Destinations I Love
Here are some of the places I have traveled. I usually connect with a small group of like-minded people when I go. Below I’ve done a short riff on each destination in no particular order. There are plenty of places still to explore. For all the trips I consult on - whether I’ve been to a destination or not - I work with experts in the industry whose job it is to really know and love the countries that they specialize in and who have developed strong relationships with the in-country operators that plan and guide you on your journey.
AFRICA
More than three times the size of the U.S., Africa contains 54 disparate countries, the greatest desert in the world, one of the largest jungles, and the greatest concentration of wildlife on the planet. A lifetime of exploration and discovery. From the North - Morocco and Algeria; to the West - Senegal and The Gambia; to Ethiopia and the East - Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda; and the South - South Africa, Botswana and Namibia; and don’t forget the spectacular island nation of Madagascar.
MIDDLE EAST
The Fertile Crescent ranges from Iran to the Mediterranean and down into Egypt. What contrasts! Marvelous ruins, magnificent art, Arab hospitality, good food and great music. It’s all here somewhere. Consider Egypt and Jordan and Israel, and the countries of the Arab peninsula - the UAE and Oman. And Iran, not Arab but smack in the center of it all.
SOUTH ASIA
There isn’t much you can say about India that’s not over-the-top - the most people - the most gods - the most pungent smells -the most colors . . . Endlessly fascinating, especially taken a little bit at a time so you can savor the distinctions. Where else can you be charged by a cow in the middle of a holy plaza? Sri Lanka has its own Sinhalese culture and its own separate colonial history. And wild elephants on the roads!
LATIN AMERICA
From our close neighbors in Central America like Costa Rica, Belize and Guatemala to the more northern countries of South America like Colombia and Venezuela, Peru and Bolivia, and Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands, Chile and Easter Island: mountains . . . jungles . . . ruins . . . beaches . . . volcanoes and indigenous cultures.
SOUTHEAST ASIA
Such beauty and such heat! Sultry and languid . . . tinkling bells and wafts of incense. Exciting cities with mixed cultures. Unfair to lump all them together: Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar. All unique and intense, even within countries. Indonesia alone has more than 17 thousand islands with over 300 different native languages.
HIMALAYAN KINGDOMS
Nepal, Bhutan, and Sikkim (now part of India). Up in the sky. Apart from the world. Shangri-La. Clean air and bright colors. Prayer flags and beautiful Buddhist temples. Monasteries and Tea Plantations. Trek, raft the rivers, visit the holy sites. Three separate cultures which, due to geography, developed in isolation - all drawn together by a strong Buddhist sensitivity and those magnificent young mountains!
“I lost my hat while gazing at the moon, and then I lost my mind.”
CUBA
Right nearby but a world away. Even when it was an easy hop-skip-and-a-jump from Miami in the 40s and 50s, it was in a class by itself. Why? Music, art, sugar cane, music, cigars, rum, music . . . . . How could so much talent and ingenuity be squeezed onto one little tropical island? Dazzling countryside, spectacular beaches, beautiful colonial cities like Trinidad and Cienfuegos and splendid Havana. Stroll the Malaćon, visit the galleries, hit some nightclubs and follow Hemingway around town with a Mojito in hand!
THE ARCTIC
Belonging to Norway, Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. Stand on the front of a sturdy ship heading toward the North Pole and hear the ice breaking all around you and know that the whole world is at your back. . . . . Okay, you just do that for a little while because it’s COLD. There’s “Nothing” to see . . . . well maybe an occasional Polar Bear or fox or walrus. And who knew there were so many different kinds of ice, so many different colors of sky! In town, you are prohibited from being born, getting sick, or dying, so the locals are a hardy bunch. And a vault locked inside the mountain nearby is collecting all the seeds of the world . . . just in case.
CHINA
Big enough to be all things at once: ancient and modern, pastoral and populous, mystical and pragmatic. Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong are must-sees. But China is so much more: the mighty rivers, astonishing deserts, the Himalayas, the jungles of the south and, of course, Pandas. Climb the Great Wall and see the sights in the east. Take a river cruise down the Yangtze. Shop the giant malls of Shanghai. Experience the buzz and energy of Hong Kong. Head south and west if you can; the Chinese themselves are on the move, so the tourist infrastructure is pretty impressive, even in places you’ve never heard of.
AUSTRALIA
This land is so magnificently ODD. Upside down in the land of OZ. Worth the trip just to see all the things that you can’t find anywhere else in the world - that’s one reason to go. The other is that the people are so much FUN!
JAPAN
Exquisite. All of it. It’s like one giant Ikebana flower arrangement - a beautiful display where even the imperfections are honored. Respecting the old and brashly embracing the new, it’s a study in contrasts and the artistry they create.
WHAT’S NEXT?
The list is long and time is short.
“Traveling leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller. - Ibn Battuta
“Homecoming . . . the journey’s end . . . because, in a sense, it’s the coming back, the return, which gives meaning to the going forth. We really don’t know where we’ve been until we come back to where we were; only where we were may not be as it was because of who we’ve become, which is, after all, why we left.”