MY TRAVEL BUCKET LIST

Wanderlust: (noun) // a strong desire to travel.

I know normal isn't actually a thing and all, but are you even normal if you don't want to travel? See the world? Experience an entirely new country? City? HOW could you possibly pass up the opportunity to do that?

I strongly believe that the best education comes out of traveling. It changes our perspective on life and the experience on its own could be a ground breaking moment in someones life. You learn of different cultures, see how others live and learn their values, eat foods you would have never thought of trying before. It's all part of the experience. The unknown is something that all of us, whether we want to admit it or not, want to take a peak at. It spikes our attention its something that can't be helped. All it takes is one little moment in time for everything in your life to change.

If I could, I'd go just about anywhere. Road trip across the U.S.? Count me in! Spontaneous trip to Canada? Sign me the fuck up! Europe? I am passport ready y'all. But let me check my bank account first and then I'll get back to you.

In light of me going away in a couple of days, I’ve decided to share my top 5 destinations from my travel bucket list.

UNITED KINGDOM

For as long as I could remember, I have always wanted to fly out to the U.K. It was the first place that whenever anyone would ask, I'd say I want to travel to. My boss is thoroughly convinced that I might just "conveniently" lose my passport whenever I'm there and extend my stay. Just about anyone who knows me, knows how big a trip to the U.K. would be for me.

Seriously, the tears would not stop. I'd cry when I buy my ticket, on my way to the airport, on the plane, when I land, and when I finally step out into the air of the beautiful country I have always imagined stepping foot in. Although I'm okay with going for just a couple of days and staying in London, I'd still want to go back for a longer period of time and go to Brighton, Manchester, Edinburgh in Scotland, Liverpool, and honestly, wherever the wind takes me.

AUSTRALIA

True story: My friend travelled out to Australia for four months and I created an entire itinerary for her. I spent days and hours hunting down neighborhoods, restaurants, music shops, events, and so much more, aside from the touristy stuff, for her to see and enjoy.

I even helped with currency conversion, which let me tell you, Australia is NOT cheap. *Inserts sweating emoji*

For a couple years now, Australia has been one of my top destinations and I really do hope that one day I get to experience what it is go there. Give me the jet-lag and the endless hours of traveling, I'll do it. I will happily fling myself into the beautiful blue water that surrounds them. I'm not sure when this trip will be possible, but I pray that I can go before I am no longer a living being.

CANADA

Oh, Canada. A 6-8 hour drive, a hour and a half plane ride, and god knows how many dollar bills away. At least to Toronto. I have watched so many videos, seen so many pictures, and heard entirely too many people talk about Canada. Doesn't matter where they go - Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, etc., they love it all.

Canada just looks like such a stunning place to be and I want to be able to take that all in. I'd love to go and just learn about the countries history and see the incredible architecture. I've also heard that Canadians are extremely nice and honestly, I'm curious to know how true this actually is.

Fun fact: I learned the Canadian national anthem before I learned the words to the American national anthem.

ITALY

Something people may not know is that, according to the elders in my familia, my ancestors came from Italy. Specifically, Palermo, a city out in Sicily. I want to go to the place that my family came from and experience the culture for myself. Now, it is important to know that I grew up in an extremely Hispanic household, so the only Italian background knowledge I learned was that we eat a lot and the food is to die for. Aside from that, I got the Americanized Hispanic experience.

In simple words, I just want to go and see where my ancestors are from and see what was left behind and how it has changed. I want to learn more about Italian culture and the history of the country's development, and of course, the most obvious one of them all, I want to devour every plate of food I get.

GERMANY

It's weird, but quite a bit of people have told me not to go. They never give me a good enough reason not to, but it is intriguing that I keep getting the same response. I guess cause it's not as "aesthetic" as all the other places might be, although I don't believe that to be true, I'm more than positive that Germany is a beautiful country and has a lot of beautiful sites to offer. However, I want to go mostly for Germany's history. Of course, we know that Germany does not have the most liked stories of history, but the country is a HUGE part of that history and I want to see it all with my own two eyeballs.

There are other countries I want to go to like New Zealand or the Philippines or Japan or even France, but Germany has been on the back of my mind for an extremely long time now. To me, it'd be solely for educational purposes, but if I were to trade my fifth place on my top 5 travel bucket list for any other country, it would probably be France, just because of the beautiful sites and the art.

WHY SHOULD WE TRAVEL?

I think traveling really does have a lot to offer us. Sure jet-lag might suck, but that will go away and every penny you spent would be worth it. Always make sure you're going with a group of people who share the same interests as you and want to make each day that they're there like it's their last. At the end of the day, regardless of the actual purpose of the trip, you're there for a good time. Soak it all in and enjoy it!