4 Different, but Equally Amazing Vacations

Vacationing is what everyone would like to do every day of every year if we had the time and money. I mean who wouldn’t want to spend time sipping Mai Tai’s by the beach or skiing down the slopes in Vancouver? Now with this hypothetical, let’s explore 4 other possible vacations if money and time were nonbinding. 

First is Bali, Indonesia. Bali is one of the most diverse places in the entire world in the sense of its many attractions. It contains 4 amazing options that you can visit:  volcanoes you can climb; beautiful free beaches you can roam on; spectacular city life that will keep you entertained for hours; and amazing food that will keep your belly filled to the rim all the time. The resorts there as well are considered top-class by both TripAdvisor and Expedia. Bali is also a spot that you can visit year-round whenever you have your vacation days because the weather is perfect all the time. Bali will either quench your thirst for adventure, provide a soothing experience, or allow you to have a fun night in the city. It could be all three as well. 

Next is Paris, France. Paris is of course known to everyone, but we don’t know exactly what to visit when we are in Paris. After all, there’s the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and the Saint-Chapelle. But aside from that, Paris has so much more to offer. Their food/drink is considered one of the best in the entire world. Their croissants are delicious. Their coffee is delicious. Their chocolate is delicious. Too much deliciousness exists in just this one city. Aside from their food, you can visit their other stunning museums such as Atelier des Lumières( a wonderful art museum) or you can go on bike tours with your tour guide to explain the fascinating history of Paris. When in Paris, do everything you can and you will definitely not have any regrets. 

If you are looking for a high-end winter wonderland, Switzerland is the place to visit. Usually, I would write about a specific city in a country, but Switzerland is the exception. The entire country is breathtaking and any city you choose to travel to will have amazing attractions. The Alps in Switzerland are home to some of the best skiing/snowboarding mountains in the entire world. The snow, the weather, and the hot chocolate all create that winter wonderland experience. If you are looking for a specific area to visit for Christmas, go to Zermatt. Zermatt goes all out every year during December celebrating Christmas with every building having decorations and the entire city lit up at night with Christmas lights. 

For you history buffs reading this, don’t think I forgot about you. The amount of historical importance and infrastructure in Alexandria, Egypt is mind-boggling. The Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, and the Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa all are a few of the many historical buildings in Alexandria. Each of these three has its own interesting history and if you want even more information, you can hire a tour guide for cheap and have them tour you around the attractions. You can also learn about Alexander the Great even more than you already know with all of the information about him that has been passed down to the locals. Aside from the buildings, you can tour around the town and enter farmer markets and completely indulge yourself in the culture that surrounds you. 

These four areas in the world all represent 4 different types of vacation, but they all contain similarities. Each vacation will have amazing food, breathtaking sights, and interesting information. Then as a bonus, you will be able to be in that specific culture and experience people’s lives who currently live in that area. No matter which one you choose, you will be left feeling fulfilled.

Literacy Narrative

Going into my brother’s room was no easy task. I had to sneak around, make sure he was downstairs, and slowly open his door to make sure it didn’t creak. Once in the room, I would stealthily walk over to his bookshelf and take the next book of Ranger’s Apprentice. If he ever found out, I would no doubt be in for a fight. My brother, Rohan, introduced me to the type of books that I liked: fantasy/sci-fi. It was either 4th or 5th grade and I didn’t really like the books that we had to read in class. I saw him reading a series called Warrior which was about cats and I didn’t exactly know why you would read a book about cats until I read the first one. I was completely surprised at the fact that I was infatuated with a book about feral cats. Then because of my simple-mindedness, I moved on to Ranger’s Apprentice, another series my brother was reading so I decided to as well. But what he didn’t realize was that I would start to read more than him and then my desire for books would lead to many pointless arguments between me and my brother.

There is a book for every single thing in this world. I am so sure that if I wanted to find a book about how cats could eat dogs, I would be able to find one. But I wouldn’t necessarily read this book unless I was forced to. We of course had to read passages and short stories as a part of our English class then, but I wasn’t interested at all in what was being read. Warriors was the first series of books that I was genuinely interested in and I do remember a strong desire towards reading the books all the time. I would eat and read, sit in the car and read, and also talk to my parents while my face was in the book. Although I did not finish the series, I remembered how infatuating that desire was to read and I wanted to experience that again.

Ranger’s Apprentice was the 2nd big series of books that I would read and I could not stop. I was most likely a 5th grader at this time and this series helped bring me out of my reader’s shell. It wasn’t necessarily sci-fi, but it was more fantasy. But the setting and writing of the book made it feel like it was more historical fiction. I never knew how interesting it was to read about knights and assassins until this series. I know this sounds unreal since I was already in 5th grade, but I wasn’t ever really interested in castles and similar things to that. I thought that I could be more mature if I didn’t like that and thankfully I realized how much I loved the medieval era then. Going outside my comfort zone isn’t easy, especially for me who is someone who likes to do what has worked. However, I was able to see that if I don’t adventure out and read other genres, I could be missing out on a potential favorite genre.

My brother is the main person that helped shape my reading taste. After all, every younger brother wants to be just like their older brother most of the time. Even now, he still reminds me of how I shouldn’t predetermine books I will like and not like because of my past interests. Of course, reading books similar to your past interest is always amazing, but reading outside your comfort zone can expose you to new and better genres and ideas.