Top 8 Travel List

When I talk with friends at home here, they feel like I have traveled everywhere. I am the first one to say that is not the truth. I find traveling to be comparable to Socrates quest for wisdom. Within that quest the first thing he realizes is the more he learns, the more he realizes he knows nothing. In the same way, the more I travel the more I realize I have been no where. Everyone else who I meet while traveling have seemed to travel everywhere I have traveled and a ton of other places as well.

I thought I would add a different post to my blog about what I want to do as opposed to what I have done. In some ways the following list will be unique, while in other ways it will be pretty cliche. A lot has been knocked off the list during my summer in Europe, like Prague, Rome and The Vatican, Paris, the Alps, but perhaps a lot of places have been added. This is due to people I have met and stories I have heard.

The list is in no order of importance, but I am sure you can probably learn a bit about me from the list and the reasons I have for wanting to go to different places.

Toronto

Toronto is a city I have been to several times, but have visited very few times. I have heard it described as an American city in Canada, mostly because of how big it is. I spent a couple hours close to downtown Toronto twice every holiday, on my way home from University and then on my way back to University. I have also spent time there for international job interviews as well as to get my Korean work visa a few years ago. Living in such a close proximity I have never really visited Toronto for the sake of visiting as I have for many of the other cities found within this blog.

The times you could consider that I have visited the city have been pretty one dimensional, to see a baseball game. Throughout my life I have done this several times in spite of not being a Toronto Blue Jays fan. Since I was in University I have ensured I went to The Rogers Centre every time my team (the Detroit Tigers) has played there (assuming I have been in the country, I have missed the last 3 summers). I also do not object to seeing any team play there as I am a huge baseball fan.

Stradbroke Island

While in Australia I had the chance to visit three islands, all during weekend vacations. I have already written about Fraser Island, even though it was the third island I visited. The very first was Stradbroke island, and I actually visited it twice. Both times were weekend camping ventures with people I was living with.

Canadian Winter

There are a lot of people who dislike winter. The biggest reason is the bitter cold. Contributing factors are the snow and the dangerous road conditions. All in all the winter is inconvenient because it takes more time to get routine things done.

For example, going to work takes a lot more work, right from the start. You have to factor in the additional seconds it may take to put on extra clothing to stay warm, the five to ten minutes it takes to warm the car up and scrape the ice off the windshield, and the time lost driving slower to work in order to arrive safe.

Board Game Cafe - Korea

This blog so far has featured or mentioned a couple different types of cafes. The first was while in Amsterdam. Cafe's there are places you can purchase alcohol. I also mentioned the coffee shops where it is legal to purchase cannabis. Another was the Dog Cafe in Seoul, Korea. I thought it would be nice to talk about board game cafe's which can also be found in Korea.

As the name suggests, this is a cafe where you can play board games. They have a wide selection of board games. You rent a board game and table, which is super cheap and then you have the option of purchasing snacks and refreshments while you play. It is a great opportunity to try out new board games, or even play old favourites. The first time I was there I played Settlers of Catan. It was a lot of fun. I have played it a few times since and still really enjoy it. I am disappointed there are none of these cafe's in Canada. I think they could be pretty successful.

I have also played monopoly at this place as well as a few others. One of the favourites seems to be Jenga. I think there have been people playing that every time I have went. They also have different things to make the games more interesting. For example, check out the video I took of what happens when someone loses in Jenga:

The Great Ocean Road

After the Grampians we headed towards the ocean. Along the ocean in the Australian state of Victoria, there is a highway called 'The Great Ocean Road.' It was built by soldiers when they returned from World War one, partly because they didn't have any other job for them to do. It now serves as the world's largest war memorial. There were several breath taking sites along the way.

Grampians

After Fraser island I once again took off on my own. I left a lot of my luggage with a former flatmate and flew to Adelaide, from there the plan was to see the Great Ocean Road. I once again purchased a trip through a travel agency and was on my way. The trip went from Adelaide in South Australia to Melbourne in Victoria, so I would add 2 more states to my Australian trip, which would make 4 altogether.