Birthday Wish List

The Facts: It's September 25th. It's my birthday. I'm a Libra.

Thoughtful dares (with much appreciated rewards) would make my day so far from home. To all my family, friends, former coworkers, and readers everywhere, now is your chance to speak up!

If you're having trouble thinking of something entertaining (relevant, funny, weird, embarrassing, or just plain gross), check out the dares I've completed or still have pending. And here's my personal travel wish list for the remainder of my time abroad:

• Laos – see what the fuss is about, rock-climbing, river tubing
• Northern Thailand – cooking class, short jungle trek
• South Africa – show up at Warren's (Koh Phangan) door in Cape Town for a locals' perspective, cage dive with Great White's, safari to see the Big 5, survive Johannesburg, contemplate further overland travel (Mozambique anyone?)
• Ethiopia – I don't know why, but it appeals to me
• Egypt – Cairo, The Great Pyramids, Sphinx, sailing down the Nile, lots of old stuff I'm sure is cool, riding a camel, not getting kidnapped and held for ransom
• Jordan – photo-op with Petra (preferably Nemcova, but I'll settle for the archaeological site)
• Italy – stand on the Grand Canal in Venice 10 years after I first fell in love with the city, eat pizza and gelato, drink copious amounts of (cheap if necessary) red wine
• Switzerland – mountains, lakes, cleanliness, order, meeting Swiss Miss, chocolate, and the couches of the people I met in Pokhara
• Germany – Berlin, beer, and more couches
• Holland – go on a bicycle ride with Gela, my one and only trekking buddy from Nepal
• Belgium – chocolate
• Paris – more couches, Jim Morrison's grave, the catacombs, delicious food
• London – English-speaking couches (or floor space if I see Adam from Hong Kong), attend an English Premier League soccer match (preferably involving Chelsea, Arsenal, or Man United)
• Brazil – Rio, beaches with cool names like Copacabana and Ipanema, drinking caparinhas, samba lessons, Carnival, trekking in the Amazon, Sao Paulo, meeting my future wife :)
• Bolivia – salt flats, mountains, who knows – it's cheap and politically unstable
• Peru – trekking the Inca trail to Machu Picchu
• Colombia – hang out in cool, scary sounding (but now relatively safe though yet to become touristy) cities like Bogotá, Medellin, Cartagena, exploring the countryside while avoiding narco-terrorists
• Panama – swinging in a hammock on Bocas del Toro (islands), A man a plan a canal Panama (living the palindrome!)
• California – Los Angeles, Take the “OC” tour which I'm sure exists by now, Beverly Hills 90210, San Diego to see my good friend Bob
• Colorado – tap the Rockies
• Florida – gettin' jiggy wit it in Miami, eat a Cuban sandwich in Little Havana, hang out at my parent's condo near Tampa Bay
• Canada – Montreal…Canadian couches (my favorite, though I'm not sure I'm invited yet)
• New York City – come full circle by visiting my friend Kai at his office, backpack having been around the world and back

I admit after 10 months, it looks ambitious in list form, but that's why I need your support!

Dave Lee

Dave is the Founder and Editor in Chief of Go Backpacking and Feastio. He's been to 66 countries and lived in Colombia and Peru. Read the full story of how he became a travel blogger.