Places to see, things to do

Did I do this before? I feel like I did. Maybe I did it in another context, venue or medium. Anyhow, with my London trip looming near I was recently thinking about what other travels I wanted to do and made a list. And I don't mean just "places I'd like to see because they'd be nice," but places and things that I'd like to experience in the pit of my stomach. Even though I know it'd be kind of hard to coordinate or do unless I had a lot of time and/or a lot of money. If I even get to do one off of this list I'd consider it a pretty good deal. Two? Very lucky.

1. Work in Antarctica. This has been number one for a good long time. This would require that I be brave enough to drop out of society for 6 months to a year. I don't know. I really want to do it yet at the same time I don't know if I'm ready yet. I think it's because I'm still trying to figure out whether or not I like the career path I'm on. To just hop off of it now seems like a way to jeopardize it, but at the same time, maybe a break is what I need to figure out whether I love this or not. A little while back I bought a black and white postcard of a photo taken of some penguins on an expedition. One of these days I hope to take a similar picture of their own and have them on my wall side-by-side.

2. Volunteer in a Brazilian favela. As you can tell by the link, I've already done research on this. I don't know how I got the idea or when, but it's been rolling around in the noggin a bit. This is very much restricted by time. Currently I only get 10 vacation days out of the year, and I don't know how much I could help out with just two weeks.

3. Make a pilgrimage on el Camino de Santiago. Actually I want follow several pilgrimages. I don't particular feel a need to have all my sins forgiven, but I'd also like to try Via Francigena and make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. For the latter, if possible, I'd like to retrace the route described in Mark Twain's Innocents Abroad.