More to the Bucket List: Dreaming at the DC Travel and Adventure Show

While skimming through Twitter last week, I saw a tweet about the DC Travel and Adventure show. Thankfully, I had enough time to register as media and was able to have a sneak peek of the exhibitions. We got to take a close look at the animals of Busch Gardens and had a private demonstration by the executive chef at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg. We also had the opportunity to have great one on one conversations with many of the exhibitors, which opened our eyes to a whole world of travel close to home and abroad.

Cooking Demonstration from Busch Gardens

This was the first time I participated in such an event and was impressed with all the different destinations and services offered. Although I've hopped on a plane many times last year, I was looking for more travel opportunities within a short drive from DC. The Dutchman and I are both lovers of nature and some of the exhibitions which caught our eye the most were the ones about states closer to home, like West Virginia. For most urbanites, West Virginia seems like a world away both geographically and socially, but we are already envisioning ourselves taking a weekend trip to camp and hike in Tucker County.

Photo of West Virginia, from Canaan Valley Tourism

One of the other things we have discussed is discovering the New World. I have been traveling mostly to Europe and Asia due to work and living arrangements and would like to get to know more of Latin America, US, Canada, and the Caribbean. There were several destinations which sparked our interest at the expo: Belize and Saba. Ever since my trip to Costa Rica in 2004, I've wanted to discover more of Central America. Having my roots in Puerto Rico, I find myself going there quite often, however, we would like to see more of the Caribbean. When we heard of Saba, a small Dutch island in the Caribbean, we were intrigued (especially the Dutchman).

Photo of Saba from the Saba Tourism Website

The most exciting thing is we got to travel from Zambia to Ethiopia to Saint Lucia to Nicaragua by walking by the exhibitions. Although we are both well traveled, it opened the door to more destinations and travel ideas.

Photo of Belize from the Belize Tourism Board