Over 100 Flights and 100k Miles

My 5 favorite places I have experienced

Finally, the long awaited and slightly procrastinated first blog post! About a month ago I made a post on my instagram story asking what should my first post be about for some fresh ideas travel, life, finance, or tech. The most commented was about traveling but more specifically my favorite places i’ve been to while traveling. When I started to think about it I initially didn’t think I had been around enough so I kind of put it off. But now with a cool and catchy title and about 4 months of traveling I feel like I have been to enough places (although I’m sure these will change over time as I visit more places) to say where my favorite places have been so far. So, as I struggle to type this out because my cat is in a very weird position on me and I have been up since 3am, these are my favorite 5 places I have visited!

 

Lihue, HI

Photos that I shot can be found here. Well well well yes of course there’s a Hawaii city on the list I know how basic but I chose this city for a specific reason. I have to say before anything that I have not been to all the islands or cities so this may change in the future but it’s hard to say. I have been to Lihue, Kona, and Maui when I was young so I don’t really count that. I have yet to experience Maui (as an adult) or Honolulu. The reason I chose this city over Kona is simply because Lihue is more relaxing and chill at least from what several co workers were telling me, so I decided to try it. And I must say they were right. Specifically when I say chill and what I think my co workers ment is it’s the lack of little kids running around. Nothing against little kids on vacation having fun of course BUT when I was in Kona there were a lot more little kids around than Lihue. I obviously haven’t been to Maui or Honolulu but assuming those are more popular cities i’m going to guess they’re more people in general as well as kids. Lihue and the 25 hours I spent there definitely wasn’t enough to really experience it but it was quiet, refreshing, and relaxing, of course it’s Hawaii so the weather is just perfect. Again comparing to Kona and my experience so far Lihue was very restoring and I would go back anytime for work or a vacation. The hotel is right on a beach and being able to relax with just the sound of the waves and not loud kids is very soothing. On top of that the location where I was staying is not far from really nice hiking areas as well as other stores and restaurants.

 

Manhattan, NY

Photos can be found here. Ok Ok Ok have you seen Spider Man? The one with Andrew Garfield? The one with Tobey Maguire? I know I know another pretty basic location but I promise if you make it through the list some of the places may surprise you. New York had to be put on the list, growing up it’s one of the places i’ve always wanted to see. I’ve been to this state several times now and let me tell you. This place is so small but SO BIG. There is always so much to do and see. Like I said I have been there several times and I have yet to even see the Statue of Liberty or the Twin Towers Memorial, I haven’t even been on a ferry yet. Literally some of the biggest staples in New York and I have yet to see them. That’s besides the point. Regardless if you’re looking to get your steps in for the day or days this is literally the place to go. Everything is 10000% walkable plus traffic is horrendous as it’s New York. The reason I chose Manhattan specifically is because Times Square is just beautiful. So many lights, cool places, and little hole in the wall bars and restaurants. While in Times Square you will see some of the funniest people and the funniest signs or both at the same time. Once you see the pretty lights in Times Square you have Central Park in the area which again is so small yet so big. A casual 2.5 miles long and .5 mile wide in this huge city. In the park you have so much wildlife and statues of animals and people that tell a story. Sometimes live music being played by very skillful locals. As well as my personal favorite in the park you have Chess and Checkers House. Next time i’m in New York I will be visiting The Washington Square Park Chess Tables which is 2 or 3 miles in the other direction of Central Park. Either way my tips for traveling here is to stay in the crowded areas try not to veer off in an area where not many people are around. At least thats what i’ve been told, i’m sticking to it and with that advice I feel safe in New York because it definitely can be dangerous, if you’re around a lot of people you’re good! One more thing I forgot to add which seemed so obvious but I clearly forgot it is NEW YORK PIZZA! Lots of pizza and hotdog places around NY style pizza is great and a must try when visiting.

 

Washington DC

Photos can be found here. Oh man where do I start. Have you ever seen the movie Transformers or Night at the Museum? Ok aside from the movie scenes and just wanting to see the locations. This place is beautiful. So much history here and so many museums I did not have time to even go into one. A simple maps search for museum and you will find A LOT. I really wanted to see the main attractions with my time there. The White House of course, I wonder what that thing is worth on Zillow. Of course you can’t miss the The Lincoln Memorial or the Washington Monument. There is just so much history and remembrance in this… state? City? District? “City District”. Jokes and movies aside I felt the safest here there so much patrol happening at any moment and lots of people around. The DC area is very similar to New York as in if you are looking to get your steps in this is also a really good place to do so. I definitely will be exploring this area more the next time around I didn’t have much time here but i’m glad I was able to see the main things.

 

Denver, CO

Photos can be found here. These photos don’t do it justice I definitely could’ve gotten better ones. Denver is one of those places I’ve also wanted to see growing up. Where I stayed is in downtown near Coors Field. The downtown is super nice and really clean. I definitely haven’t explored enough but when I did get the chance to walk around there are so many restaurants and bars in the area. Denver was a very nice place while walking around the city if you get to a good enough spot you have beautiful mountain views in the distance. I very much enjoyed my time here as it wasn’t very long but there’s lots to see and check out. Next time i’m there i’d like to see and walk around the Empower Stadium which is where the Broncos play. I’m not a sports fan of anything really but seeing these kinds of things in person is always a cool feeling and something you can say you have done before when telling a story. It’s just one of those things where seeing it on TV isn’t the same as seeing or experiencing it in person. On top of all this being in the Denver airport I don’t even have words to explain how HUGE that airport is. It’s the largest airport in the US, 2x the size of Dallas airport. You can easily get lost in how big it is I highly recommend if you have the time to just look at everything in the airport, its amazing. One more thing to add in about the airport with an interesting story is “Blucifer“ also known as Blue Mustang I won’t share the details of how Blucifer got his name but it’s definitely an interesting rabbit hole I suggest you look into when you get the chance.

 

Boise, ID

Photos can be found here. See I told you if you’d make it far enough the list isn’t too basic. Although I didn’t get many photos I wasn’t there for too long. I actually went out really late with some co workers and places were still open which was awesome. I added this on my list because as we walked around downtown and I noticed 2 things. The first being how much art is around the city. One of my favorite photos is the Breaking Boise art piece. Nothing special just a cool play on words referencing Breaking Bad. On top of that piece theres so much more to see around the city which next time i’m there I will for sure be seeing. The second thing I noticed which was just so refreshing especially being in a downtown area is how many trees there were. One of the photos I uploaded shows that pretty well I think. I know it’s nothing crazy or too special but being here just felt calming and being out at 12am there were no cars and no crazy party life, at least that we weren’t around, I could be wrong who knows.

 

Honorable Mentions

Honestly this list was kind of hard to make. I really like all the places I have been to. All places have their own unique style and way of life in the city its truly amazing and i’m very thankful that I have the job I do to be able to experience it all. Some places to mention as well would be all the places on my portfolio. California has several amazing cities for any kind of person, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Cruz, and the list goes on it’s not called the golden state for nothing well maybe because that’s what they tax you with for living there but either way you know what I mean. Washington, of course everyone just thinks Seattle when they hear Washington but after living there for 3 years it’s much more than that. There are so many trees around and a whole national forest. Florida, I have yet to see Miami but i’ve seen Orlando and Tampa both great places with their own style. Orlando has all the fun and cool parks and Tampa for the culture. Nevada, you can’t forget Vegas no one can and of course the knockoff Vegas… Reno! Either way both are great places to be in and visit. Most importantly Lake Tahoe is a staple in Nevada and I highly suggest you go there first before Reno or Vegas. Maryland, Annapolis is a beautiful city you have the State Capital there which is such a nice building and if you ever check out Annapolis I highly suggest you go over to the Naval Academy Base anyone is welcome and it’s huge! Great way to get even more steps in. One place where I didn’t have enough times for photos but have been to and was great is Alaska, man such a beautiful place I will say the sun being up pretty much at any time is the trippiest thing ever but so cool, I highly recommend going in the summer time. Some places i’m looking forward to seeing is Chicago, Miami, and the other Hawaii islands.

 

Conclusion

Alright I think thats about it. Honestly the last time I wrote an essay was in high school hopefully it wasn’t too obvious, I remember dreading it each time. Funny how the world is, isn’t it? I think it’s easier doing it at your own will because it’s something you’re genuinely interested in and don’t have to follow rules per say. Like a word count and specific topic or must have this and that you know? You may or may not have noticed that these locations are domestic only. I didn’t want to include international places YET because that will be a separate blog post :) so in time you can expect my favorite international locations. Like I said in the beginning i’m sure this list will change overtime as well but those are my favorites after over 100 flights and 100k miles flown. Anyways, thank you for reading if you did or maybe you just looked at the titles and called it good but if you are reading and you did make it this far thank you for taking the valuable time out of your day to read my thoughts.