Today's photo of the day is of Wausau, Wisconsin, a place I never thought I would visit during the winter because I'm typically shy of the cold and snow. A hike through Rib Mountain State Park completely changed my mind however. Birch and oak trees gently swayed with snow and ice; the landscape –white on white–was more brilliant than I anticipated.

As I hiked through one of the oldest geological formations on Earth, I could hear the silence. Simon and Garfunkle's song, "The Sound of Silence" echoed in my mind. The tints of aqua and white formed an Ansel Adam-esque backdrop and it was hard not to feel close to Nature.

The New York Times can make endless predictions of why Chile, Egypt etc. etc. will be the hottest destinations of 2012 but I generally take any publication's crystal ball with a pinch of salt. After all, travel is a very personal decision. Your bucket list may not be the same as mine for many reasons.

As a travel blogger and journalist, traveling to places where I feel as though I have learned something new and different is key. I don't really subscribe to the "visit sexy places" theory, although there's nothing wrong with visiting St. Barts or the Bahamas to sip a mint julep on a hammock.

If you're into adventurous travel, then "off the beaten path" –to use a cliched phrase –is more appealing. So, where are my adventurous tweeps dying to visit in 2012? Find out:

Travel Bloggers Spill their 2012 Destination Yearnings

(in alphabetical order)

BackPackForever: Personal picks include 1. Nepal. Been wanting to go since Matt Dillon said in Something About Mary, "All I have are these damn Nepalese coins."  2. Myanmar/Burma: we want to party with the KNLA and figure out what the real name of that country is. 3. Borneo and Deer Cave: Ever since that Planet Earth Series came out, this has been at the top of our list.

James Bond Rock, Thailand, Phang Nga. Photo courtesy of farbspiel, Flickr

Beers and Beans: Our top pick would be Thailand. We're itching to sample some of the country's beaches.

Clare Appleyard: 1. Antarctica 2. Antarctica 3. Antarctica. Other wishes: Okavango Delta; Victoria Falls; Singapore; Aurora Borealis; Mexico

CultureIst:

As someone who hates to fly, I figure why not go all out this year and venture as far away as I can afford? I always aim big when planning a year in travel, this way, if things don't work out with my "reach" choices I can fall back on "probable admits" without having to stoop down to my "safety" picks.

So this year, I hope to visit Jordan — I'm a sucker for epic landscapes; Jamaica – I'm a closet reggae lover who worships Bob Marley and his colorful beanie (I plan to wear one while there); and Lombok and the Gili islands — sometimes I like to go places where I have no access to email, Twitter, Facebook or Angry Birds.

Downtown Traveler:

My top picks for 2012 are all in the USA: Salt Lake City, Yellowstone National Park and Cape Cod. With so many great (and affordable) destinations close to home, there's no need to undergo lengthy flights in the new year! Start with SLC, an under-appreciated town where you can ski, dine at fine restaurants and outlet shop in the span of one day. In the spring, head to Yellowstone to enjoy the stunning hot springs, wildlife and hiking. Cap off your summer with a weekend getaway in Cape Cod, where you can camp inexpensively, rent bikes and relax on the beach. Here's to an exciting 2012!

Photo: Alexandria, Egypt. Courtesy of J Abadie on Flickr

The Expeditioner: 

1) Egypt: Not only are the crowds gone and the prices have plummeted, but you can see both history in the making as well as history from centuries ago. 2) Europe: Goobye euro denomination strength, hello travel deals in the Continent. 3) Brazil: See it now before the World Cup and Olympics cause an influx of tourists.

Belize port; photo courtesy of Brandon Seils, Flickr

Foodie International: 1. Tbilisi, Georgia 2. San Sebastian, Spain 3. Santiago, Chile 4. Helsinki, Finland 5. Penang, Malaysia. I think Georgia is the next best thing as far as international travel.

Fly Brother: Addis Ababa, Bangkok, Bucharest, Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Helsinki, Milan, Vienna

GloboTreks: Belize! Not because I'm here, but because 2012 is the year of the Maya, and Belize is considered the hear of the Maya world. Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico will have tons of celebrations in 2012 for the end of the Mayan calendar.

Jeff Titelius: England, because of the Queen's diamond jubilee and of course, the Olympics.

Kirsten Alana:

Tokyo, Japan – It's removed [enough] from the largest amount of 2011's tsunami and earthquake damage and safely outside the zone of nuclear meltdown. It's a modern city in the midst of a country that has not forgotten old traditions. My brother, who lives there, tells me the spirits of the people are still strong and they are determined to move on and rebuild. I'd love to spend a month using Tokyo as a home base to then explore the rest of the fascinating country of Japan.

Brisbane, Australia – Ever since I was a teenager watching Baz Luhrmann's early films I have wanted to explore "the land down under". Now that I have friends on the Sunshine Coast, I'm more determined than ever that 2012 will be the year I finally discover just what all the fuss is about. Even though the bugs and critters are numerous, it's the wild beauty of the country that just keeps calling to me so I'll take my chances with the snakes.

Sweden - I grew up with a strong observance of Swedish traditions and my mother went to college in Uppsala, however I've never been to the land of my ancestors. I plan to rectify that in 2012. How could I go another year without seeing the beauty of Swedish design firsthand, sampling their culinary excellence and marveling at the beauty of the rural landscapes in this Scandinavian country.

Leah Travels:

Rio de Janiero: Rio will soon enough be on world's stage with the World Cup and the summer Olympics coming in 2014 and 2016 respectively. The city
is going through great lengths to put its best foot forward. Get there before all the world will be.

Belfast: In April, it will be 100 years ago that the Titanic, built in Belfast, sank. The new Titanic museum is set to open in March, just before
the anniversary. Coupled with its rich musical history and the new museum, Belfast should be on travelers' radar for 2012.

Mario Travels: My picks for 2012:  The Riviera Maya (Mexico); Ghana (West Africa); Bonaire (Netherland Antilles); Curacao (Lesser Antilles).

Santa Fe Traveler: We really want to go Ireland and Italy & Spain and I have a weird yen to go to Easter Island. And the beach somewhere.

Zimbabwe. Photo courtesy of Idee Per Viaggiare, Flickr

Spunky Girl Monologues:

Northwestern China: China is in the process of turning Kasghar into the next Shenzen. Although this decision may be good for China's economy, it will pretty much erase the culture and character of this region. If you want to experience this nomadic corner of China and explore ancient Silk Road sites, 2012 is the year to do it -before they disappear forever.

Zimbabwe: Zim has received a bad rap in the news, but don't let that deter you. The people of Zim are extremely friendly and the country is beautiful. If you're thinking of visiting Zim in 2012 be sure to do a couple of game drives in Hwange (but bring warm clothes, it gets super cold at night).

Banff, Canada: I am a HUGE supporter of Banff. It's easily one of the most beautiful places in Canada and should be on every bucket list. Whether you're an outdoor enthusiast, shopper or foodie, Banff has it. Plus, it's surrounded by the Canadian Rocky Mountains and home to several wild animals (I'm not referring to the seasonal staff!)

Starry Eyed Travels: Peru, Bolivia and Argentina top my list. I think my home city London will also be great in 2012. At a push, I'd say Peru is top!

Traveling Ted: Trinidad & Tobago's Carnivale

Wandering Aramean: Stockholm — for beer with friends; Berlin and Ljubljana, Skope, Istanbul and Munich one week in January. Hawaii, Portland and Philly also confirmed so far. Hawaii (HNL) is for the first JFK-HNL flight on Hawaiian. Just being somewhere different is joy enough. I love the challenges travel throws at me.

***

My personal destination picks?: Abu Dhabi, Mexico (a country I've been longing to visit for most of 2011), Costa Rica and Spain.

If you'd like to be included in this list, drop me a line at charu AT Butterflydiary DOT COM.

There are some places that I am hesitant to visit initially, but end up falling in love with. Travel is like a kaleidoscope in that aspect — you don't really know what you'll get until you get there.

Detroit is one visit I will always remember from 2011. There's so much to Motor City beyond the silver GM Building, the indefatigable assembly line pioneered by Ford, and the dreary thought of worker layoffs and stringent Unions. Detroit is for the foodie, the adventurer, the architect lover in all of us.

Beyond the Willy Wonka Car Production Factory: Detroit, a City for Serious Foodies

I visited Detroit in April, 2011 and drank in everything: from the developed, ethnic fabric in Dearborn, Michigan to the more run down outskirts like Corktown. Corktown is not pretty, by any stretch of the overactive imagination, but the area is a cultural melting pot and a fabric of Irish immigrant settlers and a now more hip, young urban crowd. Detroit is a place for foodies, and one iconic dining option –Slow's BBQ on Michigan Avenue — has reinvented the culinary vernacular.

As I discovered, Detroit has surprisingly polished and diverse food choices. It would take a very uncreative person to starve here. One of my favorite places to eat was Pizzeria Biga which boasts Neapalitano-style brick oven pizzas with chewy, flavorful crust. Getting a slice of pizza these days is akin to sipping a generously warm latte from Dunkin Donuts — genuine, quality, but expected. Pizzeria Biga ups the ante and really gives you a flavorful experience.

For restaurants that have that "fun factor" woven into their aura and decor, there is plenty of action in Greektown, considered the most famous neighborhood in Downtown Detroit. At Pegasus Taverna,with its unassuming exterior, there is much gaiety, action and familial laughter. Savvy servers bring flaming plates of Greek Kasseri cheese lit ablaze with brandy to your table (the dish is called Saganaki Opa and the servers really and do shout Opa –a word which is often used to describe a joyful occasion or emotion). The patrons clap, as though at a concert. The restaurant makes one relive scenes from My Big Fat Greek Wedding – minus the tacky.

A misty morning in Dearborn, Michigan

The Creme de la Creme of Museums

A visit to the Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village alone will inspire to you to appreciate the amount of American innovation that occurred at the turn of the century. Ford's vision and motto was that "ordinary Americans can do extraordinary things" and he was a vast collector of iconic inventions (from Edison's Menlo Park home reproduction to the actual bicycle where the Wright Brothers worked in Dayton, Ohio), you can truly see the innovations that shaped America.

At a popular places like Greenfield village, you can see school buses filled with children on field trips, tourists eager to inhale the spirit of turn of the century America, and museum curators eager to show off their vast knowledge. Detroit is full of passionate people, eager to recount legends, pass on their knowledge to those keen to soak it up, and features the creme de la cream of automobile and American innovation museums. 

The sacred, iconic Piquette Plant Assembly, where Henry Ford and his team assembled the first Model T and several other models, is a museum pilgrimage that no automobile connoisseur could afford to miss. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002, this unassuming mill-style building was home to the realization of Ford's singular, stubborn dream of providing every American with an affordable car.

Creaky stairs, original wooden floors, even Ford's old office corner — everything is preserved, loved, cherished. Each year, volunteers work on preserving the antique cars to make sure all parts are intact, polished, functional, and every second of their labor of love is a donation. What a testament to the vision of Ford, I thought, and what level of respect. Visitors can sit in a small room with benches and watch a documentary on Ford's vision and realization.

The Only Place in North America Where You Can Look South Toward Canada

In Detroit, I discovered what it felt like to be in the only place in North America where you can gaze South toward Canada (I remember being in the General Motors building, a tall, silvery cylindrical skyscraper that looked a futuristic lighthouse), towards Windsor.

A City of Architectural Masterpieces

From the unmistakeable Guardian Building that lights up the city skyline, to the distinctly Detroit Pewabic pottery (the eponymous school still operates today and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1991), there is so much square footage of Detroit devoted to architecture and the arts. Pewabic pottery is known for its distinct, almost phantasmagoric quality of glazing with rich and deep colors.

A newly renovated bedroom at The Henry, an Autograph Collection Hotel in Dearborn, MI

The outskirts of Detroit, en route to Corktown

Corktown may not be a place to linger or sit in a cafe, but it has spots that are being renovated.

In Corktown, at the intersection of Wabash & Michigan Avenues. You're not in Kansas anymore.

An iconic restaurant in Corktown and Detroit itself, Slow's BBQ has brought tourists, celebrities, locals together in pursuit of a

new revitalized cuisine. Surprisingly, there are a lot of vegetarian and vegan options on the menu.

A Brush Motor Company car stands on the original wooden floor at the Piquette Assembly Plant in Detroit. Volunteers painstakingly restore each and every car to perfection on an annual basis

Inside the iconic Guardian Building, considered to be one of Detroit's architectural masterpieces

The rich glazed Pewabic Pottery Tiles that are distinctly Detroit

Stately servers put on a show of "Saganaki Opa" (flaming Greek Kasseri cheese and brandy) at Pegasus Restaurant in Greektown

A city that is never on autopilot: Detroit at night

Our "Behind the Scenes" Series continues with a Q&A with Chuck Mardiks, Managing Director of MMGY Global's New York Office. Chuck provides us with his valuable insight on working with travel bloggers, his do's and dont's and more.