Whilst, there’s an excitement to go to a new city/country each time you decide to venture on a travel, there is a certain charm in going back to places where your feet have already marked their spots. For me personally, I love travelling and whether it is to a new place or a place I’ve been to before, doesn’t matter, as long as I get to get out of where I am now. #ThankYouForComingToMyTedTalk.

I was struggling for idea topics for blogs and I thought maybe collating a list of my top favourite cities could be a good blog to go with. You tell me how you like this blog? These cities are listed in no particular order. I’d go back to any of these cities, if the opportunity presented itself.

• Queenstown – Why not start with home! Queenstown literally is my home away from home. I’ve been there so many times, and feel like I know the place like the back of my hand. Yet, each time I go there, I have a different experience, or do something new, something that I haven’t done before. Every trip there, leads to a heavy heart whilst sitting at the airport waiting for the boarding call for my flight back to Auckland. There’s just something magical about Queenstown. You can read about all the things to do in Queenstown here.

• LA – Out of every 10 tourists that go to LA, 9 will say they hate it, I am that 1 who screams “I love LA” in a loud and shrill voice, and hell yes, I am proud of this fact. There’s just something about this Californian coastal city of angels. I’ve only been there once, and hope to go there again later this year, but we’ll see what happens. Maybe it’s the fact that it’s home to the (original) happiest place on earth, or maybe it’s the Hollywood vibe, either way, LA will always be a place I’d love to go back to.

• London – Living in New Zealand, makes it hard to go back to Europe for a holiday. The 36 hour flight time is a big put off, but I’m glad I had the opportunity to go to Europe as a kid. I have always been fascinated with history and going to London, was perhaps the first opportunity I had had to come face to face with glances of British history. I think the highlight of being in London, though, was being able to go to Trafalgar Square every single day, and feeding the pigeons. As a 10-year old, this was the best holiday experience ever!

• New York City – Growing up, I was always fascinated by New York City, I still am. Even though I had a horrible experience in New York City when I visited, I was in awe of being in the city, I had learnt so much about as a kid. My heart was broken, but that didn’t stop me from taking a photo at all the hot spots #TouristGameStrong. I plan on going back there, this year, again, that remains to be seen, but I know this time my experience being in that city will be even more magical.

• Rio De Janeiro – Rio is another city, I grew up learning about through Fifa 99. To be fair, my team in that game would always be Brazil #RonaldoFTW. Kids these days be like Ronaldo never played in 1999, and he plays for Portugal, child, this is a different kind of Ronaldo, one when paired with Rivaldo, created magic on the field. To me Rio, was always the city with the giant Christ statue. Fun fact: as a kid I always thought that Copacabana was another city, and not a beach in Rio. When I got to Rio, it was such a surreal feeling of being there. The vibe in the city, the way the people enjoy every day to their fullest, just gave you a new appreciation for life and the city #deep.

Would you want me to do another one of these lists?

Let me know!

Until next time,

MiliG