Travel Wishlist:

Everyone has that one place they always dream of visiting. I was bit with the travel bug when I was young (I think it started with our moves across the country). I have a never ending list of places that I would like to visit. The following is my never-ending, always adding destinations I would like to visit and experience I would like do:

North America:

- Take a Civil War Road Trip
- Visit British Colombia
- Visit all the Florida State Parks
- Visit Colonial Williamsburg
- Visit Asheville, NC
- Take a railroad trip throughout Canada
- Take a cross country train ride with Amtrak
- Hike in Oregon
- Visit all 50 states



- Stand with the Redwoods
- Gaze into the Grand Canyon
- Go to Yosemite!!
- Visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
- Visit the haunted Alcatraz
- Banff National Park
- Niagara Falls
- Yellowstone Park
- The Fingers Lake, NY
-  Visit Wrigley Field  (July 2015)
- Visit Boston
- Fenway Park

South America:

- Visit Machu Picchu  (September 2015)
- Take a Amazon River Cruise
- Iguazu Falls
- Patagonia
- Costa Rica
- Canopy Tour in Costa Rica

Europe:

- Visit Scotland (Isle of Sky, Edinburgh, the whole country)
- Stonehenge
- Road trip across England
- See the Black Sea
- Count Dracula's Castle
- Petra, Jordan
- Visit Norway
-Visit Ireland
- Visit Romania
-Chase and see the Northern Lights



- Visit Iceland

Middle East:

- Petra

Artic:

- Visit the Falkland Islands
- See Polar Bears in their natural habitat

 

Asia:

- Shicheng, China
- Visit a Temple
- Great Wall of China
- Samurai Culture in Japan
- Kyoto Japan
- Mount Fuji

Africa:

- Visit Kuger National Park
-  Go on a safari
- Go on a night safari
- Visit Victoria Falls
-  Ride Camels in the Sahara Desert

Personal:

- Go to as many UNESCO World Heritage Sites as possible (3)
- See Moose in their natural habitat




- Get my scuba diving license
- Cage diving with sharks
- Ride in a Helicopter
- Ride in a hot air balloon
- Step foot on all 7 continents (3/7)
- Whale Watching
- Try a food native to every country I visit
- Swim with Dolphins (2013)
- Snorkel with Manatees
- Volunteer at an Elephant Sanctuary

September's Destination . . .

It was the morning of March 4, 2015. My brother came into my work and told me that he and his fiancée had decided against going to Dominican Republic for their next trip. I was vaguely interested in this until his next sentence. We decided on Machu Picchu instead. I may have whipped my head around so fast that it caused whiplash. See, Machu Picchu is on my Ultimate Travel Bucket List and I've always wanted to go there. I mean it's Machu Picchu. How could you not want to go to this beautiful New World Wonder?

Can you really resist this view?

I think he was purposely building up the suspense to see my reaction. It's no secret how much I've wanted to go there. They invited me along to go with them!! The trip was booked by 4pm that afternoon. Woot Woot! This will be my first trip to South America, a whole new continent! I'm so excited. We booked this trip on Groupon through Gate 1. I had researched Gate 1 several months ago when I was putting my feelers out for planning a trip to Machu Picchu. I'm a pretty independent traveler, so I prefer not to travel with a travel groups. I feel like I can see and do more on my own, I can spend as much time as I want at a destination, and I have the flexibility to change my itinerary. Those options aren't necessarily available to you through a tour group, but I'm willing to give it a try.

It's a five day trip with airfare, hotels and most meals are included. This trip cost me right around $1000 with the additional tours we chose to add on. We will spend a full day at Machu Picchu. We chose to visit several of the markets and we chose to do a Peruvian cooking class with the foods we purchase at the markets. We also chose to eat dinner in a Peruvian home, visit some ancient sites.

Peru looks like a beautiful and diverse country. I really can't wait, and there is so much more to this country than just Machu Picchu. Unfortantely, we won't have time to visit more of the country. However, I plan to keep Peru on my list and one day visit the rest of the country.

Blarney Vale Bed and Breakfast

I have fallen in love with bed and breakfasts since my Europe trip. They are my now preferred choice of accommodation. Blarney Castle was on our list of attractions (and bucket lists) while we were in Ireland. We decided to stay a couple nights in Blarney and use it as a home base. We chose Blarney Vale as our b&b for that leg of the trip. It is an adorable b&b set atop a hill on the edge of town.

This was one of my favorite bed and breakfasts. Anne was so incredibly nice and welcoming. She is a wealth of information and can give you pointers in any direction. We left our luggage and went straight to Blarney Castle. Blarney Vale is about a 5 minute walk into the center of Blarney Village and Blarney Castle. You are offered coffee and tea on arrival! She recommended dinner options in town for us. The next morning she was kind enough to ask us of plans for the day. She then sat down and gave us directions, advise on where to go and what to do!

I was extremely surprised with the size of our room. It was by far the largest of our stay. We had a full and twin bed, and a ensuite bathroom. For those that are concerned there was a lock on our bedroom door, giving you some piece of mind.

Blarneyvale.com

This b&b offers free wifi, and it works! There a dining room for the guests and a guest lounge. Blarney has a private car park to park your car. This was a huge bonus for us! You do need to notify the hosts of this ahead of time.

All in all we highly recommend staying at this bed and breakfast if you are in the area. It was centrally located with friendly and fantastic hosts!

Welcome to Social Media . . .

Expedition: Wanderlust has made it's debut on Social Media!!! We now have a Facebook page and our own Pinterest!

                     



Please visit and like our facebook page if you would like to follow our travels and receive travel tips! Our Pinterest page is everything travel related, gifts, tips and inspiration!

Here is the link to our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/expedwanderlust?ref=hl
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