Over my 20-year career writing travel stories for The Seattle Times, a question I've fielded (happily, I should say) when meeting someone for the first time was almost as predictable as the number of pretzels I got flying Coach: What's been my favorite trip?
I usually fudged. Prettiest place? Nicest people? Most fun? Educational? How does one judge?
What I've learned through travel, and tried to share, is that I rarely feel more alive than when seeing a new place, meeting new people and tuning in to a different culture. Maybe the destination is kind of secondary.
But now that I'm retiring soon, a friend came back at me with the old question, so I guess it's time to commit. My out? Everybody loves a Top 10 list.
Reminiscing is an indulgence, but if it inspires you to jump on a plane, consider it my parting gift. I'll be forever grateful to have had one of the best jobs in the world.
Some of these were personal travel, some were reporting trips. Arranged only by year:
