Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Travel Facts About Me

~ Beth (Reading Every Night)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week there is a new topic for bloggers to choose and list their top ten. This week’s theme is Top Ten Facts About Me.

Top Ten Travel Facts About Me, that is.

Asides from blogging and reading travel is one of my favourite things. I love going on holiday, seeing new countries and experiencing new cultures, and although I’ve already been to so many amazing places there are still many more I want to go to. When I saw this Top Ten Tuesday topic I decided to post some travel facts about me; after all I’ve already posting a lot of facts about my life and my bookish habits in various awards I’ve been nominated for.

Top Ten Tuesday #29

As much as I love planning holidays I hate packing/unpacking. When it comes to packing I will leave it to the last minute, half an hour before I need to go to sleep because I have an insanely early flight the following day, and when it comes to unpacking I will constantly put it off, until it’s been three weeks since I’ve arrived back home and I’m still living out of my suitcase.

The furthest from home I’ve travelled on holiday is 5351 miles when I went to San Francisco back in 2014 with my sister. We headed out to the West Coast for two weeks; going from Las Vegas, to LA, and finally to San Francisco.

The shortest distance I’ve travelled from home is just under 175 miles when I went to Bruges on a school trip while I was in university.

Speaking of Bruges it was probably the worst holiday I’ve been on. The city itself was lovely, and I think it would be amazing to go back and experience it for myself one day. However the hotel (hostel) was terrible; the blankets gave my friend a rash, the door to our room didn’t close properly, the toilet on our floor didn’t have a seat, none of the showers had hot water, and our window was broken which in winter is never a good thing. The whole trip was just a series of misadventures.

The best holiday I went on was when my sister and I went to New York back in 2012. It was the first big holiday we went on and the first without our parents as well. I’d always wanted to go to New York and the city more than lived up to my expectations for it. We saw all the major sites, did so much shopping, and even risked our lives by taking a yellow cab one afternoon. Honestly I couldn’t have asked for a better week there.

Tourist traps are something I’ve been warned about about every country I’ve been to. However the only country I’ve ever been caught in them has been Italy. I’ve been to Rome twice, Milan once and Venice once and over the course of those four holidays I’ve been caught in tourist traps three times.

Asking me to choose my favourite city that I’ve been to so far is like asking me to choose my favourite book; impossible. Instead, and in no particular order, my top three favourite cities are; Amsterdam, San Francisco and Rome.

Spain the country I’ve been to the most. The first holiday abroad I ever went on with my family was to the Costa del Sol, and then my parents brought an apartment near Aguilas so we ended up going out there quite a bit while everything was being built, and later when it was finished on family holidays.

It’s my aim to have stepped foot on every continent of the world by the time I’m thirty. I’ve already crossed Europe off the list – I live in Europe so that’s an obvious one to start off – as well as Africa and North America. Next year I am hoping to go to Tokyo, and I’m sure I’ll be able to travel to Australia and a country within South America in the next few years. The only continent which may be an issue is Antarctica.

After finishing university in 2011 it was my dream to take a gap year and travel all over the world, unfortunately you need money to be able to do that so my plans were out on hold. Now my dream is to one day take a career break – the company I work for offer career breaks of up to nine months for this sort of thing – and see the world. I’m not sure if this will actually happen but it’s something I enjoy planning in my head if I’m ever feeling down or stressed at work.

So what do you think? Did you take part in this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, if so let me know what some of your facts about you are.

68 thoughts on “Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Travel Facts About Me”

    1. I do love travelling. I’ve actually been to Spain a fair bit. I think it may be one of the countries I’ve visited the most, if not the country I’ve visiting the most, but I’ll definitely check out your blog. Thanks for the link! 😀

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      1. Ohh.. That’s mean that you like that country 🙂 I hope you will enjoy my blog 😀 I am going to publish about travels – so probably you can find something for you. I invite to follow 😀

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    1. Thanks, I’m glad you liked my post for this TTT topic. Yeah I may have to extend my continents before I’m 30 aim to after I’m 30 as well, as it is I have no idea how to tackle Antartica! 🙂
      Thanks for the link, I’ll definitely check out your TTT post!

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  4. GAH! You are so well travelled, I am jealous. The furthest I’ve ever been from home was about 6611 km, which was Sydney back in 2004.

    Reading this post has made that wanderlust in me reignite. Damn, I wish I had the money to fly around the world.

    LOVE this post, by the way!

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    1. Yeah I’ve been lucky enough to go to some amazing places so far, but I have a load more on my list I want to visit. Wow that is a long way from home, how long did that flight take you?
      That’s pretty much a standard wish for me as well, being able to travel all around the world, I just need to save up the money first 🙂
      Thanks, I’m really glad you liked my post! 😀

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  5. I am in love with this post, but you know me, I’m just like you so, why wouldn’t I be? 🙂 It’s awesome you have travelled so much already and seen so many great places. It’s my dream to go to the West Coast of the USA (and Australia as well), I’m so thrilled San Francisco is one of your favorite cities! I loved New York as well, and it was my first huge trip far away…with my sister as well. We are so alike, that’s awesome! I’ve alrready said this before, but I hope you will be able to take a gap year and travel for a while, it sounds so incredible and you have such a good opportunity there 🙂

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    1. Thanks so much Marie! 😀 Yeah I’ve been lucky to have been to some amazing places so far, but there are plenty more I want to go to as well, it feels like a never ending list! I’d love to explore more the West Coast, and yeah Australia is a must!
      Oh San Francisco is amazing, I’m sure you’ll really love it when you get to go, I kind of through of it as a less crowded version of New York, which is maybe why I loved it so much. I’d also love to go back to New York one day soon (hopefully I’ve got something in the works for that!)
      It’s becoming something I want to do more and more, something I’m giving serious consideration to and well, you’re only young once right? 😀

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  7. This totally sparks my wanderlust! I have to say that the worst trips I’ve been on were always the one that had to do with school. Organising rooms and then someone got offended all of a sudden … it was just miserable sometimes.

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    1. Yeah it was interesting to say the least, and that was just the hostel; one day I may tell the story of how we ended up in the Red Light District one evening! 😀
      America is a long way to go for me a well, it’s why when me and my sister went to the West Coast we did three states instead of ust the one.

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      2. To say we were shocked when we ended up in the Red Light District was kind of an understatement. We just asked to cab driver to take us somewhere with dancing (like a night club where WE could dance) and he ended up taking us all the way out to the Red Light District! Kind of funny looking back on it now though! XD

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  9. Aww, I’m so sorry you didn’t have a great time in Bruges! I’ve been there once and thought the city was much prettier than, say, Brussels. BUT that bad hostel experience would’ve tainted the whole trip for me too… hopefully next time you go your accommodation is much better. Did you file a complaint or get a refund somehow? 😛

    I went to SF last year and liked the city, though having been to Queenstown just recently (hilly roads, waterfront/lakefront, etc.) I can safely say I like Queenstown better, HAHA. It’s so much cleaner, but I guess that’s not a big surprise considering the population.

    What tourist traps did you encounter in Rome, Milan and Venice? Sounds awful!

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    1. Yeah it’s why I would like to go back one day, I don’t feel I got to experience the city properly and it would be a shame for that to be my lasting experience of it. And if/when I do go again I’ll make sure I stay in a decent hotel 🙂
      Nah we didn’t complain, I’m not sure if my university did but for us it was more something we bitched about among out selves in our room before we went to sleep you know.
      Maybe I’ll have to go to Queenstown one day then 🙂 until I do though I think San Francisco is still one of my favourites; I thought it was very much like New York only a little less crowded which was nice.
      It was mainly restaurants, most of them cater to tourists and don’t really care about repeat customers because there’s always another tourist around the corner so they hike up the prices and ust really ripped us off. We got charged a cover charge in one place, which is literally just a cost for you going into the restaurant and sitting down! Like really?!

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      1. Sometimes I kind of want to stay in a reaaally expensive hotel and enjoy all the amenities they have to offer, but on the other hand, traveling to me kind of means sightseeing and actually traveling to me. BUT a nice, clean hotel is definitely a must, regardless of the price. 😛

        I kind of wish I live closer to Europe! Aus is pretty much at the end of the globe (well, from an angle), but in Europe you have SO MANY PLACES to go within a direct flight. I went to New York for the first time last year too kind of expecting the whole ‘bright light, big city’ thing going on, but admittedly I thought it was a lot messier than I hoped, haha.

        Oooh, that’s right. That’s ridiculous if they charge you for only sitting down! Kind of greedy. D:

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      2. I would HAVE to stay in a nice hotel, I’ve done the roughing it in a hostel thing in Bruges, done the camping thing and to fully enjoy my time on holiday I need to stay somewhere where there’s a functing shower and where the sheets won’t give anyone as rash :/
        I do love the fact that I live in Europe, and that I can just hop on a plane and two hours later I’m in another country. Honestly I can’t imagine living somewhere where it would take longer than that to get anywhere by plane, and Aus is pretty isolated isn’t it?
        I think I was blinded by the fact that I was actually in New York, it was my first big holiday and it was exciting for that reason as well.
        Oh definitely greedy, but they don’t care about repeat customers because they know even if you don’t go back there’s another tourist out there who will!

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      3. The rash thing would’ve annoyed me to the ends of the earth, haha – that’s something that stays with you for weeks afterwards!

        Aus IS pretty isolated… but I guess this is kind of all I know? Even here to my home country is about 6-7 hours by flight, and I have to think of that as short because if I don’t it’ll drive me crazy. 😛

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      4. It definitely annoyed my friend I’m not sure how long it lasted but it didn’t seem to come out until the last day so he didn’t have to deal with another night under that blanket which was a good thing.
        Jesus that is kind of unthinkable to me. After a six of seven hour flight I could be in Turkey, or America of we have a good tail wind. I guess relatively speaking for Aus that is a short flight right?

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      5. OMG, six hours to America! America is a 7 + 14 hour-flight for me, haha. But yeah, being kind of a frequent flyer (I’ve been on 7 flights this year so far), I’d say 6 hours isn’t too bad. I’d still get a bit antsy having to sit for that long but I can make myself quite comfortable. 🙂

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      6. Probably just over six hours, and that’s if I’m being generous as well, but flying from London to New York isn’t too long. Wow, seven flights already, where did you go? I think the longest flight I’ve ever been on was 11 hours but honestly we made it back in less time than that (airports always seem to add extra time onto flights)

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      7. I went to Indo, Japan, Indo again, Aus, NZ, Aus again… OK, I miscalculated, that was just six haha. Wonder where I counted the seventh one from last time…

        Oh for sure! I’ve sat in planes in taxi position for an hour or so several times, haha. And with immigration and customs and baggage claim… flying does take time. :p

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      8. Wow that’s a lot of places so far this year, I’ve only been to Edinburgh and Venice so far, which works out to three flights. 🙂
        Oh yeah, all the time you’re waiting to board and then getting through passport control and collecting your suitcases it all adds up doesn’t it! But it’s worth it in the end 🙂

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      9. Yeah, I’ve traveled a bit this year! But generally even without the travels I fly about four times a year to Indo and back (two flights, twice a year), haha. I’m thinking of going to Singapore with the BF later this year and bring him to Indo as well so he can meet my extended family. AHH SO NERVOUS. *screams*

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      10. I try and travel a lot but I guess living where you do you have to make more extended trips on planes and such.
        Ohh, Singapore sounds amazing, I hope you and your BF enjoy it, and he’s probably got to be more nervous about meeting the extended family so you’re probably not alone there! 🙂

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      11. Yes, for sure! I mean if I wanna travel around Asia it’s probably cheaper from here than from where you are, but flights still take a while. 😛

        Oh my god I wouldn’t know. I think the reason he’s so chill outwardly is because I’m freaking out, and well, someone has to be the calm one. 😂

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      12. I’ve never looked up flights to Asia but yeah I’m guessing they’re expensive. My friend and I are looking into going to Tokyo next year and that’s pretty expensive.
        Yeah someone needs to be the calm one. I guess though if you ever start being outwardly chill about it he’ll start freaking out!

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      14. At the moment all we’ve really discussed is next year, but probably sometime in the Summer/Autumn time. We’ve never actually gone anywhere during Winter before, either way I’m sure it will be beautiful! 😀

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  10. I’ve done a fair bit of traveling, but it looks like you and I haven’t overlapped much in terms of where we’ve been. Though I want to go to both, I’ve never been to Amsterdam or Rome!

    I’m glad you liked New York! I’m from upstate, but I recently moved out of state and I really miss NY.

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    1. There are plenty more places I want to go to, maybe one day we’ll have more places in common. Oh Rome and Amsterdam are beyond amazing, I really hope you love them if you do go.
      New York is amazing, I would love to have lived there and I can easily imagine how you miss it! 🙂

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  12. i loved reading about your travels! Your hostel stay sounds bad lol My worst one was in Rome. It supposedly included breakfast but all they did was sit us in a utility closet and give us cereal with warm milk. In hindsight I think it was probably goats milk (I’m not sure about the rest of the world, but Americans really only use cow’s milk for cereal lol!!). My favorite country to visit was Denmark, with Copenhagen and Roskilde being my most favorite cities. I highly recommend Denmark as a holiday location. Tokyo is on my shortlist for a visit!

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    1. Thank you! 🙂 Yeah it was back in Bruges, definitely the worst I’ve been in, and by quite a bit as well. It’s a shame because you can get some really good ones as well. The hostel my friends stayed in in Rome was actually really nice, but you can never tell until you’re there what they’re going to be like can you?
      Oh I’m actually going to Copenhagan in November with my sister. It’s only a short weekend break but I am really excited and I’ve already started looking up things we can do while we’re out there! 😀
      Yeah, I think Tokyo would be an amazing place to go to as well! 🙂

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      2. Thank you! 😀 I’m sure I will though it looks like an amazing city. My sister’s actually planning pretty much everything (kind of a nice change there) and she’s found a decent hotel in the city centre (First Hotel Mayfair) which looks really nice.
        Oh Edinburgh is a lovely city, I’m sure you’ll love it there, and I’ll keep my fingers crossed that the weather will be nice for you as well! 😀

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      3. That’s awesome! I have to plan everything since my bf is not much of a planner lol! Maybe I’ll get lucky and see the Northern Lights in Edin., that would make up for the cold 🙂

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      4. Normally I have to plan everything as well, not because the people I go with are bad planners but more because I’m very OCD about a lot of things so it’s just easier that way! 🙂
        That would be impressive, but you never know, Edinburgh is pretty far north! 😀

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  13. You’ve travelled so much! The cab comment made me laugh. I did my first two years of higher ed just outside the city (NY) so I know all about it. That yellow cab life sometimes isn’t worth it. I’m actually going to the city next month for a conference so huzzzaaah.

    My dad took me to England for my birthday almost 10 years ago. I was just starting my freshman year of high school (2006) and LOVED it. My dad and his whole side is from Newcastle so we spent quite a bit of time going to football games (they didn’t suck) and eating tons of fish and chips. I want to go there again soon but I haven’t figured out when! It’s beautiful in London.

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    1. Yeah I’ve managed to make it to a fair few places already, though it feels like there is still so many more out there I want to go to still! 🙂
      When in New York right? God that cab ride was terrifying, they just ignored the speed limits and traffic lights and there were so many cars honking their horns, but maybe that’s actually the norm and I’m too used to British cabs! Wow in that case I hope you have an amazing time, I’d love to go back to New York one day.
      Oh that must have been amazing, and I know that feeling. Even though I’ve lived here all my life I do still love England, especially London 🙂
      I’ll admit I’m not a fan of football but I am a fan of fish and chips! 😀

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  14. Sometimes I feel like I’ve traveled a decent amount, but there are so many places I have yet to go to. My boss has a friend that she travels with, and they are taking on the United States one state at a time in alphabetical order. Hawaii is up next this fall! My personal goal is to go on a backpacking tour of Europe like my mom did when she was about 25. I’m saving up as much as I can! 🙂

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    1. Oh I feel like that as well, I’ve got a lot of Europe crossed off but then I’ve never been to anywhere in Asia so I still have a lot of places to go to still.
      That sounds amazing, and I’d love to do backpacking around Europe as well. Honestly there are so many places out there I still need to go to I feel I should plan a road trip type event just to get through them all! 🙂

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  15. Haha! You risked your life in a yellow cab. That made me laugh. Those cabbies are crazy in New York. They’ll run you off the road. I only live an hour from New York City. Shopping on Madison Avenue is my absolute favorite. 🙂 I used to live right outside of Los Angeles. I loved Southern California so much. I still need to go to SanFran. The Bay Area looks so cool in pics.

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    1. It certainly felt that way when we were in the cab, I swear the driver just ignored the speed limits and the traffic lights and it was the most insane journey ever! Or maybe that’s just how they are and I’m too used to British cabs! 😀 Oh that must be amazing to love so close to New York, I’m so jealous of you right now!
      I really loved LA when I went there but San Francisco was amazing! It’s definitely an experience to go there for yourself! 😀

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      1. New York cabs are an experience of their own. I was never more scared riding in a cab there. It’s not like that in Philly, but cabs are also a lot more popular in New York than here. It’s funny how close I live to New York and I haven’t been there in years. I could take a train or drive and be there in no time. I was thinking about going in the fall to see a Broadway play. I prefer to go to New York in winter and fall because of the heat in the city. It gets very hot there. LA is awesome! I love that city. I went to this really famous theater there a few different times to see an Off Broadway show and loved it. The street vendors are kind of fun in LA, too. I never buy anything cause they’re all knock offs but it’s a fun experience. San Fran has been on my list for years. I’m surprised I never drove up North the whole time I lived in Southern California.

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      2. Probably an experience I won’t be repeating if I ever go back to New York. I think in New York though cabs are the best way to get aroumd, probably why they’re so popular. Oh that’s a shame, I think if I lived in New York it would be any excuse to go there (kind of like it is with me and London at the moment).
        I feel the same about LA, me and my sister spent the afternoon at Santa Monica one day while we were there which was brilliant (though I got really sunburnt because we were sat on the beach in the height of summer, not smart!) I would highly recommend San Fran, I really loved it there. It kind of reminded me a little of New York but less hectic and crowded!

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      3. That’s 100% true. Most people who live in New York don’t own a car. Cabs are expensive but definitely a better way to get around the city. Oh yeah I love Santa Monica. San Fran does have a quaint but NY sort of vibe to it. It looks like a fun place to travel. You really are a world traveler. Good for you. I loved your pictures form Italy. That’s one place I’ve always wanted to visit, apart from England and Greece.

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      4. Yeah the same can be said for London. Most people don’t own a car just because it’s more convenient to walk, take the tube or take the bus.
        All this talk is making me want to come back to America and revisit Santa Monica and San Fran and NY 😀 but yeah I’ve been lucky enough to get to go to some amazing places so far. And ohh I’d love to visit Greece one days as well! 😀

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  16. OMG YES I HATE PACKING/UNPACKING TOO! I think unpacking is the worst because I hate having to put everything back – I’m too lazy haha! It sounds like you’ve been to some awesome places! You should definitely go to Iceland if you haven’t been there before – definitely my favourite place!

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    1. Exactly, and it’s better to pack because you’re going on the holiday and you’re all excited for that. When unpacking you’re home and there’s nothing left to look forwards to anymore :/
      Oh I’ve been to Iceland twice, and I can see why it’s your favourite place. It’s really beautiful up there, and there’s so many amazing sites as well. I loved the Blue Lagoon! 😀

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