Places I’ve Been

Hiking the Great Wall at Jinshanling, China (2015).

Hiking the Great Wall at Jinshanling, China (2015).

When I was 17, I wrote a letter to my future self, aspirationally predicting I would live in a “big city, like Cleveland or Pittsburgh.”

(I’ll pause for snickering, and to let you watch the delightfully uncouth Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Video: “We’re Not Detroit!”).

My family’s adopted hometown since I was 10, Erie, Pennsylvania, has also been harpooned (unfortunately not as colorfully), and although without intentional humor, Robert Coram’s description of Erie in the first few pages of Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed The Art of War is parts hilarious and heartbreaking in its accuracy (click the Amazon link and read pages 13-14 for the full effect):

“[A] hard town, a blue collar town, a grubby and decrepit town that has more in common with its fellow Great Lakes rust belt towns than it has with Pennsylvania cities….remote…narrow…provincial.”

Geez, Coram, tell us what you really think. (It’s true. All of it.)

I’m now 27, and after one Indian abroad program, another Australian internship, traveling to 13 countries (is that it?), and calling two cities outside the USA home (Ho Chi Minh City and Beijing), I can firmly say I’ve surpassed those “big city” dreams and can call myself an international traveler.

(For anyone who’s counting: 3 years, 8 months China; 8 months Vietnam; 10 weeks India; 11 weeks Australia/New Zealand; for a total of 4 years, 9 months–nearly 5 years of collective “international experience.”)

Making new friends in Hanoi, Vietnam (2010).

Making new friends in Hanoi, Vietnam (2010).

I’ve decided it’s a good idea to keep track of all the places I’ve been, so I:

  1. Don’t forget. (I’m probably forgetting a few already in this list, but I’ll update as I remember–and travel to new places.)
  2. Can plan better upcoming trips! (There are still SO many places I’d like to go–Help me add to my list; where else do you think I should go?)

Check out the list of the countries I’ve visited below (I’m not counting layovers; I had to leave security to make it count), as well as U.S. States.

This list isn’t meant to be boastful; it’s more of a record for me. I certainly can’t compete with many others’ lists–but I recognize how incredibly fortunate I have been to have traveled this much so far.

And I think 17-year-old Ginny would think I am pretty cool :) .

Places I have been:

Chronological. Date covers section below it, unless listed otherwise. Photos for a splash of color (they won’t necessarily match to the list!).

Principia Abroad, Taj Mahal, Agra, India (2007).

Principia Abroad, Taj Mahal, Agra, India (2007).

  1. Canada (1996?)
    1. Ottawa
    2. Toronto
    3. Niagara Falls
    4. Brantford
    5. Belleville
    6. Barry’s Bay
    7. Combermere
  2. Scotland, UK (2004)
    1. Kinlochbervie, Scotland
    2. York, England
  3. India (2007)
    Principia abroad, north of Sydney, Australia (2009).

    Principia Abroad, north of Sydney, Australia (2009).

    1. Udaipur (Abroad program September 2007-November 2007)
    2. Delhi
    3. Jodhpur
    4. Jaisalmer
    5. Mumbai
    6. Agra
    7. Shimla
  4. Australia (2009)
    1. Sydney (Internship January 2009-March 2009)
    2. Tathra
    3. Canberra
    4. Melbourne
    5. Blue Mountains
    6. Kangaroo Island
    7. Tasmania
    8. Adelaide
    9. Cairns
  5. New Zealand (2009) (Toured all around the South Island)
    Paragliding in Nha Trang, Vietnam (2010).

    Paragliding in Nha Trang, Vietnam (2010).

    1. Christchurch
    2. Franz Josef Glacier
    3. Queenstown
  6. Vietnam (2010)
    1. Ho Chi Minh City (Lived September 2010-April 2011)
    2. Nha Trang
    3. Hoi An
    4. Hanoi
    5. Dalat
    6. Mui Ne
    7. Vung Tau
  7. Cambodia (2010)
    1. Phnom Penh
    2. Siem Reap
  8. Indonesia (2011)
    1. Jakarta
    2. Bali (Sanur, Ubud)
  9. China (I’m probably forgetting a few side trips outside of Beijing.)
    Banyan trees in Ta Prohm, Siem Reap, Cambodia (2010).

    Banyan trees in Ta Prohm, Siem Reap, Cambodia (2010).

    1. Beijing (Lived April 2012-December 2015)
    2. Qingdao (2012)
    3. Chengde (2012)
    4. Yangshuo (2013)
    5. Guilin (2013)
    6. Shanghai (2013, 2015)
    7. Shidu (2014)
    8. Great Wall (Jinshanling, Shui Changcheng, Mutianyu, and more)
  10. South Korea 
    1. Seoul (2012)
    2. Paju (2015)
  11. Taiwan (2015) (Not technically a separate country, but it really counts as its own separate thing) 
    1. Taipei
  12. Turkey (2015)
    1. Istanbul
  13. Thailand (2015)
    1. Bangkok
    2. Koh Lanta

US Travel

Unchronological (I’m probably forgetting a few!)

Rooftops over Seoul, Korea (2011).

Rooftops over Seoul, Korea (2011).

  1. Connecticut (Born, lived 1988-1998)
  2. New York (Lived West Chester NYC Jan-March 1989)
  3. Pennsylvania (Lived Erie July 1998-September 2010; April 2011-March 2012)
  4. Illinois (Principia College, Elsah August 2006-June 2010)
  5. Massachusetts (Internships in Boston Summer 2008; Dec 2009)
  6. New Hampshire
  7. Vermont
  8. Maine
  9. Rhode Island
  10. Maryland
  11. West Virginia

    Rafting in Shidu, China (2014).

    Rafting in Shidu, China (2014).

  12. Virginia
  13. Ohio
  14. Indiana
  15. Michigan
  16. Missouri
  17. Florida
  18. Texas
  19. Louisiana
  20. Mississippi
  21. California
  22. Wisconsin
  23. Colorado
  24. Kentucky
  25. Alabama
  26. New Jersey
  27. Delaware