I can't remember exactly when I got bit by the 'travel bug', all I know is that if there was a cure for it I certainly wouldn't take it! My first international trip (without my parents, first one to Belize) was to Spain, France and Italy for a week in February. My friend Allye convinced me last minute to come along during school break because she didn't want to go alone. I do have to give credit to her persuasion skills, and it was around the time I saw the Lizzie McGuire movie from Disney (anyone remember that show with Hilary Duff?). I can admit I totally loved Lizzie, and in the movie she had gone to Rome so of course when I saw our itinerary included that city I was practically sold. Though technically she would be going with roughly 10 other girls from our high school, traveling is much more fun when you are with a friend. So with some serious last minute scrambling I was all signed up for the trip. After only a few weeks of preparation, which for me was excessively quick (I'm usually such a planner and list maker) I had my passport and boarding pass in hand and was heading to the airport. 
This was my first real adventure in my mind. Away from the parents, with only two chaperons to 10 or so girls, there was plenty of room to move. However back then I was a much more timid girl and definitely nervous about certain rules and not wanting to be sent home for breaking them. But regardless I had a great time and took so many pictures. My only regret (besides my braces and hair cut then) was not being in more of the pictures. That would be my main advice to people who travel, make sure you are in the most pictures you can get! That way when you look back on them years later it resonates more in your memory. Since then I have made sure that I was in pictures, even if that meant asking strangers nearby (offering to take their picture in return).
Then this past summer I studied abroad for two months in Thailand, which of course was spectacular and allowed me to check Asia off the list. My goal is to visit every continent before I die. I want to visit each place once and then start the whole process again without any restrictions. But I know that it will be some time before I can complete all 7. Currently I have Belize (Central America), Spain/France/Italy (Europe), Thailand/Burma/Laos (Asia), and I technically count North America since I live there and have gone on several family vacations around the states and Canada. So all that is left is South America, Africa, Australia, and unless I date a penguin scientist or something Antarctica is kinda in no man's land.
