Meagan’s Top 5

My Top 5 list of places to travel to changes all the time. All it takes is an Instagram picture, a friend’s story, or a new restaurant for me to throw all of my former priorities out the window for some place new. I wonder if my locations have a connecting theme, because they sure look different on paper. Maybe it’s that they’re all less-visited in comparison to other tourist destinations. After all, that’s how I ended up studying abroad in Thailand.

1. Morocco – I travel for the food, to experience a completely different culture, and to learn about history. Shopping and home decor are also passions of mine, so the souks of Morocco have been calling my name for a very long time now. Camels in the Sahara, the High Atlas mountains, and crossing over from Gibraltar are all part of my armchair-traveling day dreams. [Photo: Jose Villa]
2. Malta – This wasn’t on my list until a friend told me about her honeymoon there. It has every characteristic of my dream vacation: old architecture, fewer tourists, beautiful scenery. [Photo: Thinkstock]
3. Iceland – Volcanoes, hot springs, and ethereal landscapes – I’ll take all of them. [Photo: Smári Ásmundsson]
4. Turkey – Oh, Istanbul. Markets and minarets just seem so magical to a city-dweller in the south. Bring on the food, the chaos, and the ability to criss-cross between Asia and Europe all day long. Hot air balloon rides over Cappadocia, anyone? [Photo: Andrew E. Larsen]
5. Mongolia – Yurts. Also, I can name 2 friends that have been to Mongolia, and I’m incredibly jealous of both of them. My interest in Mongolia is two-fold: the landscape and the remoteness. I dream about taking a train from London to Beijing along the Trans-Siberian Railroad. I’ll be sure to stop here for an extended stay.  [Photo: National Geographic]

Does this happen to you? Where are your Top 5 Destinations?
Tell us about them in the comments below!

Meagan Martz at A Friend Afar

Meagan grew up in the North Georgia Mountains and spent her first trip abroad in Italy. She’s been traveling all over the world ever since, learning Spanish, Japanese, and Thai. She travels for the food, the culture, and the history.