take me to aruanda...

In just a mere few hours, the new year will hit, and I will have at my disposal, a replenished arsenal of vacation days for the next year. In celebration of this fact, today’s will be a special travel-dedicated post. Now granted, most of Asia, South America, Africa, and pretty much a bazillion other places are completely unknown to me; however, I do like to leave the Davis bubble every once in a while and venture out into the world, and I also like encouraging my fellow bloggers to travel, so here’s a list of travel recommendations of sorts (places I've been) and also a few places I wish to explore.

For the Californian looking to do a day trip: Monterey & Carmel, CA. Monterey/Carmel is easily drivable in one day and back and is a nice escape from the everyday trappings of Davis. They’re both small coastal towns with beautiful beaches, friendly local community, and good seafood. They’re also packed to the brim with an assortment of odd Asian tourists (you don’t really have a choice) complete with tea-bottles (if you’re from China/Taiwan, then you should know what im talking about…), DSLR’s, and interesting poses.

For the Californian looking for a high-stress, high-reward vacation: Southern California. Yes, So-Cal is the place to go for Disneyland, Magic Mountain, Knott’s Berry Farm (totally underrated…it’s THE place to go if space mountain is undergoing renovations), and LegoLand. There’s also the usually other touristy stuff like Hollywood and San Diego beaches – LA beaches are to be admired from a distance (unless stepping on glass and used needles is your cup-o-tea). Of course all this fun-fun-fun comes at a high-price. If you’re trying to go from Santa Monica to Disneyland, you may need to bite the bullet and book a flight from LAX to OC, cuz driving will likely take you much longer. Plus emptying your pockets and taking off your shoes at security is still a walk-in-the-park compared to LA traffic (there’s a chance you get jumped at a stoplight and have to empty your pockets and shoes anyways).

For the American without a passport: The Grand Canyon, AZ. This place is pretty cool, the Colorado River, over time, carved out a canyon in the Arizona desert over a mile deep. It takes a mule-ride to get to the bottom of the canyon by the river and buns-o-steel to get to the other side. Unless you’re Evil Knevel – in that case all you need is a motorcycle and a death-wish. At the bottom of the canyon there’s rafting and other fun stuff. Apparently it’s also 40 degrees hotter in the valley than the rim.

For the American with no passport and a fear of heights: Washington DC. With a completely flat terrain and a Federal law restricting building height in DC, this is the perfect place to go for the adventurous yet height-cautious tourist. With over a dozen federally funded museums (read: free), Smithsonian and otherwise, there’s plenty to do in this town. Additionally, there are sights to see for both history buffs (monuments and significant government buildings), and the historically-nonchalant folks (national zoo and indie culture/music scene).

For the American who has never traveled outside the states: Amsterdam, Holland. I know, I could've picked the UK or Ireland, but I figured Amsterdam would be a little different, but relatively low culture-shock compared to other countries. Also, the language barrier is very low. English is spoken here almost as commonly as Dutch, and a lot of the seasonal restaurant workers are from other European countries and don’t even speak dutch. The English here has been nearly native in my experience. I know, there’s pot and other vices here, but I can tell you right now that you can have a blast in this city while still managing to avoid all of that stuff. For one thing, Amsterdam is a flat city littered with man-made canals, and I’d say is even more of a bike-town than Davis. You can rent bikes anywhere and get around town, and there are plenty of museums and other sights to keep you occupied.

For the American who wants to experience something with a wow factor: Giza, Egypt. The Pyramids are definitely on my bucket list. While I've seen some edifices that made me go wow, I can’t even begin to fathom how impressive it’d be to stand next to a pyramid built thousands of years ago. Can you imagine the sight of the sphinx in real life? I’d think that that’d be an experience you won’t forget for the rest of your life (plus imagine the monumental bragging rights…).

For the American who wants to experience a completely different culture: India. I know this is a very vague answer, as within india, there are thousands of different people groups and therefore, thousands of internal cultural differences, but honestly, anywhere you go in india would be a different culture from what we have in the states. I wasn't able to go this year for work, but I’m lobbying hard to go next year if we send more people over for our offshoring project. My Indian counterparts are in Pune, India, about 3 hours away from Mumbai in the western part of the country. This place is a center for technology companies, many of which perform outsourced work for foreign companies. As you can imagine, there would be a lot of cultural differences. I think it’d be cool just to live there for a few weeks and check out the local food, customs, and lifestyle.

And of course, for the Davis-ite who wants something close but different: Old-Town Sacramento, CA. Yep, it’s close…very close to Davis, and yet it has a completely different vibe than any other part of the Sac metro area (if you can call it that…). Old Sac has a bit of a western feel, with saloons and small shops. Of course, the entire section of town is geared toward tourists, so there are some intentional tourist traps here. Navigate with caution…I recall seeing a guy on stilts. People on stilts are not to be trusted.

Whew…that was quite possibly the longest post I’ve ever done. Well there you go…some travel recommendations for all types of people. Bon Voyage!