I took some time to think about all the trips I've ever taken. I remembered a lot of small trips here and there that I haven't thought about in a long time! These are all the ones I could think of at the moment, but I'll add to it as I think of them.

Through high school:
Chicago, IL road trips
Disney World, FL in 3rd grade
Gymnastics camp in Tuscaloosa, AL
Camping with family in Gatlinburg, TN
Niagara Falls
Myrtle Beach, SC
Savannah, GA
Thanksgiving in high school in Baltimore, MD
Thanksgiving in high school in York, PA
Girl Scout trip to NYC
High school exchange to Wolfen, Germany
Germany trip—Berlin, Lutherstadt, Leipzig
Graduation trip to Germany
College orientation trip to NYC

College:
France for New Year’s
Paris, Versaille, and Mont St. Michel, France
Megabus trips to Philadelphia, PA
Megabus trips to Washington, DC
Las Vegas birthday trip
Hunting Island, SC for summer beach getaways

Post-college:
2 months in San Francisco
Grand Canyon volunteer trip
Hiking in upstate NY
The Berkshires, MA for summer work
Solo road trip from The Berkshires to SC
Providence, RI
Weekend in Santa Barbara
Road trip to Las Vegas, NV
NAB in Las Vegas
Missoula, MT film festival
Columbia, MO film festival
Marin, CA
Road trip up to Seattle, WA
Portland, OR filming
Camping in the Florida Keys (Bahia Honda Key)
New Orleans, LA
Long distance trips to Los Angeles, CA
Atlanta, GA
Boston, MA for Women in Travel Summit
Burning Man 2013, 2014, 2015
Reykjavik, Iceland for New Year’s Eve
Road trip around Iceland 2015
South America 2015: Rio, Paraty, and Foz do Iguaçu Brazil & Santiago and Valparaiso, Chile
Maegan’s birthday trip to Las Vegas

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I wanted to do a little solo brainstorming on a trip I'd taken over a year ago, just to see what might come up. I focused on my solo road trip from The Berkshires in Massachusetts to South Carolina. 

The main thing I realized, which I'd sort of forgotten, was that I did the entire road trip without a GPS unit. This was such an amazing experience. Even though the trip was nearly 5 years ago, GPS car units and cell phones were the norm, and at the time I didn't really go anywhere without GPS. I don't know why I felt so compelled to try it out, but I thought it would be a worthwhile experience.

A few of the not-so-great things...It required a lot more stopping to see where I was and where I was headed, and I hadn't factored in that extra time. This meant I was always feeling a little behind. I was driving through some of the beautiful New England area and wanting to pull over for pictures and to just take it all in, but I also wanted to try to get to my destination by a certain time. I also probably wasn't the safest driver in the world, and I can think of more than one time where I should have pulled over to look at the map but instead tried to balance it on my lap, looking down at it, then up at the road, swerving over those two yellow lines in front me. I am so lucky I didn't have an accident.

A few of the great things...I knew where I was, every step of the way. With GPS, I just turn my mind off to where I am. I don't know the names of streets, or sometimes even the towns I pass through. I'm just driving according to the nice woman's directions. But without a GPS I really felt like I was getting to know the roads and side streets, that I was having a much more personal experience with the land. It was incredibly rewarding. 

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Although I've done a bucket list before of locations and destinations I'd like to go to, I decided to create a bucket list of experiences I'd like to have. 

* See the Chernobyl disaster site in Ukraine
* Visit my (great-?) great-grandfather's homeland, Poland, and find any distant relatives
* Hike through the Grand Canyon
* Visit the pyramids of Egypt
* Float in the Dead Sea
* Eat pasta in a small rural town in Italy
* Ride in a gondola in Venice
* Experience the midnight sun in Iceland
* Eat falafel in Greece
* Camp in the Black Forest in Germany
* Tour St. Basil's Cathedral
* Experience a Christmas Market in Austria
* Travel internationally without any baggage at all (just my purse)
* Take a tour of Hobbiton
* Swim somewhere internationally where the water is clear
* Snorkel the Great Barrier Reef
* Visit family in Alaska
* SXSW in Austin, TX
* AfrikaBurn
* Cross the border of Mexico with a car
* Tour the salt flats in Bolivia

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I really enjoy photography, and whenever I travel I always like to find a good view. It'd be great to create posts that share some of the best and most-Instagram-worthy spots in certain destinations I've been. 

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I am a mini-expert on traveling off the beaten path. Some things I wrote down:

traveling like a local
Couchsurfing
slow travel
touristy
connecting through social media
unique
not in travel guides
taking public transit
avoiding hotels
exploring

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I travel because, honestly, sometimes I'm scared to fall into a routine. The idea of life being the same, day in and day out, frightens me, and I would much rather have memorable experiences all over the world than grow roots somewhere and regret it.

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