Tuesday, 25 October 2005

Astryngia's meme

I have been tagged by Astryngia with a delightful travel meme.

These are the parts of the world I have travelled to:


Create your own visited country map


I've travelled : across the world before the age of five. Living in England; Singapore and Australia (Adelaide, Canberra, Sydney and Perth). I travelled back to England on my own at the age of 12 and stopped off in Bahrain. They let me walk around on my own and unsupervised so I have included Bahrain even if it was only a stop over. I've travelled many times to Germany getting the boat train from Victoria Station in London. That has taken me through France, Belgium and Holland depending on which route I went. And if you include the wrong train I once caught, nearly took me to Austria. Another wrong train took us (me and the kids) on a scenic tour of the Rhine but finished me off financially with all the ticket surcharges for the privilege of a mistake.

Greece was for work. Sitting up on the Acropolis is beyond compare. Also Sicily and Spain and Ibiza. France and Brittany several times, twice for work. Scotland when I was 16 and my first taste of freedom as I hitch-hiked around and then again years later with my little daughter and son brewing in my tum. Ireland fairly recently for a wedding. Wales several times.

Did I mention Morocco? I had always wanted to go to the continent of Africa and as the plane landed I could have kissed the ground. That was so special.

As single parent I bust a gut and earned the money and with my connections took the kids to St Lucia in the Caribbean. (As a child I stood on the shores of Western Australia and looked out to sea and imagined the tropical Caribbean somewhere in that direction and yearned to go.) Wonderful place and wonderful holiday with a friend who lived as a local. Very different to the usual tourist trip.

And then there is my beloved States. I've been three times. The first as a work trip (I've must have had some great jobs!) I went to New York and Boston. It was January and snow was about. It was magical. The second time with my husband to be and we saw New England in the Fall. The last time was with the kids and we did a big tour of the South West and then to Boston and Worcester and Connecticut and New York.

I think I've been to more places and will probably remember them another time. I love travelling with a passion.

I speak : English too fast. So fast that I sometimes get my words jumbled up and they come out wrong and I make up new words on the hoof. Do you think I'd stand a chance of speaking any other languages?! Actually, I've dabbled in German and French and once tried to teach myself Arabic.

If I had to emigrate : I'd go somewhere warmish but not too hot. Sometimes I'd like to live in the US and sometimes in Spain. Once upon a time I wanted to live in Germany to learn the language but it is no longer a desire so I suppose I won't.

Before I die, I want to visit : many more places in this world. One visit is never enough and never long enough. But if I had to choose, these are on my list: Egypt; Japan; Siberia; Iceland to see the Northern Lights.

Thank you Astryngia for a lovely journey :-)

I tag anyone reading this to make their own world map and tell of their travels. Where would you emigrate if you had to leave your country of residence and what languages can you speak or did you learn at school? Where do you most want to visit before you die? :-)

Let me know if you do it and I'll pop a link to you here.

Thanks to SydneyB who has shared her journey!


Original Comments:

doris said...
And our honeymoon was in Paris .... some months after the wedding so that we could see the total eclipse of the sun - that was my second total eclipse experience. The kids came with us and we took them to Disneyland Paris. I hate Disneyland and advise anyone else not to take your kids on honeymoon 'cos it ain't a honeymoon!
Tuesday, October 25, 2005 4:27:00 PM
Cheryl said...
Day trip to Bologne and a weekend in Paris - thats me lot so far!

I have heard Disneyland Paris isnt worth it - lots of queues or hanging around for parades, outdoors, in typical English weather (aka gales, at this time of year?)
Tuesday, October 25, 2005 5:41:00 PM
Milt Bogs said...
Doris you are truly a much travelled woman. I have to say that your word verification code is the longest I've ever seen!
Wednesday, October 26, 2005 12:43:00 AM
Jo said...
Nice post Doris...! Like the magpie that I am I rushed to get my own map - did it and it ate my blog. Well, it shoved all my spacing all over the place so I had to take it off again :-(

Before I did that though it told me that I'd been to 10% of the world's countries. They're uncannily like yours - with a few differences here and there. Australia was marvellous, though I didn't see enough...the US was great too - one trip was a dream job, working in New York, Boston, Chicago and LA (and I managed to get to San Francisco too which I adored and has my vote as the greatest American city) :-)

But sooo much more to see!

Agree with you about Disneyland Paris...though the slightly more 'educational' park (not the cheesy Snow White rides etc) was a bit better I thought? Still, the kids loved it.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005 10:52:00 AM
Wulfweard the White said...
Have you got places in Sussex I've visited LOL
Wednesday, October 26, 2005 11:34:00 AM
Sarah said...
It made me giggle when I read that you speak English too fast, I have the same problem! :-)

Another interesting subject!

According to the map I've been to 2% of the world, not enough in my opinion but I look forward to travelling more in the future. (The places I have been are listed on my blog already)My top two places to go would be Koh Sumui in Thailand(and stay in a grand villa in the Tongsai Bay) and New York (always been a city girl at heart) but there are loads of other dream destinations I would love to go.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005 11:53:00 AM
doris said...
Cheryl We went in August and it rained but I have to say it was brilliant that it rained because it meant less queuing. Or at least, less than it might have been. I think the kids managed 4 rides each for the entire day!

I tell you what was the worst - the awful canned music. All minor disney tunes like a nightmare going round and round. I was ready to murder by the time we left.... not good for a supposedly fun children's area.

Milt We like to keep you on your toes ;-)

Jo That map thing only works (and badly at that) if you have the menu bar down the left. Ah, so you have had those great jobs too! I've not been to LA but an American guy I knew for a while assured me that LA was my kind of city!

Wulfweard I reckon you could still answer the questions (without the map!) pointing out the wonderful places in Sussex decribing what delights that keep you there!

Sarah I must have had my eyes closed as it didn't tell me what percentage of the world I have visited :-( From your latest photos it looks like you are living in a dream destination already!
Wednesday, October 26, 2005 2:10:00 PM
jane said...
My goodness, you've been to more states than I have. How wonderful that you've travelled to so many places. I'd like to visit Ireland, Scotland & England. They all seem so enchanting.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005 8:55:00 PM
Minerva said...
DORIS...
You have been to Sabah.... What were you doing there? I grew up there...

Minerva
Wednesday, October 26, 2005 11:27:00 PM
Astryngia said...
Thanks for YOUR lovely journey! :-)
Wednesday, October 26, 2005 11:27:00 PM
doris said...
Minerva Ahh, the limitations of this map thingy.... I clicked on Malaysia for Malacca as we used to go to the beach there (Malacca is 'round the corner' from Singapore) .... and it has lit up the other part of Malaysia on Indonesia and therefore I suppose the Sabah region.

I've just seen some online photos from Sabah and it looks beautiful. Why don't you blog about some of the wonderful places you have seen or lived?

Astryngia The pleasure is all mine :-)
Thursday, October 27, 2005 9:35:00 AM
Le laquet said...
Excellent meme/post! Morrocco - would love to go, i'd like to have that "cazbah thing" going on!
Sunday, October 30, 2005 1:47:00 PM
SydneyB said...
Hi Doris,
Please visit my blog. I have my map there with my travel story as well. Enjoy and thanks.

http://ablogfromthesouth.typepad.com/
Wednesday, November 02, 2005 5:44:00 PM

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