MY top 5 holiday destinations

I haven't seen half of the things of the world which I'd want to see. And now everyone around me (read: in the office) is going on filming trips to Mexico, El Salvador, South Africa.. The travel spirit starts to tickle all around me. I want to go far away! I want to see the world. But I'm only a student and the money doesn't grow around me everywhere. But I have been to some beautiful places. So here's my top 5 of the things I already did see! I'm not counting London as a country to travel to as this city is like my second home.

1. South Africa
My 9 hour flight to South Africa, was the very first time I was on a plane. Can you actually believe it? 9 hours, without ever flying before. And I actually loved it, of course your first take of is a bit scary, and turbulence is not really something you would want everyday. But I loved seeing the Sahara from above, which seemed to be endless. Same for the luxury plane and the tv screens in the seat in front of us. I was about to turn 16 on this holiday so it was my first time travelling with a pasport as well.

My dad turned 50 and this was one of the reasons we decided to do a big travel holiday this year. We would leave for a 3 week holiday to South Africa. Travelling from Johannesburg to Cape town in those week. A flight from Durban to Port Elizabeth included. This holiday was such an experience, culture shock added to that. It's so different then everything I was used too. The people, the country, the driving on the left, the food and the difference caused by the 'apartheid'. Of course not to forget about the animals walking around everywhere. On one of our first days there was a giraffe aside the road and not to forget about a little rhino who broke lose in a city where we just went for dinner.

The experience was amazing and I'm so glad I had to opportunity to see this beautiful country.



2. Austria
All though I've been to Austria multiple times (I must've been there around 25 times at least), I still absolutely love Austria. I've been skiing in Switzerland and France as well. But Austria has the best ski feeling for me. The smell, the mountains and the beautiful landscapes are something I look forward to see every year. In all these year of ski holidays I only flew there twice, and this was in the last 3 years.

Some of my visits to Austria included training sessions and races but there's been a lot of skiing with family and friends included as well. Austria is beautiful and even if you don't like skiing, I think you should absolutely go there one time.

3. Mimizan / France
Mimizan was my very first ever surf holiday. Me and four other girls decided to give it a go, and 2 weeks before we actually went.. We booked this holiday, quite last minute but we got a good offer! And I'm still really happy we did it! Surfing is tiring but great, we went to this place called Mimizan in France and even drove to St. Sebastian in Spain one day so we could 'surf' there. (waves were very rare that day) The villa we stayed in was great and Mimizan is a great place to stay, especially if you go surfing the first time. I had a wonderful time there.

4. UK roadtrip 
A UK roadtrip for the summer might sound a bit dull. But as I suggested it to my parents I loved it! I had never been to England before and all though this was quite a rainy holiday. I had a great time. I don't remember every city we've been to but we had great places to stay and got to see a lot. We've been to Wales, Oxford, the Lake Districts, Stratford, London.. And I'm afraid that's the cities I remember. One of the most special things we did was stay on a narrow boat. This is a boat you're able to rent, we did this for 4 days and slept in the boat for 3 nights. The beds are tiny and you have to put the boat aside at night to sleep, and on the day you have to rear the boat yourself, which is a challenge! The same for the locks which my sister and I had to open all the time.
On my request we visited Alnwick Castle (which is basically a part of Hogwarts, yes in the movies). And Warwick Castle, which is massive! We ended this holiday in London, and as it was my first time UK, it was my first time London. Except for all the rain, I loved this holiday.

5. Can a convention be a holiday?
Number 5 is a really hard one for me. I loved the holiday to Italy with my family. The holiday with my boyfriend to Kos. Crete with my group of friends and even the city trip to Prague. But if a festival can be counted as a holiday, I can't forget about last years Rock Werchter experience as well. The same for all the conventions I've been to. RingCon in particular. Our trip to Bonn by car, which is drove on my own. The little hotel we stayed in, and the experience at the convention itself. I think I'll leave number 5 open for any of these suggestions I've made. I simply can't make a decision between all of those.

There are a lot of holidays from when I was younger which definitely stuck to me as well. And I hope I'll be able to visit so much more places soon. But these 5 are the ones which stuck to me and I loved!

The countries I've been so far are the following: The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Spain, Italy, England, Wales, Ireland, Croatia, Czech-Republic, Slovenia, Greece, Kos, Crete (these are Greek islands I believe), South Africa and Swaziland.

Soon there will be a post of the 5 places which are highest on my list of 'to visit soon'. What was is your favourite place you visited so far?