(Cartagena, Colombia photo credit: szeke)
Since I’m a travel writer and my job is to travel, I often get askedwhat my favorite places are…what are the worsts and the bests. Well, like anything, travel is highly subjective. What may be a life-changing experience for one tourist can be a complete bore for another. Nonetheless, after backpacking through some many countries and to many of the world’s most amazing places, I decided to take a shot and make a list of my global picks and pans.
Best…
Way to spend an afternoon — lazing on an inner tube downriver in Vang Vieng, Laos
Animal encounter — gorilla-trekking in Uganda
Breakfast — feta, olives, cucumber and bread in Turkey
City that never sleeps — Cairo
Country for safety — Japan
Skyline by night — Hong Kong
Snack — mufalletta in New Orleans
Natural wonder — Victoria Falls, Zambia
Old city — Cartagena, Colombia
Off-the-beaten-track spot in Eastern Europe — Croatia
Overall city — New York City
Place for cheap knockoffs — Beijing
Place to drink absinthe — Prague
Place to fall in love — Zanzibar, Tanzania
Place to feel spiritual — Rishikesh, India
Place to ride in an air balloon — Cappadocia, Turkey
Road trip — Australia’s east coast from Sydney to Brisbane.
Roman ruins — Jerash, Jordan
Safari — Serengeti, Tanzania
Surprisingly cool spot — Lithuania
Underwater viewing — swimming with whale sharks and manta rays off the coast of Mozambique
(photo credit: Jose Javier Martin Espartosa
Worst…
Accommodations — the wooden slabs at a former prison turned “hotel” in Latvia
City for altitude sickness — La Paz, Bolivia
City for excess — Vegas (this could also fall under the ‘best’ category)
City for pedestrians — Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
Cosmopolitan city for trying to get by in English — Beijing
Place for budget travel — Greenland (you have to fly everywhere to get around)
Snack — sparrow embryos, scorpions and silkworm kabobs in China
Smelly food — Durian fruit
Toilets — the outhouses along the Machu Picchu trail
Unsafe-feeling city — Johannesburg
Urban poverty — Delhi, India
What are your “bests” and “worsts?” Share your faves with your fellow travel junkies by posting in the comments section below.
