Prompt #27: Share a photo or video that just makes you want to GO. RIGHT. NOW.

“Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.” –Seneca

Every few months I come across a video on Vimeo that definitely makes me want to pick up and leave, and then I find myself repeatedly searching for travel deals to Paris or Tokyo deals or {Insert ANY country} deals. Here are a few that did that to me in the last year…

Travel videos that give me wanderlust:

Inspired by Iceland

I’m sure you’ve seen this one by now. I was so excited to find this one last year, after I’d already purchased my ticket to Iceland.

Move. Eat. Learn.

This is by the same guys (Rick Mereki) who did the walking across America one last year (note: not the guy who actually did walk across America). I love to see all the different food and scenery and people.

Tokyo Slo-mode

Love seeing Tokyo this way. By Alex Lee

I Believe I can Fly

This ‘flight of the Frenchies’ trailer about highlining/slacklining absolutely fascinates me. I put it on tumblr a few weeks ago, and have watched a half dozen times. By Sebastien Montaz-Rosset

Iceland = Mad Wanderlust

The cool thing about finding one inspiring video, is that it leads you to more. (I found this one from the Flight of the Frenchies’ Sebastien Montaz-Rosset, a video by Austrian Klara Harden, who did a 25-day solo hike through Iceland this summer.

A Journey Through Vietnam

This video by Leon Visser reminded me of my time in Vietnam. If you’ve been to Vietnam, watch it! It’s like a trip down memory lane — the people, the traffic, Halong Bay, riding on the back of motorbikes… it’s beautiful.

Do you have a recent favorite?

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Today was probably the most depressing day of the trip. We toured S-21, the prison during the Khmer Rouge regime and then went to the Killing Fields. I felt pretty sick to my stomach by lunch time. And I didn’t take any pictures, because it just seemed to sick to photograph. I’d heard of the Khmer Rouge, but really had no idea about Cambodian history. It’s hard to imagine that something so awful in human history happened so recently.

We went to our S-21/Killing Field guide’s house for dinner. He runs an English school out of his home, so we played with the kids before dinner. My girls were hilarious. We talked about our families and then played rock, paper scissors and they taught me one of those hand clapping games (very similar to the kind we played in elementary school). Then we took a few pictures. Here’s one of them “posing”, they’d fit right in in Japan. ;) Anyway, dinner was huge and delicious! Cambodian food is excellent. And for dessert we had deep fried tarantula and tarantula wine. I ate a tarantula leg… it was really salty.

We arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) yesterday. HCMC seems to just be an “official” name in southern Vietnam. Ever since we went through the DMZ area, it’s been referred to as Saigon. So Saigon it is! It’s heading into rainy season here, so we did a cyclo tour of the city, through the rain. But that’s what my Columbia rain jacket (with duck bill hood) is for. :) We stopped at the War Remnants Museum. It was a tough walk-through, but still interesting. After leaving our cyclos behind, we walked around the downtown square and then had drinks at the Rex Hotel (that’s famous for housing all the reporters during the war). We had dinner at a more local (not touristy) place. Their specialty is “beef on a roof tile” dish, where you cook strips of beef on your own rooftile and then make little rice wraps with them. Unfortunately, “tofu on a rooftile” wasn’t on the menu, so I had a so-so veggie dish and rice.

We drove down to the Mekong Delta this morning for a daytrip. We took a boat into the “islands” and then visited a coconut candy place. We watched them make the candy (from whole coconut to complete, wrapped candy). The candy was really good, so I bought some. After the candy place we had lunch at a bee farm. I had some of the fish for lunch. It was delicious. FIrst you pick off some fish, wrap it in a rice wrap with pineapple and cucumber and then dip it in a sauce. It was fun to make and to eat! After lunch, we had the chance to stick our fingers in a beehive. Yums! Then we rode on little wooden boats back to the bigger boat to go back to the mainland. I was expecting the Viet Cong to jump out at anytime. ;)

Although I’ve been laughed at lately for this, there’s a reason I usually pack my bag the night before I have to leave early. Yesterday morning, it came in handy. I didn’t wake up to my alarm, and since I don’t have a roomie, I just kept sleeping! (I know, what a pain to have gotten stuck with my own room!) So I got ready in 15 minutes, and yes, that included a shower.

We bused to Hoi An, and arrived around noon. I’m so excited because our hotel has bikes! Yay for bikes. We rode our bikes into town and then several people went to get things tailored. If I ever come back to Hoi An, I will definitely get some things tailored, but I really don’t want to carry a bunch of stuff around right now.

This morning, I went on the snorkeling trip that goes out to an island near Hoi An. Unfortunately, I started feeling sea sick, especially after snorkeling in a wetsuit. Note to future wetsuit snorkelers: It’s not fun at all! So I sat on the boat for about 20 minutes, and we finally got to the island. By the time we arrived I was feeling better, but I decided to play it safe and just had rice and 7-Up for lunch. Then I laid in a hammock for several hours. So relaxing! Before we left, we had the option of taking a 10 minute walk to an island village. After 30 minutes of hiking uphill, we arrived at the village. It was kind of strange to see a village that exists without really being connected to the mainland.

After a day in the heat, I decided to splurg on a foot and leg massage at the Imperial Hotel Spa. Sometimes it’s just more fun to go to the “expensive” spas here. They’re still half (or a quarter) of the price at home, but they have all the added touches like the spas at home (think air conditioning and quiet). And I got more ginger tea! After my massage, they let me use the free Internet in the wonderful aircon lobby.

For dinner, we went to a local’s house. Our guide for the motorbike trip hosts people in his home. It’s worth it for them because they charge, and it’s worth it for tourists because it’s an awesome experience. The food was amazing (best meal so far in Vietnam), and it just kept coming. Since I was the only vegetarian, it was very apparent what I did and didn’t eat, and after what seemed like 10 courses, I was feeling bad that I couldn’t eat more.  :)

I woke up at 5:15 this morning. I went up to the top deck, but the sun was already up! The sky was still pretty cool though. It was nice to have some morning quiet, since I haven’t been able to find that in Hanoi. After breakfast, the boat headed back to the docks. We were back in Hanoi by lunchtime. After lunch at a local cafe, I checked out the Prisoner’s Museum with Sach. It’s nickname is the Hanoi “Hilton.” They even have a picture of John McCain as a POW from the Vietnam War. My guidebook said that he tried to commit suicide several times while being at the Hanoi Hilton, but there’s not much media publicity on that back home. Although that would be a touchy subject, “oh yeah, well I hear you tried to off yourself as a POW!” Anyway, after touring the jail, we walked to I-Box, a really chill bar that Tracey recommended, over by Hoen Kiem Lake (not the lake that John McCain was captured out of). It’s so different than everything I’ve seen so far in Hanoi. I-Box is full of the Vietnamese yuppy class, that you don’t see out on the streets. So it was a cool experience. We ordered cocktails and chatted until more of our group showed up. It was really funny being there before, during, and after happy hour. After five hours at iBox we had dinner and then headed to the train station. We’re overnighting to Hue. This is my third overnight train experience in Asia. Apparently, I started at the bottom, because the Vietnamese trains are even nice than the Thai trains! We had our own compartment, with only two bunks to a room.

We arrived at Halong Bay around noon. After boarding, we got settled in our rooms. I have my own room! :) Lunch was interesting. I had a lot of tofu and rice. After lunch, I sat up top and read, sunned for about ten minutes and then decided it was too hot. Halong Bay is incredible! It reminds me of some of the cliffs near Ko Phi Phi in Thailand, but the bay is full of them! There are so many little islands and cliffs and peaks and the water is gorgeous too. I keep expecting a pirate ship to come slowly sailing around the corner!

When we got pretty far out into the bay, we stopped at the Surprise Caves to walk through, before getting back on the boat. Apparently the caves are called the surprise caves because they didn’t know they were there, and then “surprise” they found them… hmmm… After the caves, we went back out into the bay and stopped to swim. I asked one of the crew if I could jump off the top of the junk. He said “uhhh… ask your trip leader.” She wasn’t in eye sight, so I just went up and jumped. Hahaha, because I’m a bad ass, lol. (Actually, I’d heard from other travelers that jumping off the boat is one of the really fun things about visiting the bay.) Man up, boys! ;) Anyway, the water was really salty, but it was really nice to spend some time in the water. After swimming, we sat on the deck and drank Vietnamese beers until dinner. So far my favorite is Tiger, followed by Biere Larue. Dinner was more variations of tofu and rice. So far, I’m not too fond of my food choices here in Vietnam. After dinner, we went back to the deck to drink more beers and tell jokes. Brian, from one of the older Kiwi couples, tells the most hilarious jokes, and his accent kills me. Anyway, it was a really fun night, I haven’t laughed this much for a few weeks.

Since I’m staying in the Old District, I did a lot of walking this morning. The streets are so busy here. Motorcycles and bicycles and pedestrians are everywhere, with a car thrown in every now and then. To cross the street, you just start walking and the bikes and motos dodge you. It looked a little scary at first, but after watching locals, I followed how they did it and it somehow just works! After breakfast at a cafe in the Old District, I got a massage and a manicure at a local salon. I seem to be more of an oddity here than in Thailand. People from neighboring shops came to stand in the doorway and stare at me having my nails done. After being here for less than I day, I can’t help but notice that the Vietnamese smile all the time. Why are they all so happy! :)

My Vietnam tour starts today, so I took a taxi over to my new hotel by the train station. The group meeting wasn’t until the evening, so I walked over to a yoga place mentioned in the Lonely Planet, but it’s closed down. That’s 2 for 2 of places that aren’t in business, Lonely Planet! Since I was across the street from the Temple of Literature, I walked over to check it out. It wasn’t that interesting, so I took a taxi out to the Museum of Ethnology. The museum was really cool. They have an huge outdoor exhibit behind the main museum building that has different examples of huts and traditional housing. And the French Bakery that I tried to go to this morning was relocated out here, so I won’t say if that was my true reason for coming here. ;) I had a lemon tart and iced coffee, before heading back to the hotel for the group meeting.

When I first walked in, there were two older couples sitting there. I hope my initial horror was too visible. Thankfully, a couple in their 30s, and 2 guys in their 20s joined us shortly. We went to dinner at a local restaurant. The group seems alright, but there’s kind of an awkward “get to know you” atmosphere. Thankfully, after a few days the 20 Questions should be over.