where have I been?

Not figuratively. Literally. Before 2020, traveling was ingrained in my personality. Obviously, COVID-19 destroyed that claim, and I haven’t picked it back up. So, I got to thinking… where have I been? Where was my favorite place? What was the culture like? What did I learn? Well, I’m about to dish it out for you. Let’s start with where I’ve been.

1.     England

2.     Germany

3.     France

4.     Netherlands

5.     Switzerland

6.     Kenya

7.     South Africa

8.     Rwanda

9.     Tanzania

10.  Zambia

11.  Costa Rica

12.  Puerto Rico

13.  Mexico

14.  Canada

15.  The United States of America

Notice how I list the United States last. It’s a pretty solid list but it does feel smaller as I list it out. Speaking of the US, I have done road trips across it, but if we are talking about where it all started, I was born in Louisiana. Louisiana has always felt like home to me even though I moved to Chicago when I was three, and Chicago feels like home but in a different way. I was always proud of Louisiana. I couldn’t tell you how many states I’ve been to, but a rough count is about twenty-nine. Among the favorites? Montana. Vermont. Tennessee. West Virginia and Virginia also hold a special place in my heart because I used to go there with my church. But I reside in Illinois!

My favorite country, and the one I listed as number one, is England. Living in England changed my life, and it’s the first place I felt home outside of my actual home in the United States. I love the buildings, I love the people, I love the culture. One of my biggest dreams is to by a house there. Now, I didn’t travel as much as you’d think while I lived there, but I did go on a field trip to the Netherlands during my masters. By the time my PhD came around, I started living in Germany part-time with a boyfriend, and although beautiful, it was not the same as England. They did have the best Christmas markets though. This is when I tried learning German but seriously failed, and the grocery store attendant didn’t like that one bit. I went on holiday with the same boyfriend in France and Switzerland and both countries are absolutely gorgeous. The culture is unmatched even if the French could be less than welcoming and Switzerland will cause you to go bankrupt.

I visited Africa for the first time when I was still in middle school, and I got to see Rwanda, Kenya, and Tanzania on that trip with my mom. We did safari, painted a library, and met extraordinary people. Africa was always on my mind after this trip. I went back when I visited South Africa for three months. I worked at a veterinary hospital and lived with a family in a large town called Grassy Park. This trip was straight up fun. I met amazing people, and we did bar nights and karaoke and dinners all over Cape Town. This is also where I met that so called boyfriend. I will never forget the beaches and warm water. In Zambia, I lived in a small camp site with about eight cabins. There were a few different villages close to us and I got to know the kids in the closest one. Every day, I walked ten miles on a dirt road to get to the chimpanzee enclosures that I was using for my research. Some days I’d hop on the back of a motor bike if one of the keepers passed me walking. I got to work with a group of chimpanzees that I absolutely adored. Especially a juvenile chimpanzee named Jewel (if that’s how you spell it). One of my core memories when in Zambia was on my last night when the group sang to me ‘oh dear gracie, we will never forget you’.

I went to Costa Rica for the first time with my family as a kid. We stayed at a resort and spent the days at the pool or beach. It wasn’t until I went back as an adult with some friends that I really got to explore. Every place there is beautiful, and I got a pura vita tattoo to show it. When my dad got married, they chose Puerto Rico as their destination wedding. On the way to the wedding venue, my stepmom’s car broke down and she stood in her wedding dress on the side of the road until they fixed it. So stressful. But Puerto Rico was just as gorgeous as Costa Rica. As for Mexico, I’ve only been and stayed at a resort. I’d love to go there and explore the country more.

I only went to Canada for the first for a friend’s wedding a few years ago. Seemed like the US to me, but probably just because of where I was.

Where would I go next? ASIA. And I’d love to go back to anywhere I have traveled. All good reviews.

Where have all of you been?

xoxo