7 Beautiful Places in the World
On a bus into downtown Seoul from ICN airport a couple years ago, I
chatted with a French-Canadian guy who was interested in my travel
experiences. He asked me a question that has always stumped me:
“What is your favorite country?”
I never know how to answer that one, because I honestly have no idea.
When I started traveling years ago out of a search for something
indefinable, I think I expected that somewhere along the way I would
find the perfect place. As long as I had that expectation in mind, I
was continually disappointed throughout the journey – or if not
disappointed, I was certainly
unfulfilled.
Since then, I’ve heard the “favorite country” question countless
times. Now that this site has a fairly broad readership, I do interviews
for other blogs at least once a week. Whenever the interview is with a
travel-related site, I can always count on that question coming up.
My favorite country… my favorite place… hmmm.
Somewhere along the way, I decided that I simply don’t have one
favorite place in the world. There are still a lot of countries left on
the list, and of course many places in the countries I’ve already
visited that I haven’t been to, but as of now, I’m no longer expecting
one clear favorite to emerge.
Instead, I’ve developed a larger perspective, where I have not one
but several favorite places in the world. Maybe it’s a cop-out, but I
think it’s also a reflection that many of us enjoy different things
about different places. No single destination is the best.
Here are some of the most beautiful places I’ve been to since I got serious about travel.
***
Ohrid, Macedonia – In the summer of 2007, I toured
the Balkans by flying into Sarajevo (Bosnia) and out of Belgrade
(Serbia). In between I took the long way around, traveling around
through Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, and Macedonia. In
Macedonia I stopped for three days in the small town called Ohrid. I
loved it.
***
Cape Town, South Africa – On this I am fairly
conventional: Cape Town is my favorite city in Africa. I have good
memories of spending three weeks there in 2006. I usually return to
Jo’burg at least once a year for transit, but I haven’t been back to
Cape Town yet. I miss it.
***
Pacific Northwest (U.S. and Canada) – Hey, I live
here now – but I can still count it, right? I love Seattle, Vancouver,
and Portland. I haven’t spent hardly any time at all in the interior
part of the region, so I can’t comment on that yet. But here on the
coast, life is good. I like the culture, the coffee, and the nature.
***
La Gomera, Canary Islands – I’ve been to Tenerife at
least six or seven times (I lost count) in between sailing from Europe
to West Africa over the course of several years. It’s not a bad place to
go, especially if you’ve been hanging out in Sierra Leone for six
months before you visit. But one time Jolie, me, and a couple of friends
took the ferry off to La Gomera, a much smaller and less inhabited
island an hour away. We rented a car and drove on every road of the
island, climbed to the top of the mountain, and watched the ocean.
***
Faroe Islands – North of Scotland and technically
governed by Denmark, I spent five days in Tórshavn, the capital. I flew
in from London via Iceland and almost didn’t make the connecting flight
due to it departing from a different airport. (I had no idea until I was
on the plane.) Once I finally made it, the Faroes were as breathtaking
as reported.
***
The Old City in Jerusalem – I wasn’t sure what to
expect before I went, but this is one place that lives up to the hype.
Wow. I enjoyed visiting the Western Wall and walking through the streets
at all hours. It’s definitely worth a trip, especially if you are
Christian, Jewish, or Muslim.
***
Image by NM
Damascus, Syria – Even better than Jerusalem, but
naturally more difficult to get to. As a U.S. citizen, I had a hard time
getting a visa to Syria, but when I finally made it to Beirut, Lebanon,
getting over the border by land was easy. My stop in Damascus was
fairly short, and I wished it had been longer.
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