I have never given much thought to traveling before; I mean, I always wanted to go places, but never thought that much of traveling. I was hit with the travel bug in the fall of 2013, my senior year of high school.

I remember that when I got to the frozen yogurt shop in my hometown for my shift, there was a new girl, Kristin, who was just hired as the manager. She said that she just got back to the States and that she was in Thailand for the past nine months, teaching English to the locals there. Every time I worked with Kristin, she would tell me stories of her travels, and said that if I have the opportunity to travel, then I should go for it. Thus began my desire to travel the world.

I plan to study abroad with my friend during my four years of college. Going abroad to Europe to study will give me a chance to see the world, so I must take this opportunity. I already have a list of places that I want to go to. I desperately want to see London, England, because it has been a dream of mine to go there. I would love to see Buckingham Palace and have afternoon tea there.

I want to see Scotland and Ireland too.

One place that I need to go to is Copenhagen, Denmark. I fell in love with this country when I was in fifth grade. My class read the novel "Number The Stars," and the book took place there. The following year, in sixth grade, all the sixth graders in the school did a country fair, and I choose Denmark as my country. I learned interesting facts about the country, so yeah, I need to go to that country.

I plan on going to Germany and Belgium when I study abroad, because those are some places that my friend wants to go to, and I said "sure, why not."

I have been to various countries through the words I read. The novel "The Glassblower of Murano" takes place in Venice, Italy in present time, and in France at the Palace of Versailles around the 1400s-1500s. I heard that Venice is beautiful, and I want to go to Versailles to the palace in order to see the room where Marie Antoinette said, "Let them eat cake." Yes, I am crazy about history, next to reading.

The next place I want go to on my European adventure is Amsterdam, because from pictures that I have seen, it looks beautiful. I would love to see the Anne Frank House if I ever make it there.

Not only do I want to explore Europe, but I want to more thoroughly explore the United States of America as well. There are many towns that I want to visit like North Carolina. After reading Nicholas Sparks' novels, I feel like I've been to all the towns that the books are set in; I want to visit as many of those towns as possible.

I would love to take a trip to Chicago, Illinois, because I want to go to Navy Pier, and also, why not.

I also want to travel to the four corners so I can stand in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona at the same time. It would be so cool.

Seattle, Washington is on my places to explore in the US. The city looks so cool.

I would love to thank Kristin for hitting me with the travel bug that has sparked my desire to travel all over this earth. Unfortunately, I have to stay put for now because of college. My time for traveling is coming, and I cannot wait to witness different cultures and meet new people.