Mark Twain once said, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” I aspire to travel the world one day. To emerge myself in different cultures and experience people off all ethnicities and beliefs. My dream job is a UN Refugee worker. With that job I wouldn’t be going to glamorous islands and flying away in private jets. I would be going to war torn countries and places forgotten by people in day to day life, but it must be noted that these places are forgotten and have a lot of conflict in them but not any less beautiful. But anyhow back to my ultimate trip itinerary.

The first place that I would want to go would be Costa Rica. I would take a canopy rainforest tour. After that I would take a day to explore on ATV. I would also want a chance to explore the hot springs and volcanoes. I volunteer for Habitat for Humanity and they have a chapter in Costa Rica that I would love to volunteer for.

Ecuador would be the second place that I go. The people of Ecuador have such a rich culture, and it is just a beautiful place to be. I would want to explore the Inca Ruins of Ingapirca. After that I would be off to Quito where I would want to see the Ecuadorian Folkloric Ballet, and also the middle of the world monument. I volunteer with a group called Water Mission International. They go to underdeveloped countries and give safe drinking water. They’ve been to Ecuador once before but this time I would want to go to install a water treatment system and be there to help leaders of the community know how to use it.

Next I would fly over to Brazil. I would be there just in time to go to Carnival! I would want to celebrate Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. It’s such an amazingly cool tradition and would be awesome to be a part of that. To see all the costumes and the music and just to be immersed in that culture would be a once in a lifetime thing. While I am in Brazil I would want to volunteer for Projeto TAMAR. They are an organization to protect sea turtles on the coast.

Morocco would be my next location of choice. I would first travel around Tangier, so many artists found inspiration here (Rolling Stones, Paul Bowles) so maybe when I go I will write a great book, make a great work of art, or write a song that’ll change the world. While in Morocco I would of course have to go on a camel ride and go white water rafting.

I would travel by train (which will take a long while) to Egypt. The first thing that I would want to do in Egypt would be to go sand boarding. After that I would go on a Nile Cruise for five days. I would be completely idiotic if I didn’t see the pyramids while I was there. An organization I would love to just observe and/or volunteer for would be the Maadi Community School. It seems like a really unique organization.

The next place on my list would be Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The reason that I would want to go to Mostar is because of the famous Old Mostar Bridge. It was designed by an Ottoman architect. Stood for 429 years without falling but after the conflict between Bosnia and Herzegovina it was destroyed. On July 23, 2004 the bridge was reopened. It is absolutely stunning and would love to see it in person. After Mostar I would want to take a short trip to Hutovo to see the ruins of Hadzibegova Kula Fortress. It was an old fortress that defended the Ottomans from the Venetians.

My final location would be Thailand. I would visit the Wat Pho. The oldest and largest temple in Bangkok. Next I would want to see the Vimanmek Palace. Sea canoeing would also be on my list of things to do. I would want to volunteer for Amnesty International and a lot of other organizations in Thailand. (There are a lot.)

Then I would unfortunately have to come home, but I would have a whole lot of stories to tell and I would have had a lot of adventures. This would be the trip of a lifetime