A LATE SPRING

Will spring ever come? I'm sitting in my bed, eating yummy chocolate that my co-worker got for me one late night shift last weekend, listening to Helena by Foster the People and just staring out my window, wondering: Will spring ever come?

I really hope it starts next week because it would be lovely to have a mid-day picnic on Kampa island...and a perfect picture opportunity for you wanderlusters to see some of the hidden beauties in Prague.

My last few days have been filled with utter nothing because my friends are home for spring break or just simply busy so I have been going solo the past few days. I miss my friends and actually interacting with people...I feel somewhat of a grinch up in an isolated mountain.
Only a few more days though. I've been working on my book, which is the greatest fun for me but also very, very tedious. You start writing then read over what you wrote and decide to change it to something better, then the process starts over. This happens about 15 times, so now I am only on chapter 4 after about 2 weeks. I keep reminding myself that progress takes times.

Other than that, just me, some movies, bad Indian food that I ate last night and copious amounts of coffee and tea...oh, and work. Which I have in a few hours...can't I just not work and focus on writing a book and blog? I wish.

I know that I wrote about having a meeting with a travel editor, but it was rescheduled for next week due to my hearing issues so news on that will come shortly! I also want to start doing vlogs every once in awhile. I just need to find the time to do it! I'm hoping that by the end of this year, I will have started a vlog and have also broadened the horizons of Traveling with Wanderlust.

Lastly, I know travels have been dry but I promise, pinky promise, that once May comes, there will be plenty of good travel posts coming your way. From May-June, expect posts from: Switzerland, Budapest (Hungary), Paris (France), Amsterdam (Netherlands) and Barcelona (Spain). When I get back to the States in June, I plan to make some summer trips: Chicago, Canada, down South, Arizona and hopefully California- that all is still to be determined. When August comes around, my family will be coming to Prague for a few weeks so we will be traveling around the Czech Republic then for my birthday trip in following weeks we are looking at either going to Morocco or St. Petersburg.

Before moving to Uruguay in March 2014, I am really pushing to visit either Thailand, China or Japan. We shall see though and that my friends is the beauty of traveling- anything is subject to change, making the experience even more interesting.

Well, I'm off to start writing the New Zealand post now....so, travel on wanderlusters! I want to thank each and every one of you amazing readers, from all over the world for taking the time to read what I have to say and share. The readership numbers have skyrocketed in just one month and readership has expanded from just two main countries to so many different places, it's mind-boggling to think that someone in a far, far away country, big or small, is reading what I am writing. Amazing and thank you so much! It's appreciated to know that people like what I have to say and come back :)

100 MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACES IN THE WORLD

Tomorrow morning will be the New Zealand post, but until then, here's some fun stuff I am browsing through at my long evening at work. I have been oogling over the 100 Most Beautiful Places in the World, thanks to EscapeNormal, wishing I was somewhere else other than work. 

A girl can dream, right?

1. Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia
2. Angkor Wat, Cambodia
3. Cinque Terre, Rio Maggoire, Italy
4. Blue Lagoon, Iceland
5.Maldives
6. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA
7. Glass Beach, California, USA
8. Pamukkule, Turkey
9. Big Island, Hawaii, USA
10. St. Lucia
11. Santorini, Greece
12. Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany
13. Marble Caves, Chile
14. Chittorgarh Fort, India
15. Giethoorn, Holland
16. Crystal Cave, Iceland
17. Aogashima Volcano, Japan
18. Longji Rice Terrace, China
19. Amazon Rainforest, Brazil and South America
20. Venice, Italy
21. Petra, Jordan
22. Machu Picchu, Peru
23. Tuscany, Italy
24. Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico, USA
25. Shirakawa-go Village, Japan
26. Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
27. Himalayas, Nepal
28. Bali
29. Serengeti, Tanzania, Africa
30. Sahara Desert, Africa
31. Dubai, UAE
32. Ha Long Bay, Vietnam
33. Moeraki Boulders, New Zealand
34. The Great Wall of China, China
35. Antarctica
36. Lake Retba, Senegal
37. Morocco, Africa
38. The Fjords of Norway
39. Socotra, Republic of Yemen
40. Alaska, USA
41. Victoria, Australia
42. Fingal's Cave, Scotland
43.Giant's Causeway, Ireland
44. Lake Tahoe, California and Nevada, USA
45. Cappadocia, Turkey
46. Havasu Falls, Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA
47. Glow Worm Cave, New Zealand
48. The Australian Outback
49. Tikal, Guatemala
50. Antelope Canyon, Arizona, USA
51. Reed Flut Cave, China
52. Verdon Gorge, France
53. Bagan (or Pagan) Myanmar
54. Napa Valley, California
55. Zion National Park, Utah, USA
56. Swiss Alps, Switzerland
57. Lake Bled, Slovenia
58. Whitehaven Beach, Australia
59. Luxor, Egypt
60. Meteora, Greece
61. Bioluminescent Bay, Puerto Rico
62. Giant Crystal Cave, Mexico
63. Fairy Pools, Isle of Skye, Scotland
64. Beachy Head, England
65. Rotorua, New Zealand
66. Lencois Sand Dunes, Brazil
67. Rio de Janiero, Brazil
68. Spotted Lake, Canada
69. Iceland
70. Istanbul, Turkey
71. Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, USA
72. Inga Falls, Congo River, Africa
73. Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia
74. Torres del Paine, Chile
75. Bingalong Bay, Bay of Fires, Tasmania
76. Danxia Landforms, China
77. Death Valley, California, USA
78. Great Barrier Reef, Australia
79. Blue Grotto Cave, Capri, Italy
80. Huanglong, China
81. Positano, Almalfi Coast, Italy
82. Dead Sea, Israel and Jordan
83. Maui, Hawaii
84. Sanibel Island, Florida
85. Nootka Island, Vancouver Island, Canada
86. Fiji, Republic of Fiji
87. Kyoto, Japan
88. Brittany, France
89. Everglades National Park, Florida
90. Lapland, Finland
91. Flaming Crater, Derweze, Turkmenistan
92. River of Five Colors, Colombia
93. Moraine Lake, Baniff National Park, Canada
94. Seychelles
95. Multnomah, Oregon, USA
96.Madagascar
97. Bora Bora, French Polynesia
98. Lake Baikal, Russia
99. Rocky Mountains, Canada
100. Norway

Boooom, there you have it. I just spent a good chunk of time at working doing this, meaning I am closer to going home! I have a hot date with a piece of left-over fish from last night, Eurotrip (the movie), my laptop to work on the New Zealand and my mass amounts of pillows. It'll be great one...in case you are wondering.

Have any of you been to any of the listed 100? If so, how was it? What did you like and what did you not like?

Travel on wanderlusters!

ANCHORMAN

Well, I'm embarrassed, I made a little bit of an oopsie in the last post...oops. My mind was somewhere else! I won't point it out and it's been rightfully fixed.

I spent the better half of my night in the hospital. Reason? I lost partial hearing in my right ear last and today I completely lost it. I know why it happened but I won't go into that for everyone's sanity. As unpleasant as my experience was on that operating table, I can hear clearer now, the water and etc is gone...it's going to be a great, earful weekend. Corny, I know.

I was sitting in the waiting room with my friend joking about writing a post about things to do in a Czech emergency room while you wait and wait and wait. I swear, for producing some of the best doctors in the world, their 'customer service' aspect is quite horrible. Anyways, here is what we came up with:
1. Play flipcup with your cheap, hospital coffee cup
2. Fold up your waiting ticket in different animals and shapes
3. Make paper airplanes with your waiting ticket
4. Stare at your feet and make weird noises
5. Play with your fingers
6. Play telephone with your cheap, hospital coffee cup
7. Talk to yourself
8. Daydream
10. Stare at the walls so you look like a psychopath
11. Make random farting noises
12. Stare at something until your eyes burn
13. Walk up and down the aisles then do cartwheels
14. Crawl on the floor and pretend to be a toddler
15. Fall asleep with your neck in a weird position since the chairs are horrible
16. Sit in the bathroom and do nothing
17. Talk like Shakespeare...to yourself, or the wall...whichever you prefer
18. Just laugh and laugh till you get rock hard abs
19. Do squats or push-ups in an open area
20. Do nothing, nothing at all.

Once you do a majority of these, or maybe even all, you will be called and helped...or maybe you will just have to wait even longer. Who knows now-a-days!

Right now, I'm getting educated on the world of journalism and TV broadcasting from Anchorman, a classic that I have not yet seen. Tomorrow I will begin the New Zealand post and have it for you all!

My days of doing absolutely nothing and relaxing are no more, it's back to the hustle and grind of work tomorrow then the last few weeks of university. Plus, some meetings with a travel magazine (had to reschedule) and InStyle Magazine. Fun stuff!

Travel on wanderlusters!

P.S. For those you wanderlusters mainly concerned with safety when traveling (like myself in some cases) this article and map will help you out! http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/countries-safe-danger-travel-140344866.html --I was happy to see all the countries I have so far lived in to be considered the world's safest and the country I will soon be temporarily moving to (Uruguay) to be on the list, as well.

CONGO

Congo, or should I say, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Over the last century, Congo has been on what some could call a roller coaster, with different names and leaderships. If we jump to present day Democratic Republic of the Congo, a country of about 75.5 million, the capital is Kinshasa with French being the nationally spoken language. Some other languages spoken throughout the country are Lingala, Kikongo, Swahili and Tshiluba. 

Some of the country's main tourist attractions include:

1. Lake Tanganyika

2. Mount Nyiragongo

3. Virunga National Park

4. Lake Kivu

5. Garamba National Park

6. Okapi Wildlife Reserve

7. Salonga National Park

8. Idjwi (an island in Lake Kivu)

9. Kahuzi-Biéga National Park

10. Maiko National Park

11. Lukaya River

12. Zongo Falls

13. Lola ya Bonobo

14. Ma Vallee

15. Musee National de Kinshasa (the National Museum of Kinshasa)

16. Mercato delle Stoffee Africane

17. Congoloisirs

Now, according to Lonely Planet, three things they list you absolutely must do when visiting this country is: 

1. Visit the Kinkole Fish Market- you can be paddled down the Congo River.

2. Chutes de Lukia- natural lakes to swim in and a chimp orphanage.

3. Kisanto Botanical Gardens- trees that are over 100 years old and rivers you can swim in.

When it comes to accommodation you can stay in a regular old hotel or you can try a B&B. Some of the best hotels in this country include: Hotel Royal, Grand Karavia Hotel and Fleuve Congo Hotel. For the B&Bs, try: Bougain Villa, Le Voyageur or Havre de Paix. For the travel foodies out there: Limoncello, Le Cafe Conc, Chez Gaby, Al'Dar, Patisserie Nouvelle (for the Europeans out there), Chez Maman Colonel, Le Palais Restaurant and O'Poeta all have high reviews from tourists. Just so you know, all of these are in the country's capital. Back to the food, the main dishes in Congo generally consist of fish from the rivers, fish, plantains, chicken in peanut sauce, a variety of vegetables and goat meat. 

I didn't want to get into the depressing stuff regarding that country because hey, who wants to read (or write) about such devastating things? Not me and I would hope not you! That stuff is for the news, this is for the fun and interesting stuff! In a few years once things have settled down a little bit there, I would love to visit the country and especially the more rural areas, i.g., the villages and mountains. 

Tomorrow's post will be on the beautiful New Zealand!

P.S. Some friends and I are looking into visiting St. Petersburg, Russia for our fall break this year! Have any of you wanderlusters been? What do you recommend doing there?

Travel on wanderlusters and have a wonderful Wednesday!

2013 TRAVEL DESTINATIONS

According to the Travel section of the NY Times, there are 46 places wanderlusters HAVE to go in 2013. It's cool because I have been to some of these places or will be going there sometime this year. Some places I plan to go when I move to South America in a year.

Get your suitcases packed and plane tickets printed: 
1. Rio de Janiero, Brazil (next year)
2. Marseille 
3. Nicaragua (next year)
4. Accra, Ghana 
5. Bhutan
6. Amsterdam, Netherlands (in two months!)
7. Houston, Texas (this summer!)
8. Rossland, British Columbia
9. New Delhi, India (maybe this winter)
10. Istanbul, Turkey (maybe this fall)
11. Singapore
12. Montenegro
13. White Salmon River, Washington (been there!)
14. Hvar, Croatia (been there!)
15. Mongolia
16. The Big Island, Hawaii (maybe next spring)
17. Philippines (very soon, I have family there)
18. Vernazza, Italy
19. The Kimberley, Australia (when I move there in 2015)
20. Ningxia, China
21. The Adirondacks, New York
22. Oslo, Norway (very soon)
23. Constantia, South Africa (I want to!)
24. Lithuania
25. Burgos, Spain
26. Lens, France
27. Changbaishan, China
28. Porto, Portugal (maybe in the summer)
29. Puerto Rico
30. Koh Phangan, Thailand
31. Kalpitiya, Sri Lanka
32. Jackson Hole, Wyoming (maybe in the summer)
33. Bangkok, Thailand (sometime this year!)
34. The Jeseniky, Czech Republic (been there!)
35. Waiheke, New Zealand
36. Yucatan, Mexico (been there!)
37. Charlevoix, Quebec
38. Pecs, Hungary
39. Republic of Congo (the post for later today!)
40. Ireland (been there! maybe going back this year)
41. Getaria, Spain
42. Mergui Islands, Myanmar
43. The Falkland Islands
44. Washington D.C. (been there...way too many times ;) )
45. Casablanca, Morocco (hopefully for my birthday week this year!)
46. Paris, France (been there! going back in June)

Where are you going this year? Where do you want to go this year? I'm just itching to book plane tickets...

Travel on wanderlusters and keep an eye out for the Congo post later today!

ARGENTINA

Argeeeeentinaaaaa, the land of beautiful mountains, nature, steak, leather, tango dancing and well, just about everything great! This South American country's capital is Buenos Aires...wow, I sound like I'm trying to sell you guys Argentina, sorry! Too much excitement for this place. Patagonia is one of my favorite backgrounds on my computer, so to be doing a post on the country Patagonia is shared with (it is also shared with Chile), is exciting! 

Anywho, Spanish is the main spoken language (obviously) and there are almost 41 million people living in this country. With Argentina being at the very end of South America, it neighbours with Chile, Antarctica, Uruguay (where I will be living in a year from now) and Paraguay. 

1. Buenos Aires
2. El Calafate & The Perito Moreno Glacier
3. Iguazu Falls (one of the new Seven Natural Wonders of the World)
4. Valdez Peninsula
5. Bariloche & The Seven Lakes Region
6. Quebrada de Humahuaca
7. Valle de la Luna & Talampaya
8. El Chaltén
9. Ushuaia & Beagle Canal
10. Antarctica

According to www.argentinastravel.com, these are the top 10 places to go when visiting Argentina. Buenos Aires is considered to be one of the world's largest cities and South America deems Argentina to have the best quality of life. Hmmm, sounds like a pretty good deal to me, it's kind of hard not to think that instantly when you see those awesome photos. Buenos Aires boasts European styled architecture, fantastic culture and a mass amount of theatres. Vivaa la noche, viva la vida loca en Buenos Aires!

The website TimeOut.com helped with me with the top 20 things to do when in Buenos Aires, I cringed a little at number 2 on the list though:  
1. Become a Boca fan
2. Eat intestines and even more glands
3. Frolic in a love hotel
4. Tour the eye of the Tigre 
5. Witness the social coming of Christ
6. Get lost among the dead
7. Dine in style
8. Mind your toes at a milonga
9. Snack on coffee and medialuna
10. Drink until the early hours (but that's everywhere else in the world too...)
11. Have a picnic and go bird watching
12. Visit Malba: Colección Costantini
13. D is for dulce de leche (YUMMM)
14. Pay homage to Evita
15. Go relic hunting in San Telmo (I do this in Sims 3 World Adventures...I'm guilty, I'm guilty, ok?)
16. Pick up classic souvenirs
17. See a polo match in Palermo (Olivia Palermo is my favorite style icon! No connection, I know)
18. TANGO
19. Groove to South America's best DJs
20. Turn fashion conscious at Palermo Viejo (hmm, maybe this is where Olivia Palermo really got it from...)

Now, let's talk about Patagonia...yay! This place is beyond beautiful, at least from the pictures I have seen because I have not been there yet. I am hoping though that in the next year I can say I have visited. Skiing, trekking, glacier trekking, fishing and whale watching are just some of the activities to do there...sounds like the perfect combination!

Now, I'm not necessarily a big fan of snow and cold but I would conquer the coldness to do these things in Patagonia. I'll definitely be putting on my big girl pants on when the time comes to visit Patagonia.

Patagonia and Buenos Aires are considered to be the most expensive part of Argentina, but you could most definitely find cheap accommodation throughout Buenos Aires and near Patagonia. If you know the travel guides/books and website Lonely Planet, you already know the excellent travel advice they give. I got some fantastic information from their Argentina page, including an upcoming festival in May: Día de Virgen de Luján on May 8th- a day where believers set foot on a 65 km pilgrimage to Luján to honor the Virgin Mary. Are any of you wanderlusters going to this festival or have ever taken part in this festival? The best time to visit is in their spring months, which is September to November, Buenos Aires that is. The best time to visit Patagonia for the non-cold lovers, like myself, is during their summer months, December through February. Sheesh, if only they knew what December-April was like in Eastern Europe!

Have yourself a lovely Easter Monday (for those who celebrate) or otherwise a lovely start of the week and of course, travel on wanderlusters!

The next post will be on: Democratic Republic of the Congo in Western Africa.

P.S. I came across this today, pretty interesting/cool. Who would've thunk it?! http://www.cracktwo.com/2011/04/25-abandoned-soviet-monuments-that-look.html

A DAY OFF

FINALLY!! I get to enjoy a full day off with no school, no plans, no work, no NOTHING. I spent a better half of my day sleeping, watching the new Game of Thrones, writing fashion articles for my internship, editing photos organizing a few things for interviews with InStyle and Cosmopolitan CZ and the travel magazine meeting on Wednesday evening.

I found these articles in the last few days and thought they were pretty interesting...for the first article, people who read it will call the guy different things: a freeloader  a homeless guy, an awesome guy or an inspiration. Whenever I read articles like this, I think it's pretty amazing that people can actually do this sort of thing and survive without any major issues (hunger, sickness, etc.) Pretty cool, pretty cool. Then again, that's just my opinion. For the second article, I was so happy to read it since I am a coffee addict and drink anywhere from 2 to 6 cups a day.

1. http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/russian-artist-sergey-balovin-and-the-in-kind-exchange-project--how-he-lives-without-money-202940946.html


2. http://healthland.time.com/2012/05/17/coffee-drink-more-live-longer/?iid=hl-main-feature

The rest of this lovely day...well, not in terms of the weather because it has been snowing then sunny on and off all day today...I will be finishing up the Argentina post, starting the next country's post, writing my book and just relaxing with my coconut water. Bliss.

Travel on wanderlusters!

P.S. here are some beautiful pictures I took a few weeks ago when we had a great sunset in Prague!

P.S. Traveling with Wanderlust is on Instagram if you didn't already know...traveling_with_wanderlust