The globetrotter list

Yay! A list that matches my love for travel and satisfies the geography geek in me: list all the countries you’ve visited. I’m not counting countries if I haven’t left the airport. The numbered countries are the ones I’ve been to, the bulleted the ones on my wish list. I have yet to visit Africa and South America. We still haven’t decided where to go this year. Yes, luxury problems, I know.

Europe 

1. Austria – Vienna and a few ski resorts
2. Belgium – obviously, seeing as how we live there
3. Croatia – along the Mediterranean right before the Yugoslavian war
4. Czech Republic – Prague and the Krkonoše mountains
5. Denmark – Copenhagen, Legoland and a camping tour across the nation
6. Finland – Helsinki
7. France – Paris, the Provence, the Ardeche, the Loire, etc.
8. Germany – Berlin and all over
9. Greece – Athens and Crete
10. Ireland – Dublin, counties Clare, Limerick, Kerry and Cork
11. Italy – Rome, Florence, Venice, Tuscany and many other places besides
12. Luxembourg – Luxembourg and around, which is all of the country seeing how small it is
13. Netherlands – Amsterdam and the rest
14. Spain – Barcelona and along the Balearic Sea
15. Sweden – Stockholm
16. Switzerland – Geneva, Lausanne and driving through
17. UK – London and roadtripping in the south as far north as Birmingham
18. Vatican City – When in Rome…

• Hungary – Budapest
• Iceland – glaciers and elves
• Poland – Auschwitz
• Portugal – Lisbon
• Russia – Moscow and St. Petersburg
• Slovenia – Ljubljana
• The Baltics: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania

Asia

1. China – Hong Kong; would like to see Beijing, Shanghai, Guilin and more
2. Indonesia – Java and Bali; would like to see Lombok
3. Japan – all over in ’86 but I only remember Tokyo Disneyland; want to go back and tour around
4. Malaysia – Kuala Lumpur; want to see the rest of the country
5. Singapore – early 80s; would move there for a few years if I had the chance
6. Taiwan – lived there in ’84-’86 and again in 2000-2001
7. Thailand – Bangkok, Sukothai, Chiang Mai and Koh Samui; would go back anytime
8. Turkey – Istanbul; would like to see more of the historical sites and Cappadocia

• Cambodia
• Laos
• Maldives
• Mongolia
• Myanmar
• Nepal
• Philippines
• South Korea

Oceania

1. Australia – Sydney, Melbourne and Queensland

• New Zealand

North America

1. Canada – Toronto and Niagara
2. USA – east to west, south to north, but craving to see more of the National Parks

• Caribbean cruise
• Costa Rica
• Cuba

Africa

• Egypt
• Kenya
• Morocco
• Namibia
• South Africa
• Tanzania

South America

• Argentina
• Brazil
• Chile
• Ecuador – Galapagos Islands
• Peru

\ˈfō-bē-ə\

“What are your biggest fears?” my Listography book wants to know.

Apparently common fears include fear of ghosts, spiders and snakes, heights, enclosed spaces, water, bridges and tunnels, needles, flying and driving, rejection and public speaking. More recently many people have developed fear of terrorism, gang violence, the future, nuclear war and death.

Ghosts? Seriously? Anyway. I do not suffer from these fears – despite my many neuroses. The common fears I share are fear of cockroaches (their bellies and legs are disgusting), fear of failure (this is a competitive society after all), clowns (It. Say no more) and being alone (we all want to be loved). These are among the most common fears worldwide, but it’s not anything I can’t deal with.

There are two fears I can’t deal with. They are crippling and sometimes make me socially awkward.

When I first learned the word emetophobia, I was both relieved to find this wasn’t just me and nauseated at the thought of what that word represents. This unfortunately is not a fear commonly shared. The proof of it is in the casual way the cause of this fear is portrayed in movies and television – even considered comedic! – and the random way people all around me manage to slip it into conversations. Just say you were sick. I don’t need the details. I’ve had this issue even as a little kid. Learn to get over it? Maybe I should, but reading up on the treatments sure doesn’t put it at the top of my to do list.

I am also – and this is worse – terribly, overwhelmingly afraid to lose my husband. I have nightmares about him having an accident. And I have to stop myself panicking when he talks about buying a motorcycle. And I burst into tears when he jokes about him not being here anymore. All men must die, I know, but let mine live a long while longer.

So what are you afraid of?

Lights, camera, popcorn

The next list in the Listography book is favorite films. A tricky one. There are many quality films I enjoyed, but would never watch again. And there are some films I can’t get enough of even though critics lambaste them. Choosing between genres is even more difficult, so I’ve made a list of films that I enjoy and will never get enough of, be they objectively good films or not. Judge away.

The Indies

• Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain – Amelie and Yann Tiersen remind me that life can be as good as you choose to make it
• Beautiful Girls – because I’m a sucker for ensemble casts paired with cozy music and good dialogue
• Rushmore – Wes Andersen. Say no more. He’s my Rushmore of directors

The Romantics

• Love Actually – because love actually is pretty neat
• Sleepless in Seattle – old style romance at its best
• When Harry met Sally – a New York classic
• While you were sleeping – I so wanted to spend Christmas with them

The Adrenalines

• 28 Days Later – zombies. Hell yeah!
• The Day after Tomorrow – because I love a good apocalypse where the guy gets the girl and everyone I like gets saved
• Terminator 2: Judgment Day – Best. Sci-Fi movie. Ever.

The Nostalgics

• Dazed and Confused – reminds me of my time in Texas
• Ferris Bueller’s Day Off – Danke Schoen John Hughes, for this iconic 80s comedy
• Reality Bites – it really does
• The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants – satisfying all my girlie needs

The Comedies

• Office Space – it’s funny because it’s true
• Overboard – because the dynamic between Goldie Hawn & Kurt Russell rocks

The Heroics

• A Few Good Men – passion, duty, drive and intense face-offs. On the edge of your seat waiting for the truth
• Big Fish – heroic tall tales laced with Tim Burton fantasy and Ewan McGregor’s mischievous smile
• The Lord of the Rings trilogy – as close to perfection as you can get and a decade later still feels current

The Song & Dance

• Center Stage – ballet to the tunes of Jamiroquai and the Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Cry Baby – a musical parody, a single tear and as unrealistic as it gets
• Hair – it shaped my thinking all through the nineties, although now I would totally want to give them all haircuts

I used to watch more serious films, like the Vietnamese Cyclo or Requiem for a Dream, buy I can’t stomach those anymore. If I want to see depressing stuff, I read the news. For entertainment I want to be entertained in the most unrealistic of ways now. I like when things happen that are entirely impossible in the real world. And I like happy endings. I wish we could all have one.