Photo Link for Kenya:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/VbPBJJ4BNyngPzr39
Photo Link for Russia:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/oQwZCRwC7qcHQUFS9
I’ve been lucky enough to have taken a ton of trips in the past (both with family and solo), and figured I’d start this with some of my personal highlights:
- Went to Siem Reap with my dad in November 2017 for a week. Seeing the Angkor complex + nearby temples was probably my single favorite trip I’ve ever taken. Preah Khan, Koh Ker, and Beng Mealea in particular were the highlights. I will 100% be back in Cambodia to do some more ruined temple exploring.
- Went to Kenya in August 2018 with my younger sister for a week. We split our safari between Amboseli and the Masai Mara. This is a close 2nd for me in terms of my favorite ever trips, and it was absolutely phenomenal. We went through a company called Gamewatchers and to do this in the reserves near the parks was infinitely better than just sticking to the parks only (which is still great! I went to Kruger with a friend April 2017 so this was my 2nd safari). It’s definitely a bit expensive but I would love to do an affordable (i.e. adventure camping) safari like this again.
- Went to Russia with my family in June-July 2016 for a week, and then went again on my own in June 2019 for two weeks in order to visit again before my three year visa expired. Easily my favorite European vacation that I have taken. Have been to Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Volgograd, Vladimir, and Suzdal.
- Went to Istanbul with my family in December 2012 for a week. A close 2nd after Saint Petersburg in terms of my favorite cities that I have visited.
- Took a weekend trip to Berlin while studying abroad in London in December 2012.
- Other random highlights were Mexico City (one week in October-November 2016 for Day of the Dead), Krakow (weekend in October 2012), Paris (one week in December 2014), Rome (one week in February 2009…Pompeii in particular was a highlight) and Granada (few days at the end of a week in Spain in February 2007).
I’ll be retiring on August 8, and then flying back home to New York on August 12. Will then be flying to San Francisco on August 19 with my family for a cousin’s wedding, before going to my first Burning Man. Will get back to New York after Burning Man on September 4, and then fly to Shanghai for my first stop on September 13.
Currently am planning on spending ~10 days in Shanghai and the nearby area (Suzhou/Nanjing/Hangzhou) before flying to Chennai. Will then use my grandma’s apartment as a base while I learn how to backpack, and take it from there. I’ll probably spend the year in Asia before coming back to the US in June 2020 for my friend’s bachelor party and wedding.
My sister will be graduating from the University of Michigan in April/May 2021, and I will need to apply to grad school in the summer/fall of 2022 (before my GMAT/LSAT/GRE scores expire), so I’ll be coming back home every summer for the next three years for a “summer vacation”. So the only real plan is to travel in ~10 month blocks for the next three years, and then a final ~6 month block before I go to grad school and have a mid-life crisis.