Pan-Asia

As the holidays grow near, anxiety has replaced just a tiny bit of my unbridled Peace Corps enthusiasm. Missing two Christmases with my family- known throughout the upper Midwest for its strict adherence to Holiday traditions- is sad for me. Among other things, I will dearly miss the Langland Family Trim-the-Tree party, a trip downtown Minneapolis for Holiday dining and a parade, and Christmas day with relatives in Chicagoland.

To curb the sense of loss, I’m choosing to spend my “free time” at Polypro (my heart’s just not in guar gum these days) not thinking about the holidays but instead pumping myself up for Thailand. I’m making a list of all the places in South and Southeast Asia I want to visit. I mean, I also day dream about all the development goals I will realize as a Community-Based Organizational Development worker, but when I really want to get stoked I think about travel.

At the risk of sounded jaded, “Ugh, I’ve already seen everything good in Thailand.” Kidding. Any more excitement about returning to Thailand would probably make my heart stop.  But still, most of the sites on my Asia hit-list are elsewhere on the continent. 

Unfortunately after taking a Quantitative Methods class, I can’t even muse over travel without organizing my thoughts in Excel. So I made a spreadsheet with my top ten travel destinations. Then I put them here. 

1. Cambodia.

            Angkor Wat. The world's largest religious structure? Meh, sounds alright.

2. Indonesia.

           Bali. A must if you like sunsets and long walks on the beach.

           Komodo Island. I want to feed the komodos a flamingo.

3. India.

          Delhi. My aunt is moving here. I suppose I should visit while I'm in the neighborhood.

          The Himalayas. So far the Andes are my favorite place on earth. These mountains could top

          them. Pun intended.   

          The Taj Mahal. A classic Bucket List destination.

4. Vietnam.

         Halong Bay. I realized I wanted go here when I read it will be on a new list of Seven Natural 

         Wonders.

5. Sri Lanka. Hella exotic.

6. China.

        Beijing. I want to go to there.

        The Great Wall. Come with me, and bring a large memory card for your camera.

7. Philippines.

        Puerto Princesa Cave. So many of the new Seven Wonders are in Asia!

8. The Maldives. See them before they're gone.

9. Laos. 

         Buddha Park. I went to the fake Buddha Park in Thailand it was spectacular. Can't wait to see

         the real deal.

10. Singapore. I will miss chewing gum but it'll be worth it.         

       

Fellow volunteers and potential visitors, sign up here on my 
spreadsheet if you want to visit these places with me ;)