Brian of Pizzaspotz
Written by Emiel Van Den Boomen
Writing on the back of your pizza box: It’s the new bucket list
Friday night. There you are with your friends. Laughing, celebrating the weekend. Pizza has just been delivered and the atmosphere turns into one where you bring back old memories make new plans for the future.
“I would love to travel the world!”, one of your friends is shouting after opening this 3rd bottle of beer. That’s one of the plans many have on top of our wish list. So when you meet up with friends, having a drink and a good laugh, turn around the pizza delivery box and start to write down your travel bucket list. Because the only thing between the “now” and turning up at one of these top ten travel destinations is you. Start making plans! There is nothing that really prevents you from starting to travel, just check out one of these impressive stories. If you really want to travel and discover new places, you will!
So without further ado, here are my top ten travel destinations right from the back of the pizza delivery box.
1. Socotra Islands
This one is on top of my pizza box list. These islands are part of Yemen in the Middle East and don’t you agree it’s like entering the world of Dr. Seuss?
2. Salar de Uyuni (salt lakes) in Bolivia
One giant flat landscape, extremely white (wear your sunglasses!) and without any orientation point when you stand in the middle with only flat white plain around you. This is the world’s largest salt flat at more than 10,000 square kilometers!
3. The city of Rome
Rome is one big open-air museum, it really is. We were lucky enough to spend a couple of days in this city and behind every corner there is something great: a square, historical building, authentic restaurant or just your typical Italian scenery. The atmosphere in Rome is one-of-a-kind. Grazie mille Roma!
4. Cappadocia, Turkey
Turkey is a huge country and has far more to offer than beaches and All-Inclusive hotels. Cappadocia is a fairytale landscape and I would love to sit in this hot-air balloon and watch the sunrise! What about you?
5. The country of India
Yeah, I just did throw in the whole country of India! If you can travel to India, do it. It’s extreme, chaotic, dirty and smelly sometimes, but you will never forget that experience. India is sensory overload, a feast also for the photographer’s eyes. And don’t worry, even if you have kids you can travel to India: “Dad, this is not normal!”
6. Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kyoto, Japan
My favorite shrine in Japan. Look at all these torii (orange coloured entrance to a shrine). At this shrine they do things a bit differently: not one tori, but thousands! Thousands of torii create a network of trails behind the main buildings of the shrine! The 5km (3 miles) trail leads into the forest of the sacred Mount Inari. From the shrine up to the top of the mountain is just one big line of torii and it will take you 2-3 hours to reach the end.
Picture courtesy Eddy Y. L. Chang, Kyoto, Japan (creative.eddyction@gmail.com)
7. Statue of Christ, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
The statue is impressive and huge, but the view on the Bay of Janeiro is really stunning. Rio will be the center of attention the coming four years (World Championship Soccer and Olympic Games), so I guess we will see a lot of these pictures popping up on the internet!
8. Manhattan by night, New York City
New York, New York, big city of dreams…. We loved the Big Apple during our first visit in 2010. The view of Manhattan by night was one of the highlights. We watched it from the Top of the Rock (Rockefeller center). Make sure to get there before sunset and secure your place to shoot some awesome pictures. (editor’s note: I love the Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five reference Emiel)
9. Dades valley in Morocco
Go to Morocco and experience the major cities like Fez and Marrakech, but please, don’t forget to head out beyond the city walls. For example, the area of Ouarzazate where this road in the Dades Valley was a true discovery.
10. Cao Dai temple in Vietnam
We thought this was Disneyland! Of course it wasn’t as there is no Disney park in Vietnam, duh. So what is this? Well, this building is the official temple of the Cao Dai religion. South of Ho Chi Minh City you can just enter and watch all the ornaments, the colors, people praying, the beauty of it all.
Your Pizza Box List
I trust one pizza box is not enough for all the great places on our planet. Don’t worry, the combination of pizza and travel dreams is a great one! Let’s never use ‘Bucket List’ again, but start calling it ‘Pizza Box List’! The next time you’re eating pizza with friends, turn over the box and write your own list. If you have original images to go with it, send it to Brian and he might publish it here on PizzaSpotz. This is an especially great opportunity for my fellow travel bloggers.
Thanks to Brian Humek (@pizzaspotz and @BrianHumek) for giving me the opportunity to share my travel dreams!
www.actoftraveling.com
Twitter: @vandenboomen
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(editor’s note again – Thanks Emiel for a great list of top ten travel destinations. And for all other travel bloggers, follow in the footsteps of Emiel and write up your own pizza box list of top ten travel destinations. Emiel is right, we’d love to publish it here at PizzaSpotz.)
More Travel Destinations
Seven Natural Wonders of Germany
Seven Natural Wonders of France
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