My 10 Best International Travel Experiences

Everywhere you look these days, you see "Top 10" or "Top 100" or "Top Whatever" lists: places to go before you die, places to see while you can still walk, places to eat before they close, etc.  While they can certainly spark your interest, what is "best" to one person may be of no interest to the person sitting next to them.  I've always kept my own list of favorite places.  What constitues "my favorite" probably relates to the mood I was in, the events happening around me, the weather that day and a multitude of other factors.  Whatever the case, I have vivid - and favorable - memories of these places to this day.  Whether you would find them as interesting and moving and I did is the great unknown.  But so is the best of travel!  So, here's my list of my favorite international travel experiences (in no particular order, since the order could change the time I finish the list!!!)

Town Square, Krakow, Poland.  Huge, medieval square with the market building in its midst, sidewalk vendors, people going about their daily lives, and a great restaurant on the corner.  My hotel was a block away and across from a "nunnery" where the angelic chants awoke me each day.  The full experience package deal.

Fish Condos, Moorea, French Polynesia.  The dock at our resort ended at the edge of an underwater ledge.  Entering the water with snorkle gear on, you you could see fish darting in and out of the porous wall as far down as the eye could see - like a huge condo complex.  Unforgettable.  Oh, and the water was warm.

Town Square, Antigua, Guatemala.  Whether it was the sounds of silence at night with the glow of street lights, or the All Saints Day/Day of the Dead processions around the square, it was always enticing.  And the bars were memorable too.

Skellig Michael, off the coast of the Ring of Kerry, Ireland.  It was just the two of us on this tiny island rock outcropping on this bracing fall day.  The wind was blowing and there was a slight mist.  Just us and the spirit of the monks who inhabited this desolate spot 1000 years earlier.  Wow.

Isle of Barra, Outer Hebrides, Scotland.  Maybe it was the hot dog stand that caught fire during the island's Highland Games.  Or the B+B proprietor, a sea captain, who had fresh-baked treats each evening and lots of stories to tell.  Or maybe it was the tour of the castle in the bay (thus the name of the island's only town - Castlebay) by one of the hereditary descendants of the former rulers.  Or all of these and more - yes, there were pubs, too!

Kaustinen Folk Music Festival, Kaustinen, Finland.  My first trip to Europe was to Finland (don't ask why) and the highlight was the long weekend I spent in this small town in west-central Finland listening to music, dancing with the locals, and just hanging out.  My favorite music festival ever! 

Miyajima Island, Japan.  The floating torii gate off of Miyajima Island was the draw; the experience of staying in a traditional Japanese Inn, complete with multi-course Japanese dinner was the equally enchanting memory.  And the fact that no one was allowed to die on the island (its sacred, after all) made it a place where I could live forever!

Bhutan.  Yes, an entire country.  Festivals, scenery and wonderful people in traditional garb made it like walking through a copy of National Geographic each and every day.  Talk about 3D!

Bali.  Yes, an entire island (OK, so was Barra).  Festivals, scenery and wonderful people, puppet theater, gamelon groups, even a cremation ceremony.  Didn't even make it to the beach, that's how good it was.

Venice.  An adult Disneyland, no kidding!  Boats and bridges and gondolas and water and old buildings and more boats and narrow carless streets.  Oh, my.

OK, that's my list.  Hopefully it gives you a few ideas and triggers in your mind your favorite places.  Journey On!