When my parents immigrated to the US they knew a lot of things were going to be different. However, what they didn’t realize was that they had to already have the child’s name picked a few days after the birth of the baby. In Nepal, you can wait until it is the child’s Pasni (rice feeding) which is normally when the child is 5-6 months. So as you can tell they were very shocked when they realized that they had to pick out a name for their newborn baby girl when they had barely thought about it. They had started calling every family member they knew to add names to their nearly empty list. My dad’s only input onto my name though was that it had to start with a B after his dad who had passed away a few years ago from a heart attack. Which was a family decision as half the children on my dad’s side’s name start with a B. My mom had no idea what name to write on the birth certificate although by a fate of luck, the word that came up the most on the music I was listening to was my name. She decided it would be unique and perfect since it meant world or universe. What she had wanted for me from the beginning was that I could travel to as many places as time was able to let me. So these will be a few places that I want to travel to before I die.
Netherlands- Amsterdam
Truthfully I don’t think I have ever even thought about the Netherlands once in my 18 years of life. What ended up happening was I read my friend Carol Yin’s blog about her favorite cities she’s been to. She talked about the picturesque being of the city. With people riding bikes instead of cars by a slow river flowing through the middle of the city. The quiet nature of the city made me want to go. It doesn’t help the fact that the houses are a billion different col ors yet they all somehow work together.
Korea
There is only one reason why I want to go to Korea and that is only for the pet cafes. As someone who has only had fish and one frog that lives in the water going to a pet cafe would be a dream. Even if it was just for the dog or cat ones I would still go. However, what is different about Korea instead of in the US is there are animals that you don’t normally go to and pet. For example raccoons, yes, I don’t know about other people but my mom would have lost it if I went outside to pet a raccoon. I never realized having a raccoon was a thing until I spiraled in TikTok watching videos of raccoons washing cotton candy to them eating grapes and now they are just chilling at a cafe. There are even other exotic pet cafes for meerkats, turtles, chameleons, etc.
China- Harbin
Don’t get me wrong I hate the cold, although the thing about me is if I want to go somewhere I will go no matter if I am uncomfortable or not. In Harbin China, there is something called the Ice Festival which is the largest snow and ice festival in the world with 2 main exhibits filled with the biggest ice sculptures in the world. Ice sculptures carve out giant sculptures that when multicolored lights are added light the sky. I just want to go once to see all of the sculptures I can. After that I will sadly not be back just because of how cold it can get, it can go all the way to -13℉.
Guatemala
During middle school, my friend Jazzmine Gonzalez told me about the country of Guatemala where her family is from. After doing a bit of research about the country I stumbled upon Semuc Champey. Which are these stepped limestone pools with turquoise water passing the Cahabón River. I also can’t forget about the part where you go inside a cave with a candle and swim till you get to the other side. Honestly, the cave part seems the most fun to do.
Thailand
As you can tell I am a fan of warmer areas rather than the cold. I haven’t talked about food during this whole time, I think food is one of those things that can make or break an experience. Of course, every country on this list has amazing food to devour into. Something I would love to go to is night markets. Night markets seem like the best way to really immerse yourself in the country’s food all in one space. Since instead of a restaurant you can taste snippets of the food rather than a platter. Let’s not forget that since it’s night time after you are done with the fun activities during the daylight you can eat at the end.
I loved how comprehensive your list was. It felt like you really hit all your interests and it sounds like an amazing itinerary. I’ve never been to any of these places but I will definitely have to add some of these to the list. I also really liked how you related how you got your name to your desire to travel the world. I also haven’t had many pets in my life so that pet cafe is incredibly interesting, especially one filled with raccoons. As for the ice festival, I am also a much bigger fan of warm weather than cold weather but this place seems like a worthy exception. From what I can tell from your picture and other ones I’ve seen online, this place is absolutely gorgeous and probably a whole lot of fun. I love travelling and plan to go to as many places as I can in my lifetime, so this post was definitely an interesting and insightful read.
Biswo, reading the introduction I loved the story about your name, and it was an amazing opening because it relates to why you want to travel. It was a really meaningful story! I’ve been to three of these places on your list: The Netherlands, Guatemala, and Haerbin. I think all of these places are definitely worth visiting. Amsterdam feels like a scene taken straight from a movie. Guatemala I visited only briefly on a cruise through the area, but the views were beautiful, and you wouldn’t be able to find them anywhere in the U.S. I’ve only gone to Haerbin during the summer, and I also think the ice show would be worth going back for during the winter. Reading through the descriptions, I would also love the opportunity to go to the other two places on your list, especially Thailand. I haven’t been to a lot of countries in Southeast Asia, and would appreciate the opportunity to experience more of the culture. It seems like your really knowledgeable about places to go, and we should travel together if we ever get the chance(especially China since we’ve been talking about it for two years). Good job Biswo!
Biswo, I loved your thoughtful compilation of the places you want to travel! Your introduction detailing the story of your name and its meaning of “world” or “universe” is really powerful. I hope you can fulfill that through these travels. In each of the places, I really like how you hone in on specific activities that you want to do; your list seems well-researched and you have clear intentions with each place. I also appreciate the diversity in the places you selected. I feel like a lot of people are focused on travel in one particular region or continent, for example, Europe, so I appreciate how your list gathers places from all over the world. Personally, you would never find me at a racoon cafe because I hate rodents or critters of any kind, but the concept of a pet cafe is really interesting. I’m not very familiar with the countries on your list, but this read convinced me to add Guatemala and Amsterdam to my list!