included plenty of camping would be incredible. And, since it's nearby and I get to make the rules for this, this trip also includes summitting Mt. Kilimanjaro. It's apparently the only tallest mountain on a continent that doesn't require any technical skills to summit.

4. Vietnam. This one isn't as vacation-y as a lot of the others, but I'd like to go to Southeast Asia, and with as much as the war there is linked up in American history, I think it would be fascinating. I'd want to see and eat in some of the villages, just to understand what that kind of life would be like.

5. Vancouver. I've never been to our neighbor to the North, and this city has the reputation of being a great place to visit.

6. Peru. I seem to be trying to check every continent off on this list (except for absolutely zero interest in Australia for some reason). Besides picking up South America, I believe there are week long hikes/camping trips that end at Machu Picchu, which is a place I've wanted to see for a long time.

7. The Badlands. Actually a place that is very doable, since I could reach it in a day by car. The landscape just sounds great, and I would love to do a bunch of hiking and camping there. A pilgrimage to Deadwood would also be required.

8. Leadville, CO. This trip would purely be to participate in the Leadville 100. I'm obviously super-far from being able to compete in that, but someday...

9. French countryside. Paris was amazing, and while I'd certainly love to go back, I picture being in a rustic town, enjoying raw milk cheese (I've been missing that badly lately) and good wine. I'd be required to have a croissant and coffee as well.

10. Buenos Aires. Sounds like an intersting city, with the heavy European influence. Although in my mind, I picture it mainly as the setting for a good spy thriller from the 60's, so I could be setting myself up for disappointment on this one.