My Top 5 Vacation Destinations

Last night I was watching Criminal Minds, and this week's episode was about a string of murders that were happening in a remote town in Alaska. While this episode had it's usual Criminal Minds creepiness, all I could think about was how cool it would be to visit Alaska. Through all the blood and murders and such, the little Alaskan town actually looked quite beautiful. This got me thinking...aside from Alaska, what are some other places around the world that I would like to visit? I thought long and hard (well...not really) and came up with my top five vacation spots that I would like to visit at some point in my life. Of course, there are some conditions - I would visit these places if I had a crap-ton of money AND if I didn't have a job. Therefore I could stay at these places as long as I wanted. Now, without further ado...

5. Alaska: With the recent Criminal Minds episode notwithstanding, I have kind of wanted to go Alaska for a while now. The breathtaking scenery, the clean air, majestic wildlife, furry bears...what's not to like. Well, other than the freezing cold that happens most of the year. This is why I would for sure want to go in the summer (because I'm a weather wuss) and I would definitely want to travel Alaska on a cruise. I mean, just because I like seeing beautiful, mountainous landscapes doesn't mean I like walking around in it. At least on a cruise, I can see all beauty while still chilling in my relaxing accommodations. And it will also keep me at a safe distance from all the furry bears. If this doesn't sound like the best time to you, too bad and get your own blog!

4. Málaga, Spain: In my senior year of high school, my Spanish teacher made our class do this ridiculous class project where we had to plan a three-week trip around Spain and had to talk about all the places we would go to. My group randomly chose Málaga as one of our destinations and it was my responsibility to find info about the coastal city in the south of Spain. That's when I found out that Málaga looked totally awesome. Beaches, architecture, cool museums, and chance to see some pretty great soccer (well...only if Barca happened to be playing in Málaga). Still, I've been to Cataluña and LOVED it...so I think that it only seems fair if I visit the Andalucia region in the south of Spain.

3. Costa Rica: Now, I have already been to Costa Rica once before, but it was when I was ten and I don't really remember too much about my visit. In fact, the only two poignant memories that I have of Costa Rica is driving to the coast in my uncle's van while drinking a really warm Coca Cola. I know, this seems like a really random memory, but the mind of Ally Barrera works in mysterious ways. I want to go back to CR because I really want to do the rain forest canopy zip line. I have done a zip line once before, but it took place at a ropes course in Mount Vernon and it was really more like a zip-drop to your death. The one in Costa Rica looks a little more legit. Look at how much fun that woman is having on the right. Also, Costa Rica has some of the best beaches in the world...and almost everyone who know me knows that I love a good beach. White sand between my toes, 70 degree ocean water...I'm getting all uptight just thinking about it. Zip lining and sun bathing on the beach - definitely a great way to spend a vacation.

2. New Zealand: I had a softball pitching coach that was from New Zealand, and he would always talk about just how much more awesome New Zealand was than the United States. I took a slight offense to this because I absolutely LOVE the United States because it is absolutely more awesome than any place else. But upon further research, I discovered that New Zealand is actually pretty awesome. You can literally do anything you want there. They have mountains, beaches, reefs, forests...you name it they got it. Not to mention they filmed the Lord of The Rings Trilogy there, which is pretty effing great. Call me a nerd, but that is almost reason enough to visit New Zealand. And there is another reason why I would like to go to New Zealand - I would then have visited a country on every continent on Earth, aside from Antarctica...which I hardly count as a continent because people don't live there. I mean, really?

And finally...1. Kauai: This has to be my for sure number one because not only is it in my favorite United State (aside from the Great State of Washington, of course) and it is also probably the only one of these vacation locations that I could actually get to within the next couple years. I have been to Maui (many times) and Oahu (once, and will probably never go back again) and both are nice in their own way. Maui is a great place to relax but also has enough things to do so you don't get bored, while Oahu has lots of different things to do but there are just wayyyyyyy too many people there. I mean, that island is way too small to have over a million people living on it. But Kauai is beautiful because so much of it is untouched. Yeah, it has beaches like the rest of the Hawaiian islands, but Kauai is just so green (my favorite color) with flowers everywhere...probably the closest to what Hawaii looked like before all those pesky missionaries got there in the 1800s or something like that. There's more I can say about Kauai...but I guess what's important is that I can't think of a better place to go for vacation (if I had a crap-ton of money and no job, of course)