Hollywood, Florida, United States

After traveling around the world for weeks, I am getting ready to head back home. My final stop is back in the US at Hollywood, Florida. I didn't do too much in the city, although I know they had para-sailing, beaches, and parks. I visited the Everglades during most of my time, which is why I chose this location. At the Everglades there are trails, visitor centers, and boat rides. It is such a big area that it's hard to run out of things to do there. I stayed at the small village of Flamingo one night, a tourist area a few miles from the Everglades. It was a good way to wrap up my trip across the world.

Taganga, Colombia

Despite being near oceans during most of my trip, this is my first and last time snorkeling. It seems like it would be a fun experience for someone who likes diving or snorkeling, but I'm not too interested in fish and the bottom of the ocean. I just ended up sticking with the many different tours and "adventures" they offered, like biking and climbing. If you are looking for a place to do things like scuba dive and sail though, this city is centered around it and it is the main reason most tourists come here. The food choice in this city is based mostly on the food of surrounding countries and cultures.

Manaus, Brazil

Since I started this trip, I have been looking forward to going to the Amazon Rain Forest the most. An experienced tour guide took a group of us down the Amazon River to get to a more remote place, away from the city. We had to wear long sleeves, pants, and boots to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes or coming in contact with any poisonous insects or frogs. Our group was big enough to scare off any jaguars or other predators. Even with all these precautions we were still pretty safe as long as we stayed on the trail and with the rest of the group. The rain forest had the most diversity of animals I've ever seen and according to our guide there weren't even that many animals out that day.

Conakry, Guinea

For my final trip in Africa I stayed at Conakry, Guinea. The city is going through quite a few problems right now, between a rising crime rate, problems in infrastructure, and reports of an Ebola outbreak, I had to cut this trip a few days short. In the time I did spend there I went to Musée National to see the country's largest collection of masks, statues, and musical instruments. Besides the problems, I enjoyed my time there, it would have been better to go a few months earlier than I did. Because the people are mainly Muslim in Guinea, there were many mosques, some that could even hold 10,000 people.

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Dar es Salaam has by far been the most crowded city I have been to, with almost the same amount of people in Sydney, while being less than a seventh the size of Sydney. It has attracted so much attention around the world that almost all of its food choices are international restaurants. Despite this, the city does a good job at preserving its culture, with traditional songs and dances frequently preformed, as well as an impressive museum. It is on the coast, so it also comes with all of the activities you'd expect from that.

Nelspruit, South Africa

Most of my destinations have happened to be near national parks, this one included. I stayed in Nelspruit, South Africa, about two hours away from one of the biggest nature reserves in Africa, Kruger National Park. It makes all of the other parks I've been to look small, and is also better protected than the others. Zebras, elephants, giraffes, lions, wildebeest, leopards, and cheetahs are just some of the animals that live in the reserve and I was able to see on a safari. Much of the area's economy is based off of the tourism of this reserve alone.

Nosy Be, Madagascar

Nosy Be is a small inland north of Madagascar that is the biggest tourist attraction in the country. There was a nature reserve called the Lokobe Reserve not far from where I was staying at the L'heure Bleue Hotel. There I saw various animals, my favorites were the radiated tortoises and ring-tailed lemurs. There were even more local companies dedicated to whale watching and snorkeling in Nosy Be than I saw back in Sydney. I went on one "whale safari' to see whale sharks and we were actually able to swim with the whales.

Athens, Greece

My main reason for wanting to go to Athens was to see all of the ancient temples and structures made by the Greeks thousands of years ago. The most famous and important of these is the Parthenon, a temple made to honor the godess Athena in Greek Mythology. This building is located in the Acropolis of Athens, which is home to the remains of several more buildings. It was interesting and impressive to see some of the oldest buildings still standing today. Even newer attractions are primarily dedicated to preserving ancient architecture, art, weapons, and culture. Everything in Athens seems to remind you of the city it used to be, from the narrow streets to monuments and statues scattered all around.

McMurdo Station, Ross Island, Antarctica

After I was finally allowed to stay at the McMurdo Station (the biggest community and research center in Antarctica) for a few days, I couldn't wait to leave. The few times I went outside all there was to see was the occasional group of penguins waddling by. It isn't as cold as other parts of Antarctica, but with a record high of 51 degrees Fahrenheit, it took a while to get used to. Most of my time was spent staring out of a window, watching trucks go by. I didn't enjoy it, but it was an experience only a very few amount of people are able to have. At least there it was near impossible to get lost or feel overwhelmed by the 250 occupants of the station.

Sydney, NSW, Australia

So far Sydney, Australia has by far had the most things to do. I had a choice between dozens of museums, tours, and zoos to visit. I wasn't able to explore even half the city, including the famous Sydney Opera House. There are also hundreds more tourists here compared to the other cities I've been visiting. This city has been one of the most diverse I have ever visited. So much of it's money has been poured into making the citizens and visitors culturally and historically aware. Besides that, there was a large population of flying foxes there,even in suburban areas.

Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia

Miri, known as the Resort City, is one of the most common tourist attractions in Southeast Asia. There I was able to see three of the five national parks and visit the worlds largest natural cave chamber, called the Sarawak Chamber. I went to both the beaches and the forests further inland. Nearly everything to do here is outside, even most of the restaurants. Although it's only half the size of Anchorage there is plenty to do. They even have a crocodile farm open to the public in Northern Miri. Most of the food here is Malaysian cuisine and seafood.

Jixi, China

For my first trip outside the US I went with the decent sized, but not too crowded city of Jixi, China. Most people here speak Mandarin Chinese, but I will have a guide here and all the other cities I go to where English isn't a dominant language. One of the most popular tourist attractions there is Hutuo Fortress, an old Japanese military base from World War II, so that's the first place I visited. I spent the rest of my time touring the Ussuri River, which is recognized as one of the few unpolluted rivers in China. Because of this the river and it's surrounding areas are home to the endangered Siberian Tiger.

Anchorage, Alaska, United States

After spending the last week in the crowded, heavily populated state of California, it took some getting used to being in Alaska. Mountains and forests dominated the land with few settlements scattered around. Anchorage, Alaska's biggest city, didn't come close to the size of San Diego. Most things to do around here involve nature and trails, so this isn't a vacation for someone not willing to hike a few miles a day. I spent most of my time doing this at Chugach State Park, just a few miles down the road from where I was staying. There are all kinds of animals there, and I came within a few hundred feet of a brown bear, before it climbed over a hill back into the forest. I enjoyed Alaska, but I'm looking forward to traveling outside of the US.

                                                            

La Jolla, California, United States

First up on my trip around the world is La Jolla, California. It's a pretty nice place, and with the average house costing nearly two million dollars I definitely don't plan on staying. After checking in at La Valencia Hotel, I walked down the street to Seal Rock. Not surprisingly, there were hundreds of seals basking in the sun on the shoreline. As for the food, they had anything you could want, from cuisines and seafood to Thai and Italian. The only thing I would recommend to anyone going here is not waste all your money as soon as you arrive. There were plenty of free and inexpensive places to go, like several museums and beaches.