[Thanks to b. for the suggestion. B. is going to Hamburg tomorrow to work for a publisher for two months and to kill me with jealousy… But in case I don’t die, I’ll visit her in August. So, good things come from it anyway. ;)]

I’ve travelled a lot in my life and I’ve seen much and been to a lot of places but it’s never enough. Never. And now that the holidays are starting, it’s time to contemplate where I won’t be going this year again…

So, here’s my rundown of the places I still need to see.

[Note, I’m not including the USA or Canada because I’m pretty sure that I’m going to see them next year.]

10. New Zealand and Australia

I don’t think I know anyone who hasn’t been there or doesn’t want to go. My parents just made a trip there and it all looks wonderful. Seeing pictures from both these countries actually makes me consider spending more time in something that closely resembles nature, instead of cuddling up in my flat. Maybe I’ll even camp.

9. Iceland

I used to horseback ride Iceland Ponies. Therefore I read tons of stories about Iceland and Iceland Ponies and I always wanted to go there but I never made it. I don’t ride anymore, but the fascination remained.

8. Galápagos Islands

Well, first things first: Before I head to the Galápagos Islands I have to learn to Scuba Dive. And then I’m going to look at turtles and fish and reefs and stuff.

7. Sahara

I don’t remember anymore when I picked up a little bit of an obsession with deserts, but I know that the Sahara was the first one I found extremely fascinating. And I’d love to cross it one day.

6. -stan Countries (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Pakistan)

I think it’s absolutely fascinating that there are these huge countries not that far, actually, from Europe, (partly even in Europe) with an ancient interesting history, and we don’t know Jack Squat about them. In fact, if there wasn’t a war on in Afghanistan and Pakistan we’d probably wouldn’t even know they exist.
But these wars also mean that I’ll have to wait for quieter times to actually visit there. But there are enough -stan countries to keep me going for a while I guess. :)

5. Madagascar

Ha! This time I can pinpoint the moment when I started to become interested in Madagascar: Being bored during school, I leafed through the atlas we had to buy and discovered that the authors of it didn’t think it necessary to include a map of Madagascar in it. It was on the world map and part of it was on the page with Africa and that was it. There were like 500 maps of Europe in different forms, but none that had a close-up view of the whole of Madagascar.
As I was always one for the underdogs, I decided that I had to go to Madagascar to learn more about it. (Years later I took a seminar on “Language Policy of Madagascar” for pretty much that same reason.)

4. Baltic states (Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia)

Again, a major motivation for me to go there is my absolute lack of knowledge concerning these countries. This spring I almost booked a ten day bus trip through them, but in the end it turned out to be too expensive, unfortunately.

3. Kenya/Tanzania

My brother-by-choice is  tourguide for safaris in Keny and Tanzania. And everytime he talks about his trips I want to go there even more. Maybe one day I can book him for myself and take a three week safari through the national parks there, see me some lions, elephants, buffalos an much more… wouldn’t that be awesome? [Plus, I’ve only seen the airport in Nairobi and that’s kind of sad.

2. Cambodia

My sister and her husband did a one-year-long tour of the world and among other places they went to Cambodia. When they came back and showed their pictures, I fell in love with the ruins of Angkor. I thought they looked absolutely amazing and decided on the spot that I had to go there myself.

1. Mongolia

And another desert that fascinates me – the Gobi. And another travel goal that stems from my adolescent obsession with horses. There was this one book about a Mongolian kid and his (her?) horse and I loved it. I can’t remember anything about it now, but I still really want to see Mongolia.

And that’s my top 10, though it’s far from all the places I want to see. Where would you like to go?