Favorite Places

My favorite places. I try not to choose favorites in life because feelings tend to be hurt and drama isn't really my thing, but inevitably the beauty of the world seeps in deeper when I'm in special places. I wanted to limit my choices based on places I consider to be "home." People always say that home is where the heart is, so I figure it is appropriate since a little piece of my heart resides in the following:

Pemba, Mozambique, Africa

This one was the easiest to choose, I didn't even waiver. This place takes the cake for being my favorite of all time. I called Pemba home for three months during the summer of 2013. I think the reason for it being home to me is that, in a way, it took me in and let me stay a while... kind of like a worn sofa or a good book. I traveled to Pemba one person, and left another. This place saw the good in me, forgot the bad, and shaped the "me" I am today.

 The coastline in Pemba, Mozambique.

Self-photographed on July 9, 2013.

Leticia, Colombia, South America

Mmm, just looking at the pictures again makes me smile. Though I only called the small town of Leticia home for two weeks, it really is one of my favorite places. The people, the landscape, the food, the culture in general. It marked me. I traveled here on a study abroad trip at the beginning of summer 2014 with 6 of my best friends. I went to learn about petroleum, but really I just took away an incredible experience and knowledge of something bigger than the suburban life in Norman, OK. I visited three countries in one day, held a sloth, rode a boat across the Amazon river, ate grub worm, had 14 wild monkeys jump on me simultaneously and to top it all off had some belly-laughs with the besties. I love Colombia!

A pickup soccer game in an outlying village near Leticia, Colombia.

Self-photographed in May 2014.

The Woodlands, Texas

I guess this location is bending the prompt a little bit. I chose The Woodlands based on my high expectations of it becoming one of my very favorite places. When life comes knocking on my college-loving door come May, I will walk across the stage straight to The Woodlands, Texas. Although I am leaving behind too many "homes" in Norman to count, I get giddy like a kiddy when I think about life after college. I have the most incredible employer and support system waiting for me in the Houston area. I am a firm believer in the idea that every day is good, some are just better. College won't be the best four years of my life, because I have a lot of years to go... and every year has the potential to get better! So cheers to high expectations and humidity!

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation headquarters, Allison Tower in The Woodlands, Texas. 

Source: Wikimedia Commons