I’m very excited to welcome my first guest poster, Matt Long, from LandLopers. Matt’s was one of the very first travel blogs I discovered. LandLopers served as a great resource for planning my trips to Rome and New Zealand, not to mention a fantastic inspiration for creating my own Website. Matt’s post is the first in my series of traveler reflections on the topic, “My Favorite Place on Earth.” You can read about my favorite place on earth and the inspiration behind the idea here. Without further ado…
I started writing this post several times. If I had done it on a pad of paper, there would be countless first sentences crossed out with a thick strike of the pen. That’s the problem anytime someone asks me my favorite travel destination; I’m not sure that I have one.
I love aspects of almost every new place I visit. I love the parks of Paris, the outdoor adventures in New Zealand and the food in Jordan. Sure, there are destinations I enjoyed more so than others, but to say I have a favorite I think is impossible, and I’m good with that.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with daydreaming about a future trip; I do it every day. However, this daydream becomes a roadblock once it becomes too outlandish. It is suddenly not good enough to fly somewhere; it has to be first class. It’s not good enough to spend a week in the Caribbean; it has to be a month-long cruise of French Polynesia.
Fear and economics are major reasons for this inability to take action–fear of a new country, city, language, food or a multitude of other reasons. The major fear though is that whatever trip a person takes won’t live up to their preconceived notion of the ultimate dream trip. That is why EVERYONE should abandon entirely the notion of a perfect vacation and instead daydream about a REAL trip.
That’s why I don’t have a single favorite destination and never will.
Matt Long, Editor-in-Chief and creator of LandLopers.com, has a true passion for travel. As someone who has a bad case of the travel bug, Matt travels the world in order to share tips on where to go, what to see and how to experience the best the world has to offer. Matt is a Lonely Planet Featured Blogger, a contributor to many other travel sites and publications including Dabble Magazine. Matt’s site, LandLopers.com, is listed in the Top 100 Travel Blogs, Top 100 Independent Travel Blogs, Most Influential Online Travel Personalities and Washington Flyer’s Top 100 Travel Blogs. Follow him on Twitter or Facebook.
Alexandra
November 29, 2011Matt, I’m totally with you on this! One of the things I most enjoy about travel is that I find something to love every place I go. My “favorite list” just keeps growing and growing with each new place!