51 and counting…

And so, as they say, the universe conspired to make it happen.

On the 23^rd of July, 2015 I set foot in my 50^th country. It was just a daylong stopover in Kuala Lumpur, but statistics are statistics.

I’m a sucker for travel lists and having perused every ‘best’, ‘10 most’, ‘must do’ list out there, I’ve mustered the gumption to put together one of my own. Of course, being neither the last word in intrepid travel nor a celebrity of any weight, my list is unlikely to make the list as far as lists go. Nevertheless, here’s a compilation of stuff I’m often asked.

First, a few disclaimers:

1. Once again, ‘50’ is just a number. So while I have spent months in some countries, I have only spent hours in others.
2. I have variously interpreted ‘place/destination’ as countries, cities or regions.

Blue Lagoon, Efate Island, Vanuatu

Natural wonders I’d love to revisit: Uluru (Australia), the Grand Canyon (USA), Iguassu falls (Argentina/Brazil)

Man-made wonders I’d love to revisit: The Pena palace in Sintra (Portugal), Petra (Jordan), the Alhambra in Granada (Spain)

The culture shock top gun: Japan is every bit ‘another planet’ and a delightful one at that. In fact, it is many quirky planets rolled into one.

The cheesy but fun list: Going on a gondola ride in Venice (Italy), taking in the gaucho experience near Buenos Aires (Argentina), pretending to be Nefertiti aboard the Nile cruise (Egypt)

The bizarre list: Watching grown women drag each other by their hair in the name of ‘sport’ at the Lucha Libre in Mexico City; singing cutesy Japanese love songs (actions an’ all) with frilly-frocked waitresses at a maid café in Tokyo; spending an entire night roaming the streets of Reykjavik (Iceland) while the sun refused to set; standing on the border between North and South Korea, one foot in either country

The travel snobbery busting trip: A week long cruise to the Western Caribbean

A mode of travel I had dismissed as being fit only for ‘newly-weds or nearly-deads’ turned out to be one of the most enjoyable, value-for-money experiences.

The bragging rights earning travel moment: Ahem…on a scheduled international flight from Windhoek (Namibia) to Johannesburg (South Africa), the husband and I were the only passengers!

Should’ve been there by now (aka the wish list): Kenya, Peru, Russia, Canada…in that order

Personal travel revelation: Some of my happiest travel moments have been around fauna of some sort. Cases in point: swimming with stingrays in Cayman Islands, being taken on a sledge ride by manic huskies in Lapland (Finland), spending an afternoon at the kangaroo orphanage in Alice Springs (Australia), hanging out with the orangutans in Borneo (Indonesia)

Orangutan in Borneo

Favourite destinations: This, not surprisingly, is the question I get asked most often and the one that has me hemming and hawing every time. I have warmed up to different places for different reasons…sometimes for reasons that have little to do with the place itself. However, a list calls for names and here are a few.

Namibia – For the diversity of beautiful landscapes and the feeling of being in the middle of nowhere

Maldives – For the luxury and excesses that make you believe, at least fleetingly, that money can buy happiness

Vanuatu – For some of the friendliest folk who actually walk the ‘you don’t really need much to be happy’ talk

Seville, Spain – For memories of my first real solo trip and being the hub of all things Spanish

London, UK – For being a city of endless possibilities and the centre of the universe, if ever there was one