Break the moment into something more than gold

Everything in life is basically falling into the categories of either school or Lindsey and that's pretty sweet, but it doesn't give me a lot of stuff about which to blog.  On a side note, making sure you don't end a sentence with a preposition just makes it sound like you had to reword the sentence simply so you wouldn't end with a preposition.  I'm coming back to an old favorite post because I've spent a decent amount of time daydreaming about all the places that I want to travel to.  I'm breaking out the old Top ten places I've visited/Top ten places to go.  Trust me, the list of places to go is significantly longer than this.  It wasn't tremendously difficult to narrow it down to the top ten though.  That said, I will remember some places I missed and there will be near-constant addendums to this list.  Before I change it again,

Top Ten Places I've Visited:

1) New York - If there weren't a money issue, I would LOVE to live in New York for a few years.

2) Sydney - Still my gold standard for international travel.  Ignore the naysayers pointing out my lack of passport stamps.

3) The Pacific Northwest - I couldn't find a way to separate Portland and Seattle.  This should be higher but I can't find a way to bump it up.

4) Denver - I would move to Denver in a heartbeat and be immensely happy.

5) Utah - So incredibly beautiful and a hiker's dream.

6) Chicago - This may be a little high but it scored very well with sentimentality points.

7) Washington DC - If you come back from DC without being wowed, its your own fault.

8) Grand Rapids - This may very well take over Chicago's spot in the next few years.  There's a lot of good going on up there.

9) Cairns (Australia) - Oceans and mountains.  Yes.

10) The Great Smoky Mountains - This would be higher if I would've spent more time in a city better than Gatlinburg.

Las Vegas fell way off the list just because I don't have the same wonder attached to it that I used to.  I'm surprised San Diego fell off as well, but its just been too long since I've been there and its too expensive to go back.  It's just off the list, as is Boston.  L.A. would be on the list if it wasn't so spread out.  The Grand Canyon will rightfully claim a spot as soon as I hike it instead of just having looked at it.  Mammoth Cave would have made the list if they'd let me explore it solo.

Top Ten Places to Visit:

1) Belize - Central America is high on the To Visit list and Belize wins out because they predominantly speak English.

2) Acadia National Park - This will be the highlight of a huge hiking trip in the Northeast.

3) Italy - Like Acadia, this was a trip that was briefly planned in the past.

4) South Africa - If only the flights weren't so expensive....

5) Hawaii - Everyone I want to convince to go there has already been.  I'm jealous of all of you.

6) Costa Rica - I need to learn Spanish.

7) Greece - Most likely to be done on that same trip where I tour Italy.

8) The top of Half-Dome - A comparison between this and Zion National Park would be amazing.  This is obviously dependent on winning the hiking permit lottery.

9) Argentina - This is the mystery spot as I'm not sure what I'd expect from traveling there, but it holds a certain allure.

10) Tie - Mt. Kiliminjaro/Machu Picchu - If you need an explanation, we aren't friends.

Others that were cut from the list that were close were New Zealand, everywhere in Australia I haven't yet been, Germany and New Orleans.