Let's take a fun look back on over two decades of travel
Jen from Devour the World invited me to share my Travel ABC’s. I can think of no better way to wrap up 2011 and ring in 2012 than to take a fun look back at past travels.
A: Age you went on your first international trip: I was 16 when I headed down to a little town just outside of Monterrey to visit missionary friends with my aunt. It was transformative and kicked off years of travel.
B: Best (foreign) beer you’ve had and where: I hate beer. With a passion. It tastes like bread to me. If I wanted to taste bread I would eat an entire loaf. Let’s talk about a cup of chocolate instead. I had a great cup of chocolate along a river in Provence, France. I still dream about it.
C: Cuisine (favorite): This is just too hard. I love Italian, Singaporean, a good Indian curry, Mexican, a Sunday roast at a British pub, and you will never see me say no to a decent burger or slice of NY style pizza.
Our first trip to Rome, Italy (November 2007)
D: Destinations, favorite, least favorite and why: I’m not sure how to pick my favorite destination. There have been so many. Hong Kong, China and Singapore are incredible. Portugal was stunning and delicious. London, Venice, Hawaii… I could go on and on. If I have to choose one it would be Rome though. It was the first international destination my husband and I went together. It taught us a lot about each other and the way we travel and would travel together in the future. Plus I had the best pesto linguine pasta ever there.
My least favorite really isn’t very fair to the location. It’s not Phoenix, Arizona’s fault that I was over 6 months pregnant and had to fly down to deal with a project going horribly wrong. It was over 90 degrees the entire trip, I was away from my hubby and I was pretty much just miserable. I’ll probably have to give it a second look one day.
E: Event you experienced abroad that made you say “wow”: The Forbidden City made my jaw drop. I have been to some pretty amazing places but the sheer scale of the place when you first step inside is overwhelming and awe inspiring. Someone built that place! It pretty much went head to head with the Great Wall on my “wow” factor scale.
The Forbidden City, Beijing definitely put the "wow" in our travels (December 2010)
F: Favorite mode of transportation: Walking. It is the best way to slow yourself down and really see a place. Next up would be flying. It gets you were you want to go faster and so far we are not successful in the car with the toddler.
G: Greatest feeling while traveling: Elation over a new discovery. I love the tingles I get as we turn a corner and see a sight we have been dreaming about for years. Or better yet, we round a bend and find something wholly unexpected. There is nothing like it and nothing I have found to replace it. Now that I have a child that excitement over a discovery has only grown. Not only do I get to check out new things, but his whole world is transformed every time we walk down a street.
H: Hottest place you’ve traveled to: Singapore was the hottest, knock me off my feet, place I have ever been. I absolutely love it there, but I have never been so thankful for a/c and a pool in my life. Hong Kong in the summer would be the second runner up. Even Mexico in June could not compare. Savannah, GA is probably the closest I have come.
Drinking loads of soursop juice in the shade to keep cool in Singapore (2008)
I: Incredible service you’ve experienced and where: Cathay Pacific airlines went above and beyond when I was traveling alone with my then 20-month-old son Dek. I have never had an easier flight. I just wish the flight had been longer than 3.5 hours (Hong Kong to Osaka) so I could really bask in the service of the airline.
J: Journey that took the longest: Getting to Singapore and Hong Kong sure took a long time in terms of flight hours. Trying to get to Orcas Island, WA by ferry took about as long. But if you really want to get into delays it would be from London back to Seattle. Never have I seen so many hiccups by one airline. We were delayed in London so long that we missed the only flight back to Seattle from Philly. It took 3 hours waiting in a line (and on the phone) to find out there were no more flights to Seattle though. We rescheduled our flight for the next evening and headed to my parents for some unexpected family time. The next day as we were checking into our flight we were told we had missed it. How could we have missed it? We were 3 hours early! Well apparently the booking agent had put us on a totally different flight than she had written down for us. So instead of our lovely direct flight home, we were now on a flight to Las Vegas that would then connect to Seattle. This was not my most gracious flying moment as I fumed at the ticket agent who really could have cared less about our predicament. Cie la vie. Obviously it did not turn us off flying.
Ink print we picked up in Rome, Italy
K: Keepsake from your travels: On our first trip to Rome my husband and I started collecting street art or local cheap art to hang around our house (or rentals as they were at the time.) We never spend more than $20 on anything we pick up, but it has extremely sentimental value to us. Unfortunately we have built up such a collection our walls are busting at the seems. Might be time to switch to something else, like Christmas ornaments.
L: Let-down sight, why and where: I have yet to really find one. We tend to seek out the fun in any place we go or we just avoid the stuff that doesn’t interest us. Although Mike did just point out that Leavenworth, WA was a bit of a let down. We didn’t do any research, we just showed up. The town appeared to be one big tourist shopping trap. We have friends that adore it though. And well, we did get to ride a horse for the first time in years, so I guess it wasn’t a total loss.
My life transformed by a trip to Mexico in 1996
M: Moment where you fell in love with travel: I was 16 and sitting on a ranch in a small town outside of Monterrey, Mexico. It was the first time I was traveling without my parents (at least that I can remember.) I was visiting friends with my aunt. I had choices and had helped in the planning. I’m sure that I feel in love with travel long before this, but this is the one trip that sticks out in my mind as the catalyst to a life long love of hopping on a plane and discovering something new.
N: Nicest hotel you’ve stayed in: The Carlton in Singapore was my first taste of luxury travel. I had to fly out on business and my company always stayed in the same hotel. I had no idea what to expect. Heck, I had no idea there were bellhops in the world. My previous hotels weren’t hostels, but they weren’t exactly top notch either. I like to travel on a budget. The service was impeccable. Check-in and Check-out was smooth. There were bathrobes and slippers in my room. There was room service! Anything I needed was at a touch of a button. I have since stayed in some very nice places, probably of equal standing, but this place will always be the nicest, because it was my first.
A local woman counts her change in Lisbon, Portugal (November 2003)
O: Obsession—what are you obsessed with taking pictures of while traveling?: Windows and food are my usual obsessions when I am not taking pictures of my husband or my son. I also love to capture local older citizens just going about their day.
P: Passport stamps, how many and from where? Canada, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Moldova, Poland, England, France, Italy, Portugal, China, Macau, Hong Kong, Singapore. I think that’s it. I’m doing it from memory and since many countries don’t even stamp your passport these days who knows really.
Q: Quirkiest attraction you’ve visited and where: Window of the World was the kitschiest attraction we have ever seen. Located in Shenzhen, China, it houses many of the world’s top attractions at a fraction of the scale. It was hilarious and a must see if you are ever in the area.
Window of the World takes the cake for fun, over-priced tourist attraction (Shenzhen, China 2010)
R: Recommended sight, event or experience:
- Obviously the Great Wall of China and the Forbidden City should be at the top of your list.
- The quiet, hidden beaches of the Kauai and the Big Island of Hawaii should not be missed.
- Kyoto, Japan is just about the most relaxing location we have been to in a long time, but still full of beautiful sights, sounds and smells to keep everyone happy and walking all day long.
- Hong Kong at night is a must, but check out the Fa Yuen Street Market during the day instead of the Temple Night Market unless you are just there to eat.
- Walk the back streets of Rome; don’t just stick to the main tourist path. You will come across ruins not noted in any guidebook.
- Always eat like a local. If it’s packed, check it out. If there is a line up at the local street vendor, get in line. They must be doing something right.
- Lastly, if you are ever in Singapore during the F1 race, just stand on a street corner and listen. The whizzing of the F1 racecars echoes through the street. Then head to a local pub to catch a soccer game. You will swear you are in British pub- hooligans and all.
S: Splurge; something you have no problem forking over money for while traveling: Food, food and more food. I have never regretted money spent on a delicious meal.
Hamming it up on Siloso Beach on Sentosa Island, Singapore (2008)
T: Touristy thing you’ve done: I’m sad to report that we have never taken a picture with a London Guard or Roman Centurion. Why? I have no idea. When we were in Shenzhen, China we did join the flood of local tourists headed to Window of the World though. Talk about kitschy goodness. My local colleagues just laughed when we told them we visited the attraction. It was over priced and a total tourist trap. We loved it! Nothing could have been more entertaining or fun with a toddler in tow. What was bizarre was that we soon became the tourist attraction since we were the only western visitors that day.
Two years before I had visited Sentosa Island with a Seattle colleague in Singapore on one of our days off from work. We knew it was a tourist trap and ridiculous, but sometimes those types of places are the most fun. We mainly stuck to the beach since that was free, but still had a blast wandering around that morning before meeting up with local colleagues for some of their favorite wanders.
Tottering around the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, China (December 2010)
U: Unforgettable travel memory: Again, there are too many. I feel like every trip has had it’s own moments. Lately, I will say that watching my son master the art of walking in Beijing was pretty darn cool. He may not remember it, but I always will. I have about 500 pictures of him tottering around in a huge winter jacket with his arms out to balance (and, well, from the jacket too) as he made his way through the Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Great Wall, Tiananmen Square and so on.
V: Visas, how many and for where? I’ve only had to get one visa that covered two separate trips to China in 2010-2011.
W: Wine, best glass of wine while traveling and where? I love red wine but it hates me. Before I realized it was a big migraine trigger, I had an amazing local red in the small town of St. Remy in the south of France from a female owned vineyard. With a hunk of cheese and a loaf of bread from the local market it was the perfect lunch on a warm summer day.
A surprising white was had on Whidbey Island, WA with two friends of ours when we first moved to Seattle. We were at the Edgecliff Restaurant (now closed) in Langley having a fantastic lunch overlooking the water. We choose the Island White by Whidbey Island Winery to pair with our meal. It was delicious. Not too sweet, but not too dry, with some fruity hints snuck in there. It went great with my pasta and was a refreshing break from our morning drive around the island. Our waitress happily informed us that the winery was just down the way, so we stopped by for a tasting of their other wines and stocked up.
X: eXcellent view and from where?: I have a picture of myself looking down on Florence from the town of Firenze up the hill. My travels through Florence with a college group had been hectic and at times very frustrating. Stepping away from the chaos of the city with 3 friends was a wonderful way to step back and really take stock of all the city had to offer. It put the trip back into perspective.
Y: Years spent traveling?: 15 years international and domestic, at least 10 domestically with my parents and sister before that.
Z: Zealous sports fans and where?: I am not personally a big sports fan, except maybe the half pipe in snowboarding, but my boys sure do love soccer/ international football. English Premiere League is the footie of choice in our house. We are already angling a trip to visit friends in London so Mike can catch an Arsenal game next fall.
Ballard Seafood Fest 2011 proved that local travel can be just as fun and delicious as international (July 2011)
Have you thought about your Travel ABCs lately? Join in on the fun. It’s quick, easy and really makes you look back on some trips you may have forgotten about.
walking on travels 