Another Trip in the Books

Plaka, Athens

It’s always strange for me to come back to New York after a stint abroad. I’m currently in my post-travel city funk. I have this love/hate relationship with this city, and whenever I tell those I meet during my travels where I’m from, I’m met with amazement and a cascade of inquiries and excitement. “What’s it like living in New York?” “I’d love to visit someday.” “You’re so lucky!” Sure, living in New York is great, but when I’m abroad I’m always reminded of what this city could do better. Maybe it’s the true New Yorker in me speaking when I say that because we’re always looking for the next best thing, but my number one lamentation about this city is that it’s difficult (but not impossible) to solidify personal relationships here. Enough about that–back to my travels.

I have a goal to visit at least one new country per year. Since 2010, I’ve successfully accomplished this endeavor. Here are my world travels thus far:

2006: Dominican Republic (High school spring break; Cities visited: Puerta Plata).

2008: Italy (Studied abroad through The University of Connecticut; Cities visited: Florence, Venice, Rome, Sienna, San Gimignano, Pisa).

2010: The Bahamas, Bermuda.

2011: Ireland (Dublin), France (Paris), Spain (Barcelona and Seville), Italy (Naples, Capri).

2012: England (London), Czech Republic (Prague), The Netherlands (Amsterdam), Brazil (São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro).

2013: Greece (Athens and Santorini), Croatia (Dubrovnik), Bosnia (Mostar), Montenegro (Kotor).

I just got back from Greece and Croatia, but my eternal compulsion to be a globetrotter can never be quelled. In Greece, I visited Athens and Santorini and in Croatia I stayed in Dubrovnik (with day trips to Bosnia and Montenegro). Each city deserves its own posting and in the upcoming days I will dedicate one post to each city I visited on this trip (and then I will start with back-posts for cities from previous trips).

Cheers,

Danielle