Go Someplace You've Never Been Before

Once a year, go someplace you've never been before. -- Dalai Lama

I think this is wonderful advice. I used to travel a lot, but now with the price of the trips and the sky high price of airfare, I have had to cut back on my travels considerably.

This year's travel schedule is very light, thanks to the incompetence of American Airlines management that made it impossible to get to a scheduled trip to South Africa with European friends. But next year should be better, with trips to southern Africa, Yellowstone National Park, Banff (Canada) and Switzerland on the schedule. 

It's always great fun to visit a new locale, even when I discover the place isn't one to which I want to return. There are only a few countries I have no desire to revisit: Nicaragua, Iceland, Ethiopia, Brazil, Russia and Namibia immediately come to mind. I have been to Costa Rica and Botswana twice, and to Kenya and Tanzania multiple  times. The latter two keep drawing me back for their wonderful wildlife photography opportunities. My favorite domestic destination is Yellowstone National Park, which I have visited close to 10 times, and which I will visit again next year.

The Olympics were more personal whenever the television coverage showed the Eiffel Tower, because I had visited this iconic landmark when I was in Paris a few years ago. The same goes for the Arc de Triomphe, which was only a block or so from my hotel. I got to see and photograph it any time I wanted to by simply walking a short distance from my hotel.

Everything is so expensive and so uncertain these days, but I hope to keep checking countries off my bucket list for as long as I am able to travel and my money lasts.

I used to work with a guy in Houston who was proud of the fact he had never left the state of Texas, where he was born. I feel sorry for anyone with such a limited view of not only the world, but of the United States.

My advice? Go somewhere you have never been before, whether it's another state, some place within the state where you live, or another country. Expand  your horizons, spread your wings, and go explore the world!