I like to dream big.

I want to travel. I want to see as much of the world as possible. I can't wait to study abroad.

And now that I'm going to Montclair, which is much more affordable than Northeastern, studying abroad is very possible. In fact, just before while I was thinking of what to blog about, I was on Montclair's website, reading about programs in England.

What I really want to do is backpack through Europe. That would be absolutely fantastic.

I've already compiled a list of places I want to travel to...I dream big, I know. A lot of these places have to do with movies that I like. New Zealand, for example. It's where Lord of the Rings was filmed. But it's a beautiful place, regardless, and I want to see it. I want to go to Austria (The Sound of Music). I want to go to Italy, but that's more because I took Italian for four years in high school.

After reading Eat Pray Love, I want to go to India and Indonesia. I want to go to China, because I'm half Chinese, and Germany, because that's the other half. Also, I want to drive on the Autobahn. I've already been to Taiwan, but I wouldn't mind going there again. I want to go to South Africa, because everyone who's been there says it's a fantastic place to go. I want to go to Egypt and see the pyramids. I want to go to South America because if I'm going to hit up most of the other continents, why not this one?

And I don't just want to see the world. I want to see as much of the U.S. as I can too. I want to go to Alaska and see the Northern Lights. I want to hike the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone. I want to go to Mount Rushmore. I want to drive along the coast of California.

I wish I could be more like Ed Stafford. He set off more than two years ago to hike the approximately 4,000 miles that is the Amazon River. He did this to raise international attention about rain-forest destruction and also to raise funds to fight it. I wish I could do something like that. I like hiking and all, but I don't think I could do what he did. I can only admire him from afar.

I want to live everywhere. I want to throw myself in a completely new environment and live there and see what it's like. I don't want to be that person who doesn't stray far from where her family lives. I want to experience new and exciting things.

I want to live in New York City. I want to live in Texas. I want to live in Minnesota and California and Washington D.C. and Washington and Boston. I want to live in Canada and London. I don't want to limit myself to New Jersey or the surrounding area. Though I would be completely content with living in New York City.

Obviously living in all those places isn't a very feasible plan but I can dream. And I can work to make at least some of those dreams come true.

I feel that I have a limited view of the world. I want to see open up my eyes and mind to all these different places and situations.

Not to mention that all this traveling is good for me as a writer. It allows me to place my characters and events in more interesting places.

And maybe after I've traveled and written a few books and I'm older, I'll settle down somewhere. Who knows where? But then I'll have all these fantastic stories to tell people.

Or maybe I'll never settle down and I'll just be a nomad, traveling from place to place as I feel like it. I would crisscross the globe and back again if I could.

And I'm starting a new thing for this blog. I'm going to post one picture every day. And here's today's picture. It was taken at Sunfish Pond, which is located in the Delaware Water Gap. The trail to get to it is part of the Appalachian Trail. I wouldn't call myself a photographer by any stretch, but I do think this photo is particularly good. For me, anyway.

I love the colors and the ripples here.