Where I like to go on vacation

Many of you may know that I am not at all a city person. In fact, I completely despise large cities. Some straightforward reasons are that you are more disconnected from nature, the air is dirtier, and there are more people. I generally just feel a lot safer around fewer people. Just walking around in a large city stresses me out. I like living in Champaign-Urbana because it doesn't have the same crowded feel, and there is still plenty of green and fresh air. For any city folks reading this post, I can totally understand why you might like big cities, but I'm just not that kind of person. I don't like to visit cities when my family goes on vacation because I don't find sightseeing interesting and I am content with the food and activities around here. Instead, I prefer to vacation in the mountains.

My family is fortunate enough to afford about 1 major trip per year, either in the summer or in the winter. I am always trying to persuade my parents to go skiing in the winter or hiking in the summer. The two major mountain ranges I have visited are the alps and the Rockies, and I have visited both in the summer and in the winter.

Skiing is one of the main reasons why I like the Winter. Over the years, I have become a reasonably proficient skier. I can handle green, blue and black slopes with ease, but so far, I have never dared to go on any double black diamond slopes. I told myself that once I successfully descended a double black diamond slope, I would try out snowboarding (which I have been told is a bit harder than skiing).  A couple of times, I have stood at the top of one of these slopes, not quite summoning the guts to go down. One thing I have learned, though is that when you start feeling apprehensive, it is a good idea turn around. As I have experienced before, skiing is an activity where you certainly do not want to bite off more than you can chew.

One other winter time activity for the mountains is sledding. almost everybody has probably been sledding before, most likely at a local hill. I got to sled down a mountain In Austria. Sledding down the ski slopes is even more thrilling than skiing. When you sled, you have very limited control--almost zero stopping power and a very large turn radius. I often had to bail to prevent myself from hitting trees and flying off the trail into who-knows-what. Having to bail at high speeds can really hurt sometimes and making sure your sled doesn't continue to the bottom of the mountain can be tricky.

In the summer, when skiing is only feasible at extreme altitudes and for great costs, hiking is a great activity for the mountains. It is a lot less crowded, as long as you know how to avoid the touristy areas. The Valais, in Switzerland is certainly my favorite place to hike. It is a very pretty region with many small towns and farms on the mountainsides.  In addition, this region has many hot springs with huge spa towns built around them.

Unlike many people, I am not a huge fan of going to the beach. Maybe I just need to try surfing or something, but I have always found the beach a bit boring. There are several other locations in which I do not enjoy vacationing. Paris, which I have been to a couple times, is at the very bottom of the list. I don't really appreciate the architecture, the food comes nowhere close to its reputation, and it is practically impossible to escape the cigarette smoke from all of the smokers.