I’m excited to be traveling to Helsinki and Berlin, two cities that pull me for very different reasons. These are not first visits, far from it. In fact, I lived in Helsinki for four years in the 1990s, a fascinating time to be there not only because of the collapse of the Soviet Union (1991), Finland joining the European Union (1994), its shimmering long nights in the summer or courageous ice swimming in the winter.
But I’ve been reflecting on where else I’d like to go if time, money or other obligations were not an issue. For me, I find myself returning to the idea of traveling to Kyoto in Japan. I’m drawn to the physical beauty of the gardens and the ancient temples. I’m intrigued by its bustling contemporary art scene. I long to jump on the bullet train from Tokyo and stroll through Kyoto’s bamboo forests. This city is one of a number of places in Asia I’m determined to visit. Maybe soon? Wanderlust beckons.
What about you? Forget chores on your agenda. Don’t worry about the cost of the ticket or the length of the flight. Imagine money and time are no object. Where in the world would you go?
As always, I look forward to reading your comments and the opportunity of this community to learn from each other.
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A curious phenomenon is the tendency to NOT "go" where we live. Then a visitor comes to see us after 5 or 10 years and we take them to see our state....that we rarely travel....and then say to ourselves: "Why haven't we done this before?"
So.... if my time and money were unlimited I would travel the back roads of the U.S. for months and learn about my own country.
I've gone through most of the US except the upper Midwest and Alaska. Road trips are the best! When my son was still in grade school, I took him on a road trip from Pittsburgh to Niagara Falls, then across upstate New York to Cooperstown, down to Philly, Gettysburg, and back to Pittsburgh. We had great talks, stopped at roadside fruit stands and local ice cream shops, did all the big tourist things plus roadside markers. It remains a treasured memory.
I moved to Arizona 39 years ago and I’ve had dozens of friends and friends grandchildren visiting me so I’ve seen almost every inch of the state and I love it I love it I love it!
Awesome Edward......that is exactly how I started my travel adventures. Both minimum wage jobs earners and wanted to expose our daughters to more than the housing projects the rest is history now enjoying other places and cultures!!! If memory serves me correctly Chattanooga Tn/Lookout Mtn was the very first place out of Atlanta!!!!❤️
I’ve always wanted to see Scotland’s Highlands. For their towering mountains, landscapes, lochs, beautiful beaches and sea views, and the Northern Lights.
I’ve read many books about Scotland (and other countries), and I love when I find myself reading the world atlas, exploring places through books before I visit.
The day I fell in love with Scotland was the day I sat in a hotel in Argyll, looking out over the sea. Over the time of a nice lunch, a really nice lunch, I watched how the colour of the sea and the colour of the sky changed from and to all kinds of shades of grey and blue, the sea picked up the colour of the sky and the sky picked up the colour of the sea. It was just wonderful!
Hence my suggestion, don't just consider the Highlands, there are other places as well!
Scotland is beautiful, also has great cuisine, home-made whisky, eclectic music, unique arts and culture on show, and pretty friendly people.
In my humble opinion the Scottish Highlands are one of the best of the world destinations.
I have sailed twice the Caledonian canal, an about 60 miles long inland waterway on the west coast of Scotland which runs from Highland capital Inverness (North Sea) to Fort William (the door to Atlantic ocean) through the long, skinny famous Loch Ness and the Great Glen. Ideal for yachts and cruisers it takes three to four days to transit the canal, a waterside of stunning scenery.
The Caledonian canal was built to provide a short cut between the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, avoiding the lengthy passage around Cape Wrath en route to and from the west coast cruising grounds, and the hazardous Pentland Firth on the north coast.
The Great Glen of Scotland, is arguably the most significant geographical feature in Britain, with the country’s highest mountain.
Loch Ness is the greatest volume of freshwater in the British Isles, they say containing more indeed than all the lakes and reservoirs of England and Wales put together. Sailing across Loch Ness was more akin to a short sea crossing than a canal journey.
I visited Scotland years ago. While driving through the Highlands, my younger daughter commented, “Mom… It looks like these hills are covered in velvet!“ Do get there.
More like where WOULDN’T I go! Actually have wanted to visit New Zealand since the 60’s. Oh, and the Greek islands after reading John Fowles ‘The Magus’. And……and….and…. Alas, not in the cards this lifetime, so it is lucky I live where folks from around the world come to visit (Pacific ocean, redwood forests, bay, lagoons, rivers & mountains)…so am a lucky duck even just staying put!
Sandy, I’m in Humboldt County CA, a large county in far northern coastal CA (tho’ extends inland too). It is a rural, large county w/ not a lot of people! https://visithumboldt.com/ & https://www.visitredwoods.com/plan/about-humboldt-county/ We have miles upon miles of beaches, but caution is needed & don’t turn your back on it…same w/ swimming in the rivers during high water times of the year. Walking on the trails through the redwood forests is like being in a natural cathedral. Hope you get to visit someday!!!!
I spent a week in Milano area, then to Dublin, Ireland for 10 days. I came home 4# lighter. The food in Italy is amazing, none more so than in my sister-in-law’s kitchen. The places I ate in Dublin and on travels throughout Ireland was mediocre. I tried, I tried, I tried to settle for local favorites. Alas, not a picky eater, and still found it all boring and tasteless. The apple cake though...oh my!
Surprisingly while eating like a king you won't gain weight. Not sure if it's the quality of the food, the 5 or so hours for dinner, or something else.
Not trying to be a killjoy Lisa, but a friend of mine who is well-traveled made elaborate plans to go to Canada to see the aurora borealis, only to find out that her eyes are unable to see it. Luckily, she had a good sense of humor about it.
I once saw the aurora borealis from Fargo, N. Dakota
Curmudgeon warning: having heard this week that we've achieved the highest temperatures in many centuries, and that it will continue to get worse unless we make some drastic changes, I am opposed to unfettered air travel and the use of monster gas-eating motorhomes. Yes, visiting new places is wonderful, educational, and fun, but it is also becoming unsustainable.
Remember how quiet and clean it was during the Covid lockdown in 2020? Birds and other wildlife thrived. We are losing birds at an alarming rate now. The oceans have warmed so much we are losing sea life and coral reefs. The human impact is undeniable.
At the risk of being alarmist, I just need to add my two cents to the discussion. Air travel contributes a huge amount of carbon to the atmosphere. I would just like people to think about the impact before they book that flight to Italy or Iceland or travel cross-country in a gas guzzling motorhome.
Terri, your addition is welcome. This does need to be part of the discussion as we all must make choices about what we can do to limit our environmental impact. I can tell you that I do work on these issues in multiple storytelling modes and it is challenging to get people to care more. To add to the note below: Active listening opens up a whole world we usually ignore right within our own ecosystems.
What you wrote is so true, and a part of why I have dreams of travel though I may never make the trips. Sometimes I think about literally sailing off somewhere. Non-motorized of course.
On my bucket list is to attend a PM question time in London, tour Scotland and spend time in Stoke-in-Teignhead. Also visit Israel. Domestically: Niagara Falls, Los Angeles and New England. As much as I have wanted, ever since a little boy, to visit the Kennedy Space Center, I will not visit Florida, Texas or any state that routinely views my wife and daughter as 2nd class human beings.
On our travel Bucket List was Iceland ( went Dec 2019 right before lockdowns), Costa Rica ( this August) & Australia & NZ finally scheduled for Jan 2024
Our eldest grandson will do study abroad Spring 2024 so wherever he goes, we will visit ( please pick Florence-we so want to go back to Tuscany)
And if we do not go back to our Israeli family soon-they will disown us!
Kyoto has long been a place of great curiosity for me maybe since reading Memoirs of a Geisha. New Zealsnd for its beauty and the welcome sanity of its people. And London which I haven’t visited in many years in spite of much time in Europe.
We have had the great fortune of traveling over much of the world and all across this country - including two cross country driving trips. Travel is such a good thing in so many ways. As to your question, I would go for Antartica or the Arctic - while they still exist.
I've been fortunate with a lot of business travel and some good personal travel. I've driven thru every state except Alaska, and the Canadian provinces including the mining town Chibougamau (1973). I spoke a wee French then. Not just highways, but state and local roads. Looking for a little local eatery. I grew up in West Virginia, and we biked 150 miles in all compass directions. In an old Schwinn that had no fancy gears. Driven North South and East West of the US sans Interstate mostly. Much of Asia, all of Europe a bit of Africa, Oldavai Gorge, Ngorogoro caldera... Gibbs Farm, Mt Kenya Safari club.
I forgot to add, I was 28 in 1983, I gave an 8 hour invited seminar while working at GE, at the Shanghai Institute! On polymers and plastic applications. I saw you were in China then! Wood and iron desks. No AC. Ceiling fans and open windows in July. Wow. It was a special visit for me.
My son and I have a hiking trip scheduled in August for the Canadian Rockies, starting at Banff and maybe heading down to Glacier. It's been a goal since January when I was diagnosed with breast cancer; I'm four weeks post surgery and building my stamina up again, so I am determined that even if we don't make it on the tougher trails, we'll definitely walk around Lake Louise.
Places I'd return: Wales, London, New Zealand, Australia. Still to go: Patagonia, Antarctica, Peru, the Galapagos, Japan, Nigeria, South Africa, Scandanavia, France, and Portugal.
Finland is calling to me right now ... perhaps I can start there and wend my way through other parts of Europe.
A trip to Nova Scotia, through Acadia National Forest, was aborted due to an unfaithful husband, but when I am settled anew as a single person, I will take that trip.
Kirsten, I believe you will enjoy Nova Scotia. No place is more than 80 miles from access to the Atlantic Ocean. The weather is temperate, and when my home province of Ontario is virtually suffocating with intense humidity, we are lulled by soft breezes here on the far East coast. I have lived in 4 provinces and have found a kind of nirvana in what I call God''s country.
I took a 10 day cruise all through the far Eastern islands in Canada and Quebec City on September 2018: just wonderful! All through Nova Scotia, Halifax, Cape Breton, St. John’s and much more, finishing in Maine. Weather was spectacular and what a beautiful and welcoming country! We’d go back in a New York minute!
I think your Japan destination is right on. Besides Kyoto be sure to check out Myajima Island a short ferry ride from Hiroshima. Also Matsuyama with its castle and Dogo Onsen which features in the Japanese “growing up” classic novel Botchan and the more recent anime Spirited Away.
Being french I am soon to return to france and its peaceful inhabitants, but then being a hiker too, I’ll tread towards the Onerland Bernois or more exactly Grindelwald, but not to climb the Eiger yet.
Although I do have a favorite city in the world where I have been, and that is Edinburgh Scotland, I would not choose to return there, but I do have a place in the US on my bucket list to visit, and that place is crater lake in Oregon.
My favorite place in the US is the area in South Dakota around Rapid City, which includes Mount Rushmore, Needles national Park, the badlands, and the wonderful Custer State Park
I love asking so-called world travelers if they have visited this part of our country, and I have to say the majority have said no although they have been to Gstatt, and Berlin and Tokyo, they have failed to discover the beauty of the United States
I’ve been around Rapid City and seen Custer State Park. It’s a beautiful area and so nice because it isn’t generally crowded. We got caught in a bad thunderstorm there and had to park under a bridge. Storms rolling through the prairie are a sight
I travelled a lot in Europe, and would continue exploring/living there happily. However, new places? I’d love to see Africa, Egypt and ancient monuments in South America.
A couple of decades ago we made the decision to move everything we wanted to keep into storage and sell everything else including the house we had lived and raised our kids in. With them out an on their own by then, it had become more house than we wanted anyhow.
We bought a rather large RV, and set out to see our continent. We did that for 14 years. I could go on for days about our experiences and adventures. The places we thought would be interesting became even more interesting as we stayed longer. Some of the places we expected to be little more than stopovers turned out to be fascinating. We even managed a couple of trips to Europe when we had to take our coach in for repairs or updating. (Hey, we had to be somewhere, why not Florence, Inverness, Dublin,...)
A few years ago, as we looked toward our upper 70s, we decided to dust off the money we had put aside from the sale of our house and build a new house we could grow old and creaky In, and sell our RV. We still love to travel, but now our travels are trips, not our lifestyle.
As we traveled, we considered many places. We built spreadsheets listing positives, negatives, and unknowns for several. Although we found good people everywhere we, need to be around people who value a diversity of cultures, lifestyles, and ethnicities. We adore the arts. We love the mountains, forests, and urban delights. A day out cruising through wine country is hard to beat. We're also foodies. From a more pragmatic standpoint, although we're both very capable people and in great health, we know that won't last forever. Easy access to services and high quality healthcare is important and will become increasingly so.
For these reasons, we chose to return to the place we left 17 years ago, Vancouver, Washington. We have quick access to just about everything we need and value. We still have a lot of fun and interesting friends here. From our house, we can be at the coast in a few hours, the Columbia River, mountains and forests in 15 minutes. Portland, Oregon is minutes away, Seattle, a few hours, and Vancouver, BC, a day's drive. There are many excellent healthcare facilities minutes away and more a few hours away. Should we have a sudden burning attack of wanderlust, PDX is a half hour away.
Evey place has a few warts, and this place is no exception, but we love it here.
Interesting. We are currently living in Seattle. It’s hard to beat the PNW for all the reasons you mentioned. I love the diversity of Seattle and being close to water. This may be our permanent stop. Thanks for responding.
I suppose I would like to see Russia, try to understand why she turned out so autocratic compared to all the other nations whose royals were related to Queen Victoria, the feel of the country that is twice the size of ours, occupies 11% of Earth's land, & has been the enemy of the US for so long.
Taking the subject into the vibrating universe where time, space & gravity are always changing, which, to use a comparison, why time moves so slowly when one is at work but is over in a flash when relaxing at home, I would like to hitch a ride on that worm hole that would take me back to my youth so I could start over. Since the light we see from the stars might be millions of years old, there must be a time when the earth is at the point of light in time when this could happen.
Knowing about the theory of relativity, its understanding of how space and time differ depending on where and when and the force of gravity on it, takes several rereadings to understand, but is most interesting and magnifies how tiny we are in the scheme of things.
I keep going back to Portugal, a relatively new democracy who threw off a fascist dictator without firing a bullet. The people are warm, inviting and have some of the best cuisine and wine of any Western European nation. They’re fairly humble people despite the history of discovery and conquest.
This is very easy for me. I just returned from my dream vacation, originally planned for 2020, cancelled because of the pandemic, and rescheduled for this year. I went to Paris and took a Seine River Cruise to the Heart of Normandy. It was so amazingly fantastic. It was more amazing than I had even dreamed it could be. First I spent 2 days in Paris. I went to L'Orangerie Museum and Marmottan Musee Monet. I love Impressionism; and Monet is my art idol. Those 2 museums were fantastic. L'Orangerie has 2 rooms of Water Lilies, brightly lit, even better than the Water Lilies room at MoMA where I like to spend my time. Then I got on the Viking River Cruise. Our first stop was Vernon; and our destination was Giverny. I had read so much about Monet and Giverny; and I had seen so many pictures. However, being there, really there, was a dream come true. It was larger than life. It was magical. I stood so close to the Water Lilies Pond, which was the inspiration for so many Monet paintings. I was overwhelmed with gratitude that I was at this incredible spot. Our tour also walked around all of the grounds. We saw the Japanese Bridge, which is also in many Monet paintings. We saw beautiful flower gardens everywhere. I walked through Monet's home. I took over 100 photos of Giverny, which I am editing; and I will be creating a digital album. Our next stop on the cruise was Rouen. We walked through the quaint town. The highlight for me was the Rouen Cathedral, and the studio across the street from which Monet painted the Rouen Cathedral. He worked on 3 canvases, using each canvas at a different time of day to reflect the look of the cathedral in the different lighting during the day. En plein air is what it is called. Totally amazing. Another stop on the cruise was Normandy. This day we spent at Normandy was very meaningful, very emotional. Somewhat overwhelming. We first visited the Museum and saw the exhibits of the Holocaust and the exhibits of D-Day, of the Allied forces landing on the beach, fighting against all odds to keep Europe and the rest of the world free from the Nazis. We lost so many brave military people that day (mostly men); and it was very touching to hear of how so many went into battle for such a great cause, and very sad to hear of how many lost their lives. then we went to the American cemetery and saw the rows after rows of gravestones of the Americans lost on D-Day. Our tour group laid a wreath at the status remembering the military who fought and died there. It was a very moving ceremony. Then we went down to Omaha Beach; and as our guide suggested, we stood there individually, in silence, looking at that beautiful beach, and trying to imagine what is was like for our military on June 6, 1944. I had a difficult time wrapping my head around that. It was surreal to imagine what our military endured that day and the following days. It was overwhelmingly sad. It also brought a great sense of pride in how Americans, along with the other Allied forces, fought to keep the world safe for Democracy. It was a physically and emotionally draining day. As difficult as it was, I am so glad I was there to experience it. We can't be isolated from the world's problems. Walking through the area where it all transpired is very important. We had a few other stops along the cruise, various smaller towns in France, along the Seine. Overall, it is clearly the most amazing trip I have ever taken. Besides all of the photos I took, I also kept a journal, not just of the places I went and the things I did, but also of all of my feelings as I experienced as I traveled in the Heart of Normandy along the Seine River. I highly recommend this trip to everyone.
SW France; Scotland; Norway; New Zealand; Turkey; Morocco. Some I’ve been but must return and others are on a long-standing bucket list. Need to see the Sistine Ceiling and Chartres Cathedral at least once more. Also waiting for Notre-Dame in Paris to reopen.
Kyoto is definitely on my list. I just returned from 3 weeks at Palazzo Fiuggi, in Italy. My first big trip since 2019. Such a well needed and deserved treat. Enjoy your travels.
I've been to England and Wales, but missed Scotland. I'd like to go there, if I were traveling. I'd also like to go to Scandinavia, all of it, because I admire their way of taking care of their people. I'd also like to see France, especially some of the more rural areas and small towns. What interests me about going to other countries is how people live there, and the foods they eat. I like trying different kinds of food. I'm not a gourmet, I just enjoy eating new things.
I'd like to visit the 9 states I haven't been to ... love a leisurely road trip stopping whenever there's something I want to see or a restaurant/food I want to try. Just need the right traveling companion !
I’d do a train trip with sleeping car! I once went across country from Norfolk to Sam Francisco during the winter. It was sublime. I would like to take the train across Canada next or perhaps through Europe. What a way to see things!
Given the lovely replies, I think the Icelandophiles, if I may invent a word, could put together a group excursion. I do so hope to go for a week or so someday. Not sure where else someone could satisfy everything from Star Wars geekery (Rogue One) to Norse mythology to Viking history to vulcanology in one unique lovely place.
Have a wonderful time! I will be in Berlin in October and I hope you'll let us know what you do while you're there. My favorite place is the Egyptian Museum where Nefertiti lives because as a child it was my heartfelt plan to be an Etyptologist. I'm in northern Italy most of the time and have done a lot of traveling in my life so traveling per se isn't a priority any longer. These days, I'm content to be in Italy with my love, in Los Angeles and St Louis with my daughters and their very young children, and with my dear friends in Seattle where I lived for many years and began my clinical practice.
Scandinavians are such wonderful people. Transitioning back to America and the land of the Hatfields and McCoys will be difficult. Denmark has one of the best run gov'ts in the world. In Helsinki, when the police went on strike, the crime rate went down! I'd recommend that after Berlin, you hop a ferry and go right back to Scandinavia to visit Copenhagen and Stockholm. While America is searching for "answers" as to how societies should function, Scandinavian has the answers. IMHO.
I used travel for work and I’ve been to 90 countries - most numerous times. I was always able to make time to explore. I was lucky my customers took me to local places away from tourists. I love just getting off the beaten path. I enjoyed driving all around Iceland especially away from the major tourist areas. It’s stunningly beautiful. Patagonia in either Argentina or Chile. Incredible scenery and whales/penguins. Bahia Magdalena in Mexico and seeing the northern right whales up close. Cruise around the Galápagos Islands. Such a wonderful and unique place also with penguins. Driving through the Scottish highlands. The Philippines has many beautiful places like Cebu. I went on an African safari to Botswana/Zambia/Zimbabwe and that was amazing. I would love to go drive around Ireland, New Zealand, Prince Edward Island, Norway, the Azores. Anyway unfortunately I got very sick several years ago and I had to quit my job and I’ve been mainly at home. It’s a complete change sadly in my life. I do live in Utah though and there are many beautiful places to visit here. Anyway I wish you safe travels wherever you go. It’s a blessing to be able to see the world and meet new people.
Prague is on of the most beautiful cities in the world. It wasn’t leveled in WWII. I love just walking around the city because there is so much to see and the dumplings are so good.
Oh Goody!! Another weekend, another BAPE (Beschloss Audience Participation Event.) I love 'em.
Today's prompt: where would I travel if time and money were no obstacle?
For many years I had the good fortune to have a profession that allowed me to travel to far-flung destinations frequently, and to afford to travel wherever I liked on my own time, however limited it might have been. I've been in or through every US state, but my own home town, Santa Fe, is still my runaway favorite. I subsequently lived in Amarillo (yuchhh), Austin, San Francisco, NYC, LA, Minneapolis, San Diego, Notre Dame (Indiana), Seattle, and Portland, Oregon.
Postwar, my Dad was a photographer for the National Park Service. This happy fate gave me unfettered access to the Four Corners parks and wild lands. I lived for months at a time at Grand Canyon, weeks in residence at Cañon de Chelly, Mesa Verde, and later Arches, Monument Valley, Zion, Bryce, ... you name it. I used to say that my childhood was like Huck Finn's, but without the water. I left at dawn every day, on my own, and the only rule was to be back by dark. Child raising was pretty laissez faire in them days. I grew up in wilderness. It was my church, my school, my playmate. I crave it even today, as it disappears relentlessly into the jaws of commercial exploitation and the ownership and management of powerful carbon interests.
I've traveled extensively in China, and visiting the Great Wall was a peak experience. Xi' an is an amazing city. I traveled the length of the Yangtze in a riverboat, just before most of the small, ancient riverside villages were flooded by the Three Gorges Dam. I walked for hours through the Forbidden City, the only Westerner in sight, before tourism to China became feasible for most travelers.
I spent a few weeks in Japan in the early 90s, mostly in Tokyo on business, in connection with a theatre tour. I wanted to visit the site of the POW camp where my Dad was imprisoned during WWII - Fukuoka Camp #7 - but couldn't work it in. I regret that! The horror of it has lived in my imagination since I was old enough to conceive of such a thing. Seeing it - and the modern life of the innocent people going about their lives around it today, unaware of the horrors that preceded them - might have changed how I felt about it.
I've been all over Europe. Attended the Cannes Film Festival for years. Spent long, wine-soaked vacations in Provence (where one side of my family came from). Worked for a Dutch TV company for several years, and so got to enjoy many trips and long stays in this most civil of countries. I love the Dutch people. A colleague there once told me that a Dutch man, on his way home from work, is as likely to stop for flowers as for bread and milk. How can you not love them? Driving alone one day I crested a hill (one of about three in Holland, I think) and saw fields of tulips stretching to the horizon - I mean miles of color as far as I could see. It felt like the moment in Wizard of Oz when the world turns to color.
I ran through an Alpine meadow in France, singing a song from The Sound of Music, and promptly collapsed, gasping for air as the altitude caught up with my sea level lungs. It took a full minute before I had enough oxygen to laugh at myself, but once I could I laughed for longer than a minute, as I recall.
It's cliched to say that I love Paris in the springtime. I love Paris in the Fall. But I do. I lived in New York City for a decade, which entitles me to say that Paris is the World's Great City.
I traveled through Egypt, Israel, and Tunisia and - because I'd studied as a Classics and Ancient History scholar - stood in the ruins of Carthage and wept for its massacred armies, as if it were yesterday. I have a vivid imagination.
I floated over the Masai Mara in a hot air balloon at dawn, with thousand of animals below, blissfully unaware of my presence above them, going about their morning ablutions and having breakfast. The elegance of a giraffe's tongue prizing out a succulent leaf snuggled between the long barbs of a thorn acacia, seen up close, is another peak experience. I traveled in Tanzania within months after it opened to westerners. It was still unspoiled. There weren't jeep tracks and rich American tourists rutting out every waterhole ... yet. In retrospect, and in all honesty, one of the complicated aspects of travel is the degree to which we kill what we love. I was just early to the party in Africa, and while I get to embrace my own unsullied memory of the African Rift Valley and its rightful owners, I can't ignore the fact that I was the vanguard of an onslaught of destructive tourism that was lining up right behind me, even then. Guilty as charged. Like kids defacing a building with graffiti, it's not the first one who gets charged, it's the last. But now, in old age, I wouldn't trade my memories of Africa for anything. It's a complicated moral reckoning. Aren't they all?
Ah. But (having buried the lede this deep into my answer again) I come finally to your question: given no limitations on time and money, where would I go? I'm afraid that my answer will disappoint. I'm tempted to say points south. I've never been anywhere in South America, or Cuba, and far too few visits to Mexico, even. I'd love to visit Buenas Aires. I've been to China often enough to take it off their table, especially in view of the dystopian surveillance state it has since become. I love Italy and everything about Italy (FOOOD!!!), especially Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna, and would go back at the drop of a toque. I've never been to Finland, Norway, Sweden, or Norway. I have been to both Ukraine and Russia (Slava Ukraini !!) but this isn't a good moment for a return visit to the former and never again to the latter.
So I'm going to the place that lifts my heart, renews my soul, reminds me who I am, and makes me happiest of any place on Planet Earth. (Sorry, Disney.).
I'm going home to Santa Fe in the fall, traveling alone. My wife has Parkinson's and can no longer travel. I NEED to do this. I'm going to eat Northern New Mexico cuisine morning, noon, and night. I'm going to live on Hatch red chile. I'll visit Maria's New Mexican Kitchen, with its famous menu of 100 different margaritas. (I'm only up to number 38 after all these years.). I'm going to early mass at my parish church, Cristo Rey. I'm a Guadlalupaño from way back. (Look it up.) I'm going to visit Santuario Chimayo and ask for Guadalupe's help for my wife. I'm going to drive the High Road to Taos and spend an afternoon at Taos Pueblo. I'm going to sit in the sun in Santa Fe Plaza and reflect gratefully on the years gone by, and how eventful and unexpected they have been, and how lucky I was, and how I have survived so many years of f#&king things up, only to have found a measure of grace at the end of things by being a care give to a woman I have loved for almost 50 years. I would like to think I'll be around long enough to come back again, but just in case, I'm playing this one as my farewell tour.
A curious phenomenon is the tendency to NOT "go" where we live. Then a visitor comes to see us after 5 or 10 years and we take them to see our state....that we rarely travel....and then say to ourselves: "Why haven't we done this before?"
So.... if my time and money were unlimited I would travel the back roads of the U.S. for months and learn about my own country.
I've gone through most of the US except the upper Midwest and Alaska. Road trips are the best! When my son was still in grade school, I took him on a road trip from Pittsburgh to Niagara Falls, then across upstate New York to Cooperstown, down to Philly, Gettysburg, and back to Pittsburgh. We had great talks, stopped at roadside fruit stands and local ice cream shops, did all the big tourist things plus roadside markers. It remains a treasured memory.
Yes to the back roads! That is my favorite way to travel.
I moved to Arizona 39 years ago and I’ve had dozens of friends and friends grandchildren visiting me so I’ve seen almost every inch of the state and I love it I love it I love it!
Awesome Edward......that is exactly how I started my travel adventures. Both minimum wage jobs earners and wanted to expose our daughters to more than the housing projects the rest is history now enjoying other places and cultures!!! If memory serves me correctly Chattanooga Tn/Lookout Mtn was the very first place out of Atlanta!!!!❤️
This is so true, my friend from France is now visiting and I am taking her to sites all over my state.
I’ve always wanted to see Scotland’s Highlands. For their towering mountains, landscapes, lochs, beautiful beaches and sea views, and the Northern Lights.
I’ve read many books about Scotland (and other countries), and I love when I find myself reading the world atlas, exploring places through books before I visit.
The Highlands are one of my favorite places ❤️
I live in Scotland and it is a great place!
The day I fell in love with Scotland was the day I sat in a hotel in Argyll, looking out over the sea. Over the time of a nice lunch, a really nice lunch, I watched how the colour of the sea and the colour of the sky changed from and to all kinds of shades of grey and blue, the sea picked up the colour of the sky and the sky picked up the colour of the sea. It was just wonderful!
Hence my suggestion, don't just consider the Highlands, there are other places as well!
Scotland is beautiful, also has great cuisine, home-made whisky, eclectic music, unique arts and culture on show, and pretty friendly people.
In my humble opinion the Scottish Highlands are one of the best of the world destinations.
I have sailed twice the Caledonian canal, an about 60 miles long inland waterway on the west coast of Scotland which runs from Highland capital Inverness (North Sea) to Fort William (the door to Atlantic ocean) through the long, skinny famous Loch Ness and the Great Glen. Ideal for yachts and cruisers it takes three to four days to transit the canal, a waterside of stunning scenery.
The Caledonian canal was built to provide a short cut between the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, avoiding the lengthy passage around Cape Wrath en route to and from the west coast cruising grounds, and the hazardous Pentland Firth on the north coast.
The Great Glen of Scotland, is arguably the most significant geographical feature in Britain, with the country’s highest mountain.
Loch Ness is the greatest volume of freshwater in the British Isles, they say containing more indeed than all the lakes and reservoirs of England and Wales put together. Sailing across Loch Ness was more akin to a short sea crossing than a canal journey.
Claudia, it’s on my bucket list! I’ve been to England and I don’t know why we didn’t continue up to Scotland 🏴
Let me know when you're planning to be here. I might be able to provide some additional tips.
Aye, hen! Ah will!
Made me laugh!
I visited Scotland years ago. While driving through the Highlands, my younger daughter commented, “Mom… It looks like these hills are covered in velvet!“ Do get there.
More like where WOULDN’T I go! Actually have wanted to visit New Zealand since the 60’s. Oh, and the Greek islands after reading John Fowles ‘The Magus’. And……and….and…. Alas, not in the cards this lifetime, so it is lucky I live where folks from around the world come to visit (Pacific ocean, redwood forests, bay, lagoons, rivers & mountains)…so am a lucky duck even just staying put!
The redwood forests are on the bucket list of this east coast-er.
Sandy, I’m in Humboldt County CA, a large county in far northern coastal CA (tho’ extends inland too). It is a rural, large county w/ not a lot of people! https://visithumboldt.com/ & https://www.visitredwoods.com/plan/about-humboldt-county/ We have miles upon miles of beaches, but caution is needed & don’t turn your back on it…same w/ swimming in the rivers during high water times of the year. Walking on the trails through the redwood forests is like being in a natural cathedral. Hope you get to visit someday!!!!
Thank you so much for the websites, Barbara. I'll be enjoying my California dreamin'.
Oh, and I’d also like to explore our own country…..so much of it and such variety!
The Greek islands are incredible! I took my niece there when she graduated from college. A wonderful cruise, and Athens was incredible.
Greece is the birthplace of the first significant attempt at democracy as a viable way to govern a society.
I’d do an eating tour of Italy. I would have to bring a pair of pants a size bigger for the trip home.
Believe it or not, I lost weight in Italy because I walked for 6 miles a day and 9 miles the day I went to Ravenna!!
That’s what I was thinking. So going is a weight loss program. lol
I spent a week in Milano area, then to Dublin, Ireland for 10 days. I came home 4# lighter. The food in Italy is amazing, none more so than in my sister-in-law’s kitchen. The places I ate in Dublin and on travels throughout Ireland was mediocre. I tried, I tried, I tried to settle for local favorites. Alas, not a picky eater, and still found it all boring and tasteless. The apple cake though...oh my!
Surprisingly while eating like a king you won't gain weight. Not sure if it's the quality of the food, the 5 or so hours for dinner, or something else.
Northern Canada in search of the aurora borealis.
Not trying to be a killjoy Lisa, but a friend of mine who is well-traveled made elaborate plans to go to Canada to see the aurora borealis, only to find out that her eyes are unable to see it. Luckily, she had a good sense of humor about it.
I once saw the aurora borealis from Fargo, N. Dakota
and is beautiful!
Curmudgeon warning: having heard this week that we've achieved the highest temperatures in many centuries, and that it will continue to get worse unless we make some drastic changes, I am opposed to unfettered air travel and the use of monster gas-eating motorhomes. Yes, visiting new places is wonderful, educational, and fun, but it is also becoming unsustainable.
Remember how quiet and clean it was during the Covid lockdown in 2020? Birds and other wildlife thrived. We are losing birds at an alarming rate now. The oceans have warmed so much we are losing sea life and coral reefs. The human impact is undeniable.
At the risk of being alarmist, I just need to add my two cents to the discussion. Air travel contributes a huge amount of carbon to the atmosphere. I would just like people to think about the impact before they book that flight to Italy or Iceland or travel cross-country in a gas guzzling motorhome.
Thank you. I'll let myself out.
Terri, your addition is welcome. This does need to be part of the discussion as we all must make choices about what we can do to limit our environmental impact. I can tell you that I do work on these issues in multiple storytelling modes and it is challenging to get people to care more. To add to the note below: Active listening opens up a whole world we usually ignore right within our own ecosystems.
What you wrote is so true, and a part of why I have dreams of travel though I may never make the trips. Sometimes I think about literally sailing off somewhere. Non-motorized of course.
Thank you! Your comment is not out of place here or anywhere at this time of existential environmental consequences.
No one wants to be reminded, but evidently, it is a truth needing repeating.
It is true that we are all so capable of conjuring the rationale to justify our denial..(me included,
every day.)
But I am trying.
I have limited non-essenti travel and do allot of armchair travel / study now.
I find that spending time in nature (locally),
and looking much more carefully at it, is the most transformative travel I have ever known..(& I've got a few miles on me.)
It has me paying attention to the planet itself and not simply what humans have put on it.
Wonder and fulfillment to those who do decide to " boldly go," to follow those compelling travel dreams. Give a little listen to the planet as you do.
I love this. Thank you.
On my bucket list is to attend a PM question time in London, tour Scotland and spend time in Stoke-in-Teignhead. Also visit Israel. Domestically: Niagara Falls, Los Angeles and New England. As much as I have wanted, ever since a little boy, to visit the Kennedy Space Center, I will not visit Florida, Texas or any state that routinely views my wife and daughter as 2nd class human beings.
Yes, FL is permanently on my Do Not Travel list. A shame, I love some parts of the state.
On our travel Bucket List was Iceland ( went Dec 2019 right before lockdowns), Costa Rica ( this August) & Australia & NZ finally scheduled for Jan 2024
Our eldest grandson will do study abroad Spring 2024 so wherever he goes, we will visit ( please pick Florence-we so want to go back to Tuscany)
And if we do not go back to our Israeli family soon-they will disown us!
This spamming, I presume, needs removal. Please advise.
Kyoto has long been a place of great curiosity for me maybe since reading Memoirs of a Geisha. New Zealsnd for its beauty and the welcome sanity of its people. And London which I haven’t visited in many years in spite of much time in Europe.
We have had the great fortune of traveling over much of the world and all across this country - including two cross country driving trips. Travel is such a good thing in so many ways. As to your question, I would go for Antartica or the Arctic - while they still exist.
I want to go to Antarctica 🇦🇶 and see the penguins 🐧
I've been fortunate with a lot of business travel and some good personal travel. I've driven thru every state except Alaska, and the Canadian provinces including the mining town Chibougamau (1973). I spoke a wee French then. Not just highways, but state and local roads. Looking for a little local eatery. I grew up in West Virginia, and we biked 150 miles in all compass directions. In an old Schwinn that had no fancy gears. Driven North South and East West of the US sans Interstate mostly. Much of Asia, all of Europe a bit of Africa, Oldavai Gorge, Ngorogoro caldera... Gibbs Farm, Mt Kenya Safari club.
Our next trip - Egypt. A long desired trip.
Yes, Egypt and India -I would love to go to India!!!
I forgot to add, I was 28 in 1983, I gave an 8 hour invited seminar while working at GE, at the Shanghai Institute! On polymers and plastic applications. I saw you were in China then! Wood and iron desks. No AC. Ceiling fans and open windows in July. Wow. It was a special visit for me.
My son and I have a hiking trip scheduled in August for the Canadian Rockies, starting at Banff and maybe heading down to Glacier. It's been a goal since January when I was diagnosed with breast cancer; I'm four weeks post surgery and building my stamina up again, so I am determined that even if we don't make it on the tougher trails, we'll definitely walk around Lake Louise.
Places I'd return: Wales, London, New Zealand, Australia. Still to go: Patagonia, Antarctica, Peru, the Galapagos, Japan, Nigeria, South Africa, Scandanavia, France, and Portugal.
Go to Portugal! You’ll love it
Portugal is beautiful, people there are so friendly
May your healing be speedy and your strength return in force….happy hiking to you!
Finland is calling to me right now ... perhaps I can start there and wend my way through other parts of Europe.
A trip to Nova Scotia, through Acadia National Forest, was aborted due to an unfaithful husband, but when I am settled anew as a single person, I will take that trip.
Kirsten, I believe you will enjoy Nova Scotia. No place is more than 80 miles from access to the Atlantic Ocean. The weather is temperate, and when my home province of Ontario is virtually suffocating with intense humidity, we are lulled by soft breezes here on the far East coast. I have lived in 4 provinces and have found a kind of nirvana in what I call God''s country.
Oh, so good to hear your first-hand experience - thank you for sharing!
I took a 10 day cruise all through the far Eastern islands in Canada and Quebec City on September 2018: just wonderful! All through Nova Scotia, Halifax, Cape Breton, St. John’s and much more, finishing in Maine. Weather was spectacular and what a beautiful and welcoming country! We’d go back in a New York minute!
Fontvielle, in the south of France to visit my older brother who I haven't seen in 6 years. I miss him.
Kyoto definitely worth the visit. Was there 2010. For me Fiji.
Everywhere!
I think your Japan destination is right on. Besides Kyoto be sure to check out Myajima Island a short ferry ride from Hiroshima. Also Matsuyama with its castle and Dogo Onsen which features in the Japanese “growing up” classic novel Botchan and the more recent anime Spirited Away.
As for my own bucket list, a tour on the trans Siberian Express and cruises on the canals and rivers of Europe come to mind.
Being french I am soon to return to france and its peaceful inhabitants, but then being a hiker too, I’ll tread towards the Onerland Bernois or more exactly Grindelwald, but not to climb the Eiger yet.
Being too young at 76 to do that already. 😳🌿
Mon père disait qu’il faut du temps pour devenir jeune 😊
Oh mon Dieu il avait tellement raison 😳😊💕🌿
Oui je suis d’accord avec votre commentaire, merci beaucoup Flo 😊🥰
Although I do have a favorite city in the world where I have been, and that is Edinburgh Scotland, I would not choose to return there, but I do have a place in the US on my bucket list to visit, and that place is crater lake in Oregon.
My favorite place in the US is the area in South Dakota around Rapid City, which includes Mount Rushmore, Needles national Park, the badlands, and the wonderful Custer State Park
I love asking so-called world travelers if they have visited this part of our country, and I have to say the majority have said no although they have been to Gstatt, and Berlin and Tokyo, they have failed to discover the beauty of the United States
I’ve been around Rapid City and seen Custer State Park. It’s a beautiful area and so nice because it isn’t generally crowded. We got caught in a bad thunderstorm there and had to park under a bridge. Storms rolling through the prairie are a sight
Good pick!
Hoping to revisit London early this fall! New place: Iceland!
I travelled a lot in Europe, and would continue exploring/living there happily. However, new places? I’d love to see Africa, Egypt and ancient monuments in South America.
Or anywhere chance took me
A couple of decades ago we made the decision to move everything we wanted to keep into storage and sell everything else including the house we had lived and raised our kids in. With them out an on their own by then, it had become more house than we wanted anyhow.
We bought a rather large RV, and set out to see our continent. We did that for 14 years. I could go on for days about our experiences and adventures. The places we thought would be interesting became even more interesting as we stayed longer. Some of the places we expected to be little more than stopovers turned out to be fascinating. We even managed a couple of trips to Europe when we had to take our coach in for repairs or updating. (Hey, we had to be somewhere, why not Florence, Inverness, Dublin,...)
A few years ago, as we looked toward our upper 70s, we decided to dust off the money we had put aside from the sale of our house and build a new house we could grow old and creaky In, and sell our RV. We still love to travel, but now our travels are trips, not our lifestyle.
Where would I go? I'd do it all over again.
I’m curious to know where you have chosen to settle and why. What a wonderful way to have spent your retirement years.
As we traveled, we considered many places. We built spreadsheets listing positives, negatives, and unknowns for several. Although we found good people everywhere we, need to be around people who value a diversity of cultures, lifestyles, and ethnicities. We adore the arts. We love the mountains, forests, and urban delights. A day out cruising through wine country is hard to beat. We're also foodies. From a more pragmatic standpoint, although we're both very capable people and in great health, we know that won't last forever. Easy access to services and high quality healthcare is important and will become increasingly so.
For these reasons, we chose to return to the place we left 17 years ago, Vancouver, Washington. We have quick access to just about everything we need and value. We still have a lot of fun and interesting friends here. From our house, we can be at the coast in a few hours, the Columbia River, mountains and forests in 15 minutes. Portland, Oregon is minutes away, Seattle, a few hours, and Vancouver, BC, a day's drive. There are many excellent healthcare facilities minutes away and more a few hours away. Should we have a sudden burning attack of wanderlust, PDX is a half hour away.
Evey place has a few warts, and this place is no exception, but we love it here.
Interesting. We are currently living in Seattle. It’s hard to beat the PNW for all the reasons you mentioned. I love the diversity of Seattle and being close to water. This may be our permanent stop. Thanks for responding.
I suppose I would like to see Russia, try to understand why she turned out so autocratic compared to all the other nations whose royals were related to Queen Victoria, the feel of the country that is twice the size of ours, occupies 11% of Earth's land, & has been the enemy of the US for so long.
Taking the subject into the vibrating universe where time, space & gravity are always changing, which, to use a comparison, why time moves so slowly when one is at work but is over in a flash when relaxing at home, I would like to hitch a ride on that worm hole that would take me back to my youth so I could start over. Since the light we see from the stars might be millions of years old, there must be a time when the earth is at the point of light in time when this could happen.
Knowing about the theory of relativity, its understanding of how space and time differ depending on where and when and the force of gravity on it, takes several rereadings to understand, but is most interesting and magnifies how tiny we are in the scheme of things.
Greece because Greece is the birthplace of the first significant attempt at democracy as a viable way to govern a society.
I keep going back to Portugal, a relatively new democracy who threw off a fascist dictator without firing a bullet. The people are warm, inviting and have some of the best cuisine and wine of any Western European nation. They’re fairly humble people despite the history of discovery and conquest.
This is very easy for me. I just returned from my dream vacation, originally planned for 2020, cancelled because of the pandemic, and rescheduled for this year. I went to Paris and took a Seine River Cruise to the Heart of Normandy. It was so amazingly fantastic. It was more amazing than I had even dreamed it could be. First I spent 2 days in Paris. I went to L'Orangerie Museum and Marmottan Musee Monet. I love Impressionism; and Monet is my art idol. Those 2 museums were fantastic. L'Orangerie has 2 rooms of Water Lilies, brightly lit, even better than the Water Lilies room at MoMA where I like to spend my time. Then I got on the Viking River Cruise. Our first stop was Vernon; and our destination was Giverny. I had read so much about Monet and Giverny; and I had seen so many pictures. However, being there, really there, was a dream come true. It was larger than life. It was magical. I stood so close to the Water Lilies Pond, which was the inspiration for so many Monet paintings. I was overwhelmed with gratitude that I was at this incredible spot. Our tour also walked around all of the grounds. We saw the Japanese Bridge, which is also in many Monet paintings. We saw beautiful flower gardens everywhere. I walked through Monet's home. I took over 100 photos of Giverny, which I am editing; and I will be creating a digital album. Our next stop on the cruise was Rouen. We walked through the quaint town. The highlight for me was the Rouen Cathedral, and the studio across the street from which Monet painted the Rouen Cathedral. He worked on 3 canvases, using each canvas at a different time of day to reflect the look of the cathedral in the different lighting during the day. En plein air is what it is called. Totally amazing. Another stop on the cruise was Normandy. This day we spent at Normandy was very meaningful, very emotional. Somewhat overwhelming. We first visited the Museum and saw the exhibits of the Holocaust and the exhibits of D-Day, of the Allied forces landing on the beach, fighting against all odds to keep Europe and the rest of the world free from the Nazis. We lost so many brave military people that day (mostly men); and it was very touching to hear of how so many went into battle for such a great cause, and very sad to hear of how many lost their lives. then we went to the American cemetery and saw the rows after rows of gravestones of the Americans lost on D-Day. Our tour group laid a wreath at the status remembering the military who fought and died there. It was a very moving ceremony. Then we went down to Omaha Beach; and as our guide suggested, we stood there individually, in silence, looking at that beautiful beach, and trying to imagine what is was like for our military on June 6, 1944. I had a difficult time wrapping my head around that. It was surreal to imagine what our military endured that day and the following days. It was overwhelmingly sad. It also brought a great sense of pride in how Americans, along with the other Allied forces, fought to keep the world safe for Democracy. It was a physically and emotionally draining day. As difficult as it was, I am so glad I was there to experience it. We can't be isolated from the world's problems. Walking through the area where it all transpired is very important. We had a few other stops along the cruise, various smaller towns in France, along the Seine. Overall, it is clearly the most amazing trip I have ever taken. Besides all of the photos I took, I also kept a journal, not just of the places I went and the things I did, but also of all of my feelings as I experienced as I traveled in the Heart of Normandy along the Seine River. I highly recommend this trip to everyone.
Have a burning desire to see the Northern Lights, Antartica and Italy - it’s food and art! Wish me luck!
Where my wife and I are actually going in 2024. The Milford Track on the South Island of New Zealand. Yisss!
Croatia, missed our trip because of illness. But I never stopped us before..
Europe, Asia, South Africa, US, and of course our beloved Canada 🇨🇦
Love to mix with local custom, people, we always say to young parents, travel with your kids, it opens their minds…
A lasting memory of my father ❤️
Enjoy your Saturday 🇨🇦🇺🇦✌️
I would take a walking tour of Scotland.
Lapland to visit the Saami.
SW France; Scotland; Norway; New Zealand; Turkey; Morocco. Some I’ve been but must return and others are on a long-standing bucket list. Need to see the Sistine Ceiling and Chartres Cathedral at least once more. Also waiting for Notre-Dame in Paris to reopen.
Kyoto is definitely on my list. I just returned from 3 weeks at Palazzo Fiuggi, in Italy. My first big trip since 2019. Such a well needed and deserved treat. Enjoy your travels.
Australia for sure
I moved to just north of Taos NM in 1999 and haven’t left since! I’m truly living in Paradise!
Why?
I've been to England and Wales, but missed Scotland. I'd like to go there, if I were traveling. I'd also like to go to Scandinavia, all of it, because I admire their way of taking care of their people. I'd also like to see France, especially some of the more rural areas and small towns. What interests me about going to other countries is how people live there, and the foods they eat. I like trying different kinds of food. I'm not a gourmet, I just enjoy eating new things.
I'd like to visit the 9 states I haven't been to ... love a leisurely road trip stopping whenever there's something I want to see or a restaurant/food I want to try. Just need the right traveling companion !
I’d do a train trip with sleeping car! I once went across country from Norfolk to Sam Francisco during the winter. It was sublime. I would like to take the train across Canada next or perhaps through Europe. What a way to see things!
I’ve taken the rocky mountaineer from Vancouver Canada to Banff. It’s a wonderful experience, and I highly recommend it.
Given the lovely replies, I think the Icelandophiles, if I may invent a word, could put together a group excursion. I do so hope to go for a week or so someday. Not sure where else someone could satisfy everything from Star Wars geekery (Rogue One) to Norse mythology to Viking history to vulcanology in one unique lovely place.
Have a wonderful time! I will be in Berlin in October and I hope you'll let us know what you do while you're there. My favorite place is the Egyptian Museum where Nefertiti lives because as a child it was my heartfelt plan to be an Etyptologist. I'm in northern Italy most of the time and have done a lot of traveling in my life so traveling per se isn't a priority any longer. These days, I'm content to be in Italy with my love, in Los Angeles and St Louis with my daughters and their very young children, and with my dear friends in Seattle where I lived for many years and began my clinical practice.
dang - Egyptologist is what I was trying to type...
Scandinavians are such wonderful people. Transitioning back to America and the land of the Hatfields and McCoys will be difficult. Denmark has one of the best run gov'ts in the world. In Helsinki, when the police went on strike, the crime rate went down! I'd recommend that after Berlin, you hop a ferry and go right back to Scandinavia to visit Copenhagen and Stockholm. While America is searching for "answers" as to how societies should function, Scandinavian has the answers. IMHO.
I used travel for work and I’ve been to 90 countries - most numerous times. I was always able to make time to explore. I was lucky my customers took me to local places away from tourists. I love just getting off the beaten path. I enjoyed driving all around Iceland especially away from the major tourist areas. It’s stunningly beautiful. Patagonia in either Argentina or Chile. Incredible scenery and whales/penguins. Bahia Magdalena in Mexico and seeing the northern right whales up close. Cruise around the Galápagos Islands. Such a wonderful and unique place also with penguins. Driving through the Scottish highlands. The Philippines has many beautiful places like Cebu. I went on an African safari to Botswana/Zambia/Zimbabwe and that was amazing. I would love to go drive around Ireland, New Zealand, Prince Edward Island, Norway, the Azores. Anyway unfortunately I got very sick several years ago and I had to quit my job and I’ve been mainly at home. It’s a complete change sadly in my life. I do live in Utah though and there are many beautiful places to visit here. Anyway I wish you safe travels wherever you go. It’s a blessing to be able to see the world and meet new people.
Prague. It seems to me that it would be magic.
Prague is on of the most beautiful cities in the world. It wasn’t leveled in WWII. I love just walking around the city because there is so much to see and the dumplings are so good.
Can you feel the envy? It’s real.
Thailand----/
Malta.
After seeing it in the movie Popeye. Or pretty much anywhere in the Mediterranean.
Back to Hawaii again.
I’m already there. Alaska cruise was at the top of my list.
You:"Journalists Need to Sound the Alarm
It’s high time for news media to confront the rise of ... panic responsibly"
Pick one:
1.
Panic, anxiety, etc
2.
Valium
3.
Placebo
Note: 30%-60% of anxious people were cured by placebo so they are in #3. and have picked one:
3.1
Innocuous placebo
3.2
Insidious placebo
Regarding 3.1:
Followers of the Prince of Peace consistenly voted for war. Thus an "Innocuous placebo"... "mutated" into an "Insidious placebo"
Note: If AI(fb, twitter, etc) can make 60% of the US addicted to an "Insidious placebo"....GAME OVER
Addendum: There is a fourth choice that "no" American picks:
4.
Science.
(anxiety science finds that all treatments should include Exposure Therapy)
New Zealand, I hear they are friendly people.
Oh Goody!! Another weekend, another BAPE (Beschloss Audience Participation Event.) I love 'em.
Today's prompt: where would I travel if time and money were no obstacle?
For many years I had the good fortune to have a profession that allowed me to travel to far-flung destinations frequently, and to afford to travel wherever I liked on my own time, however limited it might have been. I've been in or through every US state, but my own home town, Santa Fe, is still my runaway favorite. I subsequently lived in Amarillo (yuchhh), Austin, San Francisco, NYC, LA, Minneapolis, San Diego, Notre Dame (Indiana), Seattle, and Portland, Oregon.
Postwar, my Dad was a photographer for the National Park Service. This happy fate gave me unfettered access to the Four Corners parks and wild lands. I lived for months at a time at Grand Canyon, weeks in residence at Cañon de Chelly, Mesa Verde, and later Arches, Monument Valley, Zion, Bryce, ... you name it. I used to say that my childhood was like Huck Finn's, but without the water. I left at dawn every day, on my own, and the only rule was to be back by dark. Child raising was pretty laissez faire in them days. I grew up in wilderness. It was my church, my school, my playmate. I crave it even today, as it disappears relentlessly into the jaws of commercial exploitation and the ownership and management of powerful carbon interests.
I've traveled extensively in China, and visiting the Great Wall was a peak experience. Xi' an is an amazing city. I traveled the length of the Yangtze in a riverboat, just before most of the small, ancient riverside villages were flooded by the Three Gorges Dam. I walked for hours through the Forbidden City, the only Westerner in sight, before tourism to China became feasible for most travelers.
I spent a few weeks in Japan in the early 90s, mostly in Tokyo on business, in connection with a theatre tour. I wanted to visit the site of the POW camp where my Dad was imprisoned during WWII - Fukuoka Camp #7 - but couldn't work it in. I regret that! The horror of it has lived in my imagination since I was old enough to conceive of such a thing. Seeing it - and the modern life of the innocent people going about their lives around it today, unaware of the horrors that preceded them - might have changed how I felt about it.
I've been all over Europe. Attended the Cannes Film Festival for years. Spent long, wine-soaked vacations in Provence (where one side of my family came from). Worked for a Dutch TV company for several years, and so got to enjoy many trips and long stays in this most civil of countries. I love the Dutch people. A colleague there once told me that a Dutch man, on his way home from work, is as likely to stop for flowers as for bread and milk. How can you not love them? Driving alone one day I crested a hill (one of about three in Holland, I think) and saw fields of tulips stretching to the horizon - I mean miles of color as far as I could see. It felt like the moment in Wizard of Oz when the world turns to color.
I ran through an Alpine meadow in France, singing a song from The Sound of Music, and promptly collapsed, gasping for air as the altitude caught up with my sea level lungs. It took a full minute before I had enough oxygen to laugh at myself, but once I could I laughed for longer than a minute, as I recall.
It's cliched to say that I love Paris in the springtime. I love Paris in the Fall. But I do. I lived in New York City for a decade, which entitles me to say that Paris is the World's Great City.
I traveled through Egypt, Israel, and Tunisia and - because I'd studied as a Classics and Ancient History scholar - stood in the ruins of Carthage and wept for its massacred armies, as if it were yesterday. I have a vivid imagination.
I floated over the Masai Mara in a hot air balloon at dawn, with thousand of animals below, blissfully unaware of my presence above them, going about their morning ablutions and having breakfast. The elegance of a giraffe's tongue prizing out a succulent leaf snuggled between the long barbs of a thorn acacia, seen up close, is another peak experience. I traveled in Tanzania within months after it opened to westerners. It was still unspoiled. There weren't jeep tracks and rich American tourists rutting out every waterhole ... yet. In retrospect, and in all honesty, one of the complicated aspects of travel is the degree to which we kill what we love. I was just early to the party in Africa, and while I get to embrace my own unsullied memory of the African Rift Valley and its rightful owners, I can't ignore the fact that I was the vanguard of an onslaught of destructive tourism that was lining up right behind me, even then. Guilty as charged. Like kids defacing a building with graffiti, it's not the first one who gets charged, it's the last. But now, in old age, I wouldn't trade my memories of Africa for anything. It's a complicated moral reckoning. Aren't they all?
Ah. But (having buried the lede this deep into my answer again) I come finally to your question: given no limitations on time and money, where would I go? I'm afraid that my answer will disappoint. I'm tempted to say points south. I've never been anywhere in South America, or Cuba, and far too few visits to Mexico, even. I'd love to visit Buenas Aires. I've been to China often enough to take it off their table, especially in view of the dystopian surveillance state it has since become. I love Italy and everything about Italy (FOOOD!!!), especially Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna, and would go back at the drop of a toque. I've never been to Finland, Norway, Sweden, or Norway. I have been to both Ukraine and Russia (Slava Ukraini !!) but this isn't a good moment for a return visit to the former and never again to the latter.
So I'm going to the place that lifts my heart, renews my soul, reminds me who I am, and makes me happiest of any place on Planet Earth. (Sorry, Disney.).
I'm going home to Santa Fe in the fall, traveling alone. My wife has Parkinson's and can no longer travel. I NEED to do this. I'm going to eat Northern New Mexico cuisine morning, noon, and night. I'm going to live on Hatch red chile. I'll visit Maria's New Mexican Kitchen, with its famous menu of 100 different margaritas. (I'm only up to number 38 after all these years.). I'm going to early mass at my parish church, Cristo Rey. I'm a Guadlalupaño from way back. (Look it up.) I'm going to visit Santuario Chimayo and ask for Guadalupe's help for my wife. I'm going to drive the High Road to Taos and spend an afternoon at Taos Pueblo. I'm going to sit in the sun in Santa Fe Plaza and reflect gratefully on the years gone by, and how eventful and unexpected they have been, and how lucky I was, and how I have survived so many years of f#&king things up, only to have found a measure of grace at the end of things by being a care give to a woman I have loved for almost 50 years. I would like to think I'll be around long enough to come back again, but just in case, I'm playing this one as my farewell tour.
And I'll post from the road, trust me.