This morning I saw a link on Twitter – Lonely Planet had retweeted this article about how to travel the world for free. And while I don’t think it’s as easy as the author makes it sound, it did get me thinking. I love to travel. My family was fairly nomadic when I was growing up, and although most of our journeys were confined to the United States (with one brief foray to Mexico) I caught the travel bug at a young age. By the time I was 20 I had lived in five states (Louisiana, Washington, Texas, Kansas and Florida), and had visited many of the others.

After I got married, the travel trend continued. My husband also loves to explore new places, and because we have a lot of far-flung family and friends, we have had ample opportunities to see new places, even if it’s just for a weekend (among the places we’ve stopped, however briefly: Pittsburgh, Boston, Washington D.C., San Antonio, Austin, St. Augustine, San Diego and Los Angeles).

In 2007, my parents moved overseas for job purposes. The expat lifestyle afforded them the opportunity to experience many new places and cultures, and they extended the opportunity to us. Since 2008, I have been to Singapore (twice); Bali, Indonesia (twice); Phuket, Thailand; Oahu, Hawaii; and Paris, France.

Among the places I still want to visit? Argentina, Costa Rica, Belize, Spain (particularly Barcelona), Vancouver and Toronto, NYC and more! Where would you like to go on your next vacation (domestic or international)? Any recommendations for places I need to see?

Here are some of my favorite shots from around the world (the hovertext contains caption info; click for full size image):