I love going places.  I love feeling the energy in different cities, and the way the countryside feels different from an urban, or even suburban, environment.  I love the people, I love finding little shops and restaurants and avoiding chain and big box stores.  Considering I’m only 25, I feel I’ve been incredibly lucky in all the places I’ve had a chance to visit so far.  Exploring all of them (again) in words would probably take up an entire book I am not yet prepared to write, so instead I’m listing all the places I’ve been, and the top ten places I’d like to go next.

The National Library in Paris, France on a cold August day. The buildings are shaped like books, and there's a garden in the center. Photo (c) Kelly Lynn Thomas

Countries I’ve visited:

• The United States of America (1986)
• Canada (1990-something)
• New Zealand (2000)
• Australia (2000)
• Spain (2007)
• England (2007)
• Switzerland (2007)
• Italy (2007)
• Germany (2007)
• France (2007)
• Mexico (2009, 2010)

El Paseo de Santa Lucia in Monterrey, Mexico on a hot, sunny, September day. Photo (c) Kelly Lynn Thomas

Cities/places I’ve visited:

United States (in vague geographical/time visited order)

• Coatesville, Pa.
• Philadelphia, Pa.
• Pittsburgh, Pa.
• Lancaster, Pa.
• Reading, Pa.
• Pocono Mountains, Pa.
• Harrisburg, Pa.
• Gettysburg, Pa.
• Hawk Mountain, Pa.
• Bushkill Falls, Pa.
• Disney World/Orlando Studios, Fl.
• New York City, Ny.
• Buffalo, Ny.
• Outer Banks, Nc.
• Flemington, Nj.
• Avalon/Stone Harbor, Nj.
• Cape May, Nj.
• Fenwick Island, De.
• Dover, De.
• Baltimore, Md.
• Gaithersburg, Md.
• Washington, D.C.
• Crystal City, Va.
• Chicago, Il.
• Indianapolis, In.
• Akron, Oh.
• Sioux Falls, Sd.
• Rapid City, Sd.
• Deadwood, Sd.
• Mt. Rushmore/Crazy Horse, Sd.
• Mall of America, Mn.
• Yellowstone National Park, Mt.
• Jackson Hole, Wy.
• Los Angeles, Ca.
• San Francisco, Ca.
• Houston, Tx.

Canada

• Toronto, Ontario
• Niagara Falls, Ontario

New Zealand

• Auckland
• Rotorua
• Wellington

Australia

• Sydney and surrounding countryside
• Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort
• Places between Sydney and Tangalooma whose names I’ve long since forgotten

Spain

• Alcalá de Henares
• Madrid
• Segovia
• Toledo
• Siguenza
• Palazuelo
• San Lorenzo/El Escorial
• El Valle de Los Caídos
• Valencia
• Barcelona

The Rest of Europe

• London, England
• Bern, Switzerland
• Rome, Italy
• Munich, Germany
• Dachau, Germany
• Paris, France

Mexico

• Monterrey
• Las Grutas de García
• Cozumel

Me in front of the Sears Tower. I'm glad I got the chance to take this ultra-touristy photo before the name change. Also, I am pretty bad at posing for touristy photos. Photo (c) Kelly Lynn Thomas

Places I want to visit next:

• Japan (planned for March 2011, but canceled because of the March 11th earthquake and tsunami)
• Egypt
• South Africa
• The southern half of Spain (specifically Granada and Cordoba)
• Iceland (planned for April/May 2013!!)
• South America (anywhere will do)
• The Grand Canyon, Arizona
• The redwood forests and deserts in California where they filmed Star Wars (yes, I am that much of a geek)
• China
• India
• One of my lifetime goals is to visit all of my country’s National Parks.  So far I’ve only got three (Yellowstone, Mt. Rushmore, and the Badlands–more if you count some battlegrounds, but I’m not) on my list, but I’ll get to cross another one off this summer when my family visits Acadia National Park in Maine (June 2012).

Where have you been?  Where do you want to go?  Leave a comment!