It seems Argentina has a twist on everything interesting in this world! So this is a dream vacation that would create the Joy we talk about in our theme (back to Bob Ross) because it will last at least six weeks, something I have never indulged in before. Can you imagine being gone from your reality that long? For this WritingAssignment1716, I need to tell you why I picked Argentina, and who and what I’d bring with me to make this an ideal vacation. So, last things first. Ideally, I’d be travelling with my longtime friend Tricia, because we are true travel buddies. She’s the driver and I’m the navigator. She’s fearless, can drive a stick or an automatic, 2WD, 4WD AWD, as long as it has wheels!, and has been on some of the “ruff”est roads imaginable through Spain, and then a complete white-out in the Cloud Forest of Costa Rica for over three hours. For me, I too, am a fearless navigator and can get us anywhere with a hard copy map (Waze and Google Maps still don’t work when there are no cell towers…), even if I can’t read a word on a road sign. I might, on a rare occasion, get us temporarily “sideways” but never for long. What we both do so well is laugh and have patience with each other, and we love going off the beaten path to find adventures.

Argentina for a Dream Vacation?? Of course! You have the Argentine Tango in Buenos Aires; horses and gauchos on estancias; and Malbec at the vineyards in the Mendoza region surrounded by the Aconcagua Mountain!

The city of Buenos Aires is filled at night with the music that accompanies the awesome dance, the Argentine Tango. It’s one of the most difficult dances to learn and perfect, yet, when done well, it connects two people with intimate, sensual tension. The music is exciting, and everything about the Tango exudes passion and entertainment. We would take some time out while sightseeing in and around Buenos Aires to learn the tango. There are a lot of museums, great restaurants, and loads of great European, modern and Art Deco architecture to check out. I can imagine also taking day trips out of the city, which would keep us in the same lodging for about two weeks in Buenos Aires.

Go 70 miles outside of Buenos Aires and we would find ourselves in Argentina’s Pampas region at an estancia (ranch) with the gauchos and their traditional culture raising cattle as excellent horse riders. We would probably plan to stay at one for about a week to relax and enjoy the country. It would offer the opportunity to watch, or even learn how to play polo; or ride horseback for an hour or maybe a couple of days–whatever we feel like since we’re both experienced riders; and hopefully enjoy amazing barbeque at night with the music of the gauchos and their guitars.

Then we would need to turn our attention to the vineyards. Malbec is the king of wines here and is produced in the regions of Salta, Catamarca, Mendoza, Cordoba, Rio Negro and Neuquen. Wine tasting sounds like a great idea after the Pampas!

What’s so cool about Argentina is that the next stop may be a tropical rainforest to see Iguazu Falls, on the Argentine side (as opposed to the Brazilian side. After that, we may find ourselves flying to Patagonia which is literally the end of the world, to find penguins, whales, sea lions, seals, orcas and dolphins. This will be turning out to be a photographic vacation–I may need to rent some long lenses for Patagonia! Then we would hop on a boat to get up close to Perito Moreno glacier, one of the world’s largest freshwater glaciers, and one of the few in the world that is advancing and not receding. All of this would be just a trip of a lifetime, seeing so much over an extended period of time. Checking out of our realities for a while and soaking in another part of the world, really getting to know it. Now that’s bringing Joyful memories into our world for a long time!

Thinking about this assignment and how to organize this dream vacation, I finally gave up doing more detailed planning out of an estimated six weeks. I gave one week to an estancia and two weeks in/around Buenos Aires. But then that would leave only three more weeks for everything else. I don’t know if something would have to fall out or if flying is the solution. So we’ll just imagine that we can do everything in six weeks and that money is no object. Because this is a Dream after all, and I would want to do it all if I’m going to fly all the way down to Argentina and probably never do this part of the world again.

The easy part of this assignment was the dreaming part–Shoot for the Moon and create your own Joy in your world! But then it became a problem with scoping out the details, doing the research to narrow the scope. There are so many commercial websites out there for each aspect of this trip, that it was difficult to find ones that didn’t have a lot of advertising. I was looking for more content and photos in the different websites that I could use for links, and less selling and pop-up windows that attempted to drive me to a decision or to make me provide my contact information.

For the photos, I found them all on either commercial websites or by doing a search for images. I copied them to a Word doc, then saved them as pictures to my class folder on my laptop. For now, it’s easiest and fastest for me to copy them as an image from that folder into WordPress. It may be more steps but I haven’t found a better to do it. Besides, I already have a Word doc open for the blog because that’s where I work on my text/copy before I insert it into WordPress.

If you have seen my bucket list post, Farewell Cruel World!, you may have noticed that I want to visit Australia before I die. You also already know I want to go because when I was younger, I wanted to live there. However, I failed to go into detail about it. So today, I present my dream vacation to Australia! Hopefully, it would give me the same peace and relaxation Bob Ross has when he paints.

Why did I pick it?

I mentioned one reason I want to travel to Australia, but my other big reason is the wildlife. I like seeing wildlife in general and Australia has unique wildlife ranging from kangaroos to echidnas. However, the one animal I want to see the most is a wild sugar glider because it is just adorable. Though, I will need to keep an eye out for all the dangerous animals there such as the blue ringed octopus, funnel-web spiders, and the textile cone snail.

Speaking of wildlife, it would also be cool to go snorkeling there. The Great Barrier Reef is located off the coast of Australia and it would be amazing to visit. I would especially hope to see a dolphin.

In addition, if I go during the winter, it will be the summer there. I’m a person who runs cold so escaping the freezing temperatures here would be appreciated.

Who and What I Would Bring?

I would only bring myself because then I could just do whatever I want and not have to do things for the sake of keeping other people happy. Material-wise, I would pack my phone (I need to take pictures of the cute animals!) and my books. After all, this will be a fairly long vacation, and reading on the beach would be relaxing. I would also need to bring sunscreen because I’m pale and burn easily and getting sunburn would certainly decrease the quality of my trip. I would also bring sunglasses so I’m not stumbling around blinded by the sun.

Assignment

The assignment I selected was Welcome to Paradise! Having already sort of started this assignment on my bucket list, I decided to flesh out the idea here. It was a fun assignment and I enjoyed making it. Though, my trip will need more planning still. For example, I’m still not exactly sure what parts of Australia I want to visit.

It was worth 3.5 stars.

My dream trip is going to the Bahamas.

If I were to go in a perfect world, I would just bring myself, my boyfriend and my cat (assuming he was not afraid of dogs and other animals). I would bring a cat backpack so he could come everywhere with me. As well as the basic beach essentials. I would also want to bring trail gear to possibly hike any nearby trails. Though I would probably just want to cliff jump and snorkel!

I feel like Bob Ross would really want to visit the mountains.The scenic views he makes reflect that.

My dream vacation is to rent a campervan, road trip for a few months and visit the national parks of the United States and big landmarks. Everyone plans their dream vacation to “paradise” and wants to go to tropical islands with white sand a clear blue water, which is great and so much fun, but there are so many hidden gems in the U.S. Most people who live in the U.S. don’t realize how many cool things you can do in this country. A big reason why my dream vacation is a road trip is that you don’t have to be on a strict schedule, and you can explore amazing places for as long as you’d like. 

Exploring on a road trip is something you can make up as you go, you don’t necessarily have to plan a route, and there is no need to stress about your plans because you can make it up as you go along the open road. I would also just like to visit different parts of the U.S. because I’ve never really gone off the east coast. I have gone to tropical places with my family but never other parts of our country. Renting a campervan would be an epic experience too. I would not have to worry about booking hotels for nights at all the different places. AND I can bring my puppy, Ruby, with me to explore new places.   

Grand Canyon

San Francisco

Yosemite

Seattle

Yellowstone

Coincidentally, I am planning a graduation road trip for my best friend and me, and this assignment made me so much more excited about it! 

Signing off!

My dream vacation is Ireland. I picked Ireland because I have always wanted to go there for the views. I would travel with a couple of my close friends from high school, college, and summer jobs.

I would want to vacation there for a week. Different activities I would do would be hiking and sightseeing, bar hopping, going to concerts, exploring downtown Dublin, and eating the delicious local food.

Now back in the 80s if I was alive and able to travel to Ireland the concerts I would see would be some of my favorite bands such as Prince, Rush, or Metallica. It would all depend on who was touring internationally.

I don’t have specific plans but I have always wanted to travel to Ireland! In the future if I have enough money and if I am able to go will make more specific and detailed plans.

#WritingAssignments #WritingAssignments1716 #80s

This writing assignment I chose is called Welcome to Paradise! where you have to write about your dream vacation, where you would go and why, and who would you bring with you.

One of my dream places to visit is Cabo San Lucas in Mexico because I have never left the east coast before other than to visit Puerto Rico. Also, I hate the humidity here on the east coast, and I would love to get away from that. The beaches are gorgeous, and I’ve always wanted to see El Arco de Cabo San Lucas (the Arch of Cabo San Lucas). I think this would be a really great place to go on vacation and relax. I would probably just take my mom with me because she’s my travel buddy. Below are some pictures.

At the moment, my dream vacation is getting away from Fredericksburg and heading to North Carolina with my boyfriend over Spring Break. We want to go to North Carolina, specifically Boone, because that’s where his family takes a trip every year. Boone is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and from the pictures he has shared with me it is so stunning. We are planning on staying in his family’s cabin. We really just want to get away from any major city and traffic and just explore and hike.

Now, I know what you are thinking…
this is your dream vacation?

YES IT IS.

Okay, but is this his dream
vacation?

YES IT IS. So let me explain. We both grew up military brats. We have both lived all over the world. And we are both broke! So, as much as fun as it would be to go anywhere international (or a hot beach literally anywhere), I like to dream realistically, and this is something that is in the works and will happen. I am beyond excited!

“Vacation: an extended period of leisure and recreation, especially one spent away from home or in traveling.” For this writing assignment we are asked to blog about our dream vacation. Where we will go and who will we will bring.

My dream vacation…hmm…no mention of a time limit so, here we
go.

If I had the ultimate dream vacation I would probably spend
about 3 years traveling. Having family tag along as they can.

I would begin my vacation in Sydney, Australia. I would
check out the Sydney Opera House, snorkel the Great Barrier Reef, Drive the
Great Ocean Road. I would probably spend 3 months or so living in Sydney,
exploring, relaxing and eating!

Next I would visit Bora Bora and Tahiti. This will be the mostly
relaxing and checking out all the islands have to offer. I would spend about a
week or so here. I would definitely spend some time in the overwater bungalows
in Tahiti.

After a week in Bora Bora and Tahiti I would head to Asia
where I plan to spend about a year exploring the continent. I would first go to
Hong Kong to check out their museums, Disneyland, Tian Tan buddha and Lantau
island. Next I would head to Bangkok, Thailand to check out their famous
monuments. Kandy, Sri Lanka would be next on the list to see the Royal
Botanical Gardens and Kandy Lake. Of course I would also check out Bali and Maldives
for their fantastic beaches.

After exploring Asia I would hit up Europe! Paris, Florence,
Italy, Greece, Amsterdam and London! I would probably rent a flat in Germany
and visit all of these places as often as I could in the next year.

South America would be next. Machu Picchu, Brazil, Argentina
and Colombia would be my destinations. I would probably spend 6 months in south
America before heading to the states.

In my final few months on vacation, I would head home to the
United States. But before reaching home-home, I would spend some time visiting
the states I haven’t been to yet. Like, Colorado, California, Utah, Texas and
Washington, etc.

After a very long three years away from home, I would start to look for homes to move into in Virginia. Eventually I would haul myself back to work, but I would have taken many pictures displayed on my desk to remind myself of the many great years I had.

I thought this assignment was awesome! Although it ended up taking me longer than I anticipated I am happy with the turnout. When I first saw the prompt, I thought of a quick 1-2 week trip that would be amazing. Then I realized that a vacation didn’t necessarily have a time limit. So I began to brainstorm and think physically what was possible. I came up with a time frame of 3 years because I feel at that point I might become homesick and ready to travel back to the states. I began the trip in Sydney, Australia because it was the furthest away and I would eventually make it back to the states every stop at a time.

Once I knew I wanted to start in Australia, I began to look up places to go. From there I listed those places and activities. I did this with every continent that I chose to go to.

As for the picture I created, I simply looked up places that I would have gone during the vacation and put them into a collage using an app called PicStitch.

Although this assignment was fun, I felt a little overwhelmed with the amount of places to go in this world! I eventually just listed cities because I couldn’t decide which specific places to go. What a wonderful world we live in with endless places to explore!

Writing Assignment – Welcome To Paradise!

The Maldives is a country in South Asia. It’s specifically a tropical nation in the Indian Ocean composed of 26 ring-shaped atolls. This is my dream vacation spot as it’s the sunny side of life blessed with magical and breathtaking displays of sunshine year round. Conveniently when the weather is too hot and humid it’s frequently complemented with cooling sea breezes.

With multiple unique resorts and hotels to choose from within these islands, there is endless activities to choose from. There is a spiritual side of life within the area like meditation, underwater spas, yoga, and The Practice of Ayurveda. Ayurveda means “the science of life” and it’s an old philosophy based on the true understanding of enteral truths about the human body, mind, and spirit. This has been known in the Maldives as it has been used for generations with herbs and special ingredients. The Maldives is one of the leading waters ports hub as it has canoeing sailing, fishing, types of surfing, free diving, fun tubing rides, jet ski and a lot more. Talk about thrills galore. Also According to VisitMaldives.com, There are resorts that cater for guests who like to party at night and arrange evening entertainment by visiting bands and DJs. About 50 resorts have purpose-built night clubs for karaoke or DJ entertainment and are equipped to provide a great night’s dancing as a change from diving or sunbathing all day. This is literally what stepping into a dream looks like. I can’t wait until I am not a broke student to plan this clear water vacation trip after college.