Writing: Self-Discovery Deck Prompt #2

 What do you know you'll regret if you don't make it happen in your life?

I try really hard to live life without regrets.  Everything that does or doesn't happen makes me the person that I am.  That said, there's one thing that I'd really like to happen before I leave this world.  

I want to travel outside the US.

In my 50 years, I've never been outside of the United States.  Until I was 29, I hadn't been out of the Eastern Time Zone.  I'd been up and down the east coast - living in a small town in New York, visit family in Florida, visiting Washington DC, moving to Florida, moving to New York City, moving to Philly... and I loved every minute of these trips and moves.  But I wanted to see more of the country.

At 29, I went to visit a friend/partner in Montana.  I was so excited to see a different landscape.  And it was.  The mountains were far different than the ones on the east coast.  The air felt different.  The people were both the same and different.  I had a wonderful time while I was there.  Within that next year and a half, I also traveled to Lake Tahoe (and that was an amazing honeymoon that I still remember fondly) and to Las Vegas, where I got to spend time with one of my best friends from high school.

When, at 31, we had the opportunity to move from Philadelphia to Nashville, I was all for it.  Finally, I'd get to live in a different time zone!  We'd expected to be here for about 5 years before moving back to the northeast.  20 years later, we're still here.  I'm not sure for how much longer.  I would like to move closer to family and friends in New York and Pennsylvania.  But that will happen when it's supposed to happen.

As you can see, my travel has been limited.  I haven't even gotten a passport, though that's been on my to do list for years.  I've also got a list of places I'd love to visit.

1. The UK - Not only do I not need to worry about not understanding the language, but there are so many things there I've wanted to see.  Any of the Henges, taking the Ripper tour, going to see any of the Doctor Who things in England and Wales.  I could really see myself enjoying this a lot.
2. Poland - My ancestry is Polish.  I'd like to find out where my great-grandparents came from, visit there, be able to practice my horribly accented Polish that I've been learning over the last several years.
3. The Netherlands - To be completely honest, the main reason I want to visit here is because of the friends that I have there.  Some of these friends I've known for 20 years ang have yet to meet in person.  I want to be able to hug them for a long, long time.
4. Japan - I have heard from friends that have visited that Japan is a wonderful place to visit.  Not only will my geeky heart soar with the various themed cafes, but the country itself is beautiful and there's so much history that isn't mine but I'd love to see.
5. Canada - This one should be the easiest.  I just need my passport and don't even necessarily need to fly.  I know that I have friends in various parts of Canada and I'd love to travel to see them.  But I'd also love to travel to Vancouver to see in person some of the places that LoadingReadyRun has shown over the years.  Well, that and the places talked about in the Guild Codex series.

I'm sure there are other places I'd love to travel to outside the US.  The Caribbean Islands, Brazil, Egypt... but the above are my top 5.  And while I won't regret it if it doesn't happen, I still hope that someday, I can make it happen.