The places I've always wanted to travel to...

Oh, you must do it. Save your pennies, and DO IT! For years I longed to go to Italy, and then I met a friend's mother who lived in Rome -- she was visiting NZ on holiday. I practices my halting Italian with her and she invited me to come visit her when she got home! Said I would be fluent after a few weeks in Italy! That was all the encouragement I needed. I bought a guidebook and planned some places I wanted to visit, with v/cheap accommodation. And I contacted an old friend I'd stayed in touch with, in the North of Italy, and he and his wife invited me to say with them for a while. So I did it! I travelled alone, and I didn't go to Paris or any other exotic European destination. Just Italy, the land of my dreams. And yes, I did get pretty fluent! I have this cool memory of discussing recipes with Marika (my hostess in Rome) and her daughter, and suddenly realising we'd all been talking in Italian and it was as easy to do as it would have been in English! I was so shocked I "lost it" and suddenly stopped understanding (LOL). Pick a place where you can speak the language at least a little. (I would be totally lost in the Philippines for example.) But DO do it! All it takes is determination and good planning. My trip (1994) cost me a total of $5,000 (NZ, which is worth less than US), because I was so careful. But I still have six weeks of glorious memories which I constantly dredge up to savor and enjoy. I will never forget that dream holiday!

I have had some superbly relaxing vacations on tropical islands. I found St Lucia in the Caribbean so relaxing and laid back. I loved the stunning beaches in the Seychelles and seeing the beautiful ancient forest with the coco de mer nut in it. I loved the culture, the unspoilt landscape, the exciting blow hole, the cool waterfalls and the beautiful beaches of Samoa. I adored staying in a thatched beach fale, feeling the soft sea breeze and hearing the waves splash against the shore. I had a great adventure in French Polynesia snorkeling with small sharks and sting rays. I had an even better time in Belize climbing Mayan ruins, staying in a tree house and going caving. I dream about going island hopping and snorkeling in the Philippines. I would love to see the cities of Cape Town and Vancouver. I would like to go to more tropical islands like Tobago, Grenada, Mauritius and Madagascar. Most of all I would love to go South America for there so many many places I would enjoy seeing there. It would be challenging to do to Inca Trail in Peru. It would be expensive to cruise around the Galapagos Islands. I would love to go to Chile, Argentina and Brazil. I am keen to go to Cartagena in Colombia and go along the Caribbean coastline into Venezuela. I hope that you get to go to the Bahamas, the Philippines and Hawaii. I wish you successful saving and happy travels.

Please do come and visit the Philippines, if you can. We've got so many things for guests to see, beaches, mountains, a rich culture, historical structures, flora and fauna. Name it, we probably have it even if majority of us Filipinos have yet to discover all these things. And your dollar will go a long way around here. Best of all, you'll love the warm hospitality Filipinos always extend our visitors.

Dubai!!!! Oh my God Thats one of my dream!!!! I want to leave my footprints there and see the human made island there!!! It is really a nice place to travel!! Hope my dream come true!!! You too!!! Good luck!! Happy Myloting!!!