wanderlust...

I am a Philly girl, tried and true. I bleed green from Sept-Jan, and I will always argue that your cheesesteaks are subpar. I can be kind and gentle, but will not hesitate to get in your face if you piss me off. I have done the Rocky steps, seen the liberty bell countless times, and taken a picture in front of the LOVE statue. I will always hold my nose down at other malls that lack prestige in comparison to my beloved King of Prussia mall, I will never turn down a good soft pretzel, I will smile from ear to ear anytime I see a Wawa or get my hands on some Herr's potatoe chips, and I will always fondly recall my daytrips down to the Jersey shore. It's just who I am, and that stuff will never change.

I am also the first to admit that I am afraid of change. I am afraid to blaze my own trail and move away from my family, although sometimes I feel that pull in my heart to set out on my own adventure. Somewhere between the fear of setting out and the instilled wanderlust in my heart, I find myself not terribly far from home, working hard, and daydreaming about days to come when I finally take that big step. Sometimes that call hits me hard day in and day out, and sometimes that call is rather quieted. But I still struggle with that restlessness. This has found me visiting google maps quite frequently and attempting to plan out trips, and also consider moving out west somewhere. For now, all of these dreams have been kept to domestic dreams, although in the search for adventure and the beauty of God's creation, I would not argue being swept somewhere completely foriegn, but one thing's first.

Really, the only point of this posting is to let myself know where I want to go. To keep focused on that goal of following my heart and maybe this will help me stay motivated to save some money and take a nice vacation... for myself. Here's my golden list in no official order (and by no official order I mean the first 4 are the important ones, and then after that, it's whatevs):
Phoenix, Albuqurque, Tuscon, Sante Fe, Las Vegas, Reno, Seattle, Denver, Memphis, Topeka, San Francisco, Houston, San Jose, Portland (Oregon and Maine), Amarillo, Spokane, Seattle, Providence, Missoula, Sioux City, Tulsa, New Orleans, Boulder, Madison, Haleiwa, Fairbanks, Birmingham, Grand Rapids, Chicago, Lexington, Nashville, Savannah, Boca Raton, Pittsburgh, Charleston, Charlotte, Buffalo, and Manchester.

Quite an extensive list, and one that I don't expect to exhaust. However, it is nice to have listed out for my next big adventure...