I think the worst part about having a passion for travel is jealousy. I’ve padded my twitter, facebook, bloglines – every social networking site at my disposal – with jet-setting travellers who are taking on the world. Even those I add for other reasons seem to mock me with thei lavish travels to far away places. The other day I was sitting in class listening to my professor ramble on about cod fish (seriously…fucking cod fish) and I, of course, was wasting time on twitter. Eli Roth is updating about being in Italy. I’m learning about cod and all these people are experiencing the world! I’m full of envy, full of it.

Sometimes life does laugh at you. Not with you. Just at you.

In other news, I updated my list a bit. I saw Marilyn Manson live, which was just terrible, but I did it. It would be been better categorized under “Thanks, But No Thanks” in hindsight. I have to decide what to do next on my list.

Yeah, I’m not going to Seattle. The infamous “Destination Unknown” trip has been cancelled, due to Adam moving back to Lethbridge and me just not having enough energy to get up to pee, let alone drive for that long. I wasn’t even excited to be going. What is wrong with me? I’m going to NYC in three weeks with Adam and I don’t think I’m excited for that either. I’m sick of these temporary flings with travel and awesome places.

I need to move. Somewhere awesome. I wonder how rent prices are in Narnia. That place seems happening.

For fun, here is a picture:

Everett Park in Kingston.

1. I’m going to Kingston on Thursday.

2. I got tickets to Marilyn Manson (seeing him live is on my life list).

I’m trying to figure out something fun to do so I’ll have something interesting to blog about.

This summer feels like a complete wash. I did go to Kelowna, true, but it has mostly been spent with my nose in books and sitting in classrooms. I guess I’m putting this work in now so I can be done school earlier, but I just want to be travelling and seeing the world. One friend just finished a study in Ghana and is now touring Germany. Irma my artist friend just finished a one month stint in Montreal. Everyone is headed somewhere or just returning and I feel stagnant.

I suppose I am heading to Kingston in around a month, but I have been to Kingston several times. Hell, I lived there for almost ten years. I am desparately trying to convince my mom to go somewhere (anywhere!!) with me over a weekend or after our trip to Kingston but she is very reluctant (much to my dismay). I know I only have 60 or summers left on this planet and it depresses me to some extent this one has been somewhat wasted so far. 6 weeks left before September brings around a new semester of school, I better make the most of it. Roadtrip anyone?

After all this hubadoo (yes I made that word up) about Iceland, I might not be going. It turns out even in a recession Iceland is insanely expensive when compared to other countries. Who does Iceland think it is exactly? Flights might be cheap, but not really that much cheaper than most other countries. Then you get there and you basically have to give them your arm in order to pay for stuff. YOUR ARM.

Adam was, in my mind, pooing all over my dream of going to Iceland about a week ago and it made me sad. But then he said the magic words to win my heart: “Rio de Janeiro” and “cheaper”. We began to discuss other options and Adam said the third magic word to win my heart: “spreadsheets.” As of right now we are entertaining a bunch of options, including Aruba, Athens, Rome, Madrid, Barcelona, Mumbai, Tokyo, and Rio. All of these places are CHEAPER than Iceland. Fantastic!

It is rather nice not knowing where I will be going in August, just knowing that it will be somewhere foreign and fun.

So Adam and I have been slowly going over the details of our trip to Iceland, but not too much since
1. I don’t know when I can actually go
2. We don’t know if my friend-ette Irma is coming

Now, I am a fan of doing things that make little to no sense. It makes life more interesting. Hence, I desparately want to drive the ring road around Iceland despite it being one way bridges and dirt roads. True there is a bus that goes around it (thanks to one of my lovely commenters) but Adam is not one to take buses. We want to rent a car. Problem is, a car rental even for a few days gets up into the thousands of dollars range in Iceland. Seriously. Why? Iceland, according to Wikipedia, has one of the highest car ownership rates per capita in the entire world. You think some nice Icelandic person with 4 cars would just let us have one on good faith and maybe a nice bottle of maple syrup.

Planning this trip is slightly more difficult than I had originally thought, but I am just going to assume this will make it more fun in the end. Though, to be honest, I can’t stop thinking about that movie about the vampires in the Arctic. Iceland would make a way better vampire destination because it is a tiny isolated island. On the bright side, it would be safe from zombies in the even of a living dead outbreak (at least for a while – zombies can swim/float).

And this is what I think about while planning a trip.

The weather has decided to get back to be snowy and cold, which is just what it does in April when you live in Calgary, Alberta. I’ve literally spent the entire day I should have been studying staring out the window thinking about Iceland, because you know…snow…outside…Ice…land. Yeah. August I will be heading the Iceland way, I’ve been perusing flights and hostels but until my mom and I make definite plans to see my grandparents in Toronto I can’t do too much (I should probably also get a job to pay for it, since Visa does not currently accept sexual favours, but you know…less important…)

Iceland makes an appearance several times on my list, testament to my desire to go and enjoy everything the country has to enjoy. It is literally at the moment my number one destination, with Morocco falling into second place. Yeah I know, snowy and cold to hot deserts, my brain doesn’t follow rhyme or reason. Only four months and I’ll be hanging out in Reykjavik! Here is what is on my list…

#317. Go to the Icelandic Phallological Museum
#356. See the Northern Lights in Iceland
#377. Travel to all of the European countries (it totally counts!)

I thought I had more on there! And now I’m wondering if I could even see the Northern Lights in August…Anywho! I’ve been looking at Iceland’s tourism websites and trying to work out some sort of rough plan. I’m also trying to find someone willing to go with me since Adam will be both working and broke and my mom has this weird vendetta against doing anything fun. I guess if it comes down to it I will go on my own, which is scary, but something I know I can do. Any good ideas of things to do in Iceland, particularly in Reykjavik?

This week is all about things that aren’t about to make it onto my life list any time soon. I’m trying to be adventurous and open to new experiences, but some things are just beyond my personal threshold. Case in point: Pulpit Rock. The articles are still great and interesting, the subjects just happen to make me queasy and unhappy to think about.

10 Most Exotic Asian Foods
via Nellie at Wild Junket
I should mention here that the chicken feet actually look somewhat good…but the rest of it isn’t about to be consumed by me anytime soon.

This video!!!

This video is insane and I cannot believe people stand there!!

Most Dangerous Roads in the World
I hate driving in Calgary Alberta, I doubt I would survive these unscathed.

North Korea
This blog entry is surprisingly beautiful and has some wonderful photography. It actually kind of made me want to go to North Korea, but I think it might still be a little bit too out there for me. The forced participation in musicals is what does it for me.

I think by now my list has every continent, and possibly even every country, on it. Of course, like with all things, I have a few favoured destinations, ones that distract me from everything.

Snow = like Iceland. Boring roofs = not like Iceland

1. Iceland
Most people like warm destinations, but being Canadian, I prefer familiar temperatures and not having to buy new clothes to travel. I also like colourful roofs, which Iceland has an abundance of. Oh, and there’s a penis museum.

2. Morocco
Whenever I dream I’m travelling, I dream I’m in Morocco. There was this one time I dreamed I was in Italy but people were trying to kill me and I stabbed someone in the neck, very vividly, so you can see why I opt more for Morocco. One time someone asked me if it was the beaches that drew me towards it, and I replied “Morocco has beaches?”. There’s something about the food, the giant deserts and the culture that I like, all of which I, of course, learned about from Brad Pitt in Babel.

3. Russia
Adam says if I go to Russia I will get stabbed and die. Why does he think I want to go? Can you imagine that twitter message? EPIC! “Landed in Moscow, went through customs, agent stabbed me in the eye”. Really, I just want to go to Russia for two reasons:
a. My Russian history teacher had a mesmerizing moustache and was totally hot.
b. That same teacher told me about a guy who dresses up like Lenin and runs around in St. Petersburg

4. Los Angeles
I’m going to find the Zachary Quinto and follow him around until he files a restraining order. Hopefully he’ll spend some time at tourist hot spots so I can see those too.

5. Cuba
I just want to be a Communist and lay on the beach without abandon.

6. Afghanistan
While I hate to see myself as being too good for a war zone, I can also see how deciding to travel freely to one as people try to escape it is a bit…well wrong. I met a guy from Afghanistan when I was in high school and he was one of the nicest people in the world and looked really good with a popped collar. He told me once about how he had shot a gun and my tiny white 17 year old Canadian brain exploded. I really want to go there, but I think I might wait for it to settle down a bit there, which I hope it does eventually.

7. Yemen
I was once told Yememi men do it better, and I now want
a. a shirt that says that
b. to wear that shirt in Yemen
Plus it might be the closest I ever get to being in Saudi Arabia.

8. Peru
I think a lot about the fact they eat guinea pigs. It fascinates me. I want to see the farms they keep them in. And try eating one, maybe. They also have alpacas which are indisputably the most awesome animal ever to exist in the entire Universe. They do not eat the alpacas from what I understand, except in rare cases, which makes Peru super cool in my books.

mmm Asian stuff.

9. Japan
Adam really got me into Japan. I used to have no interest in going at all, but after Adam kept blabbing on about wanting to go there, he totally changed my mind. And I love Asian stuff, like the food and wonderful English translations on packages.

10. New Zealand
I have a secret passion to be a sheep herder. And they have the steepest hill in the world and I want to roll down it in a garbage can.

Pulpit Rock Photo Montage

image via Dilidou

Heights are not my thing. Thus, Pulpit Rock in Norway scares the crap out of me. Just watching those people sit leisurely on the edge makes me sink to the carpet covered floors of my room in my “safety crouch” (reserved for swinging bridges, gondola lifts, driving on the sides of mountains, the fake Eiffel Tower in Las Vegas, and pictures of Pulpit Rock). You can definitely file a visit to Preikestolen as it as known in its Native language under Thanks But No Thanks