So I have a world map in my room in between my bed and my closet. I see it every night before I go to bed and I see it every time I open my closet. It is a reminder to myself that is a lot of ground I want to cover before I die . . .the reminder to travel often.

When I was young girl we used to get National Geographic Magazines in the mail and 25% of the books on the shelves were NatlGeo Books. I grew up pouring over the maps similar to the one that hangs on my wall. It always gave me two things–beautiful pictures and places to dream about.

Just a few days ago I was staring at my map again–wondering what some places must be like and if fate made the choice–where would I go next. Just like that I decided to close my eyes and see where my finger pointed me toward next.

Below are 5 places that I have been pointed toward and a National Geographic article to get the ideas flowing about the country I seem destined to visit.

Where would you like to go?

1. Tanzania

2. Ecuador

3. Myanmar (Burma)

4. Bosnia and Herzegovina

5. Brazil