3 of 50 non-cliché places to visit

Another fun list out from Elite Daily:  50 non-cliche places to visit in your 20s.

I've been to 3 of the 50:

(2) New Orleans, Louisiana for a one night stint in a 3 week cross-country roadtrip with my friends Keith and Amber in 2009.  I think it would have been more fun if you were either with a huge group of rowdy people, or if you were interested in getting wasted and having a good time.  I liked the street performers and it seemed like there was music every block.  We walked past the House of Blues and tons of bars but it was actually much more low-key than I expected.  I remember wondering if the city was still recovering from Hurricane Katrina.  The architecture had an old riverboat-times style of the 20s.  You can tell its roots were wealthy and stylish.

(16) Christiania Denmark, either a small city within or just outside of Copenhagen, this is a little community most well-known for its order without government order...mostly meaning people smoke, buy, and sell weed and other merchandise without any outside regulation.  No photos are allowed (for obvious reasons) and I heard there are sometimes raids but that usually the people of the town are warned ahead of time.  It seemed like a happy and peaceful place.  Everyone minded their business or looked around at the shops or walked along the river or through the town.  There was a lot of artwork and some funky buildings.  I would suggest checking it out.

(40)  Plitvice (pronounced Plit-VEETcha) National Park, in Croatia, was one of the only things I really knew about the country before visiting in 2011.  It is far from most cities (which was great because a visit resulted in driving through most of the country to reach it and lead us to a crazy fun night in Zagreb, the capitol of Croatia).  It was definitely beautiful but VERY crowded.  I would suggest getting here either "off season" or early in the am.  I was there around 3-5 pm and it is in a bit of a valley so the really vibrant colors weren't QUITE as miraculous as you may have seen...don't get me wrong, it was still stunning!

Have you been to any of the places on the list?  

What do you think about them?  Any suggestions or thoughts?

Inexpensive Countries for Budget Travelers

Elite Daily came out with a list of inexpensive nations for travel.  On the list:  Bolivia, Thailand, Greece, Spain, Costa Rica, Vietnam, Romania, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Argentina.

I have heard this regarding Thailand, Bolivia and Vietnam.  I can't speak for them as I haven't been there...yet.

I lived and worked in Costa Rica and can tell you that most people might agree that it's fairly inexpensive to fly to (from the US, at least) but I think we'd argue the cost of an actual vacation there.  In fact, I often hear complaints about how expensive Costa Rica is compared to how inexpensive it's perceived to be.

I would add Peru to this list.  I found it to be a country that was much less expensive than Costa Rica with a great deal of options for travelers within the country.  I got a killer airfare mistake out of AeroMexico, so I'm sure the airfare would contribute to its being more expensive to visit, but two of us spent very little considering our 10 day trip and travel between multiple cities.

Any thoughts on the countries on the list or others you would add?

US Travel Destinations!

We are so often eager to travel away from home, that sometimes US citizens forget that far away from home can often be within our own country.  There are so many different ecosystems, geographic landmarks and destinations to be observed that it's worth taking a look at some of the top destinations that people visit the United States for...


of these, I've seen Niagara Falls, Yosemite National Park and Watkin's Glen State Park.

Sequoia National Park, Glacier National Park, and Haiku Stair are on my list!

How many have you been to?

What was your favorite?

What would you add to the list?