GOING PLACES :: Forty Years of Wandering

I started travelling overseas relatively late in life. My first trip abroad was in 1979. I was 18 years old and I had won a

scholarship from the Italian Government to spend four weeks in Perugia furthering my studies in Italian language at the renowned Universita' Per Stranieri. I remember boarding the Air Malta Boeing 720B bound for Rome, taking my window seat and fastening my seat belt in eager anticipation. Soon after the hostess had finished her display of the safety features came the announcement on the aircraft's PA: there was a problem with one of the engines and we would be disembarking until the technical crew fixed the fault. So myself and 126 fellow passengers went back into the terminal, had a complimentary sandwich and Coke, before climbing back on board three hours later to resume the journey. Some ninety minutes later, following an uneventful flight over the blue Mediterranean, we touched down at Fiumicino. A train ride from Rome's Termini station, northwards to the green hills of Umbria, followed by a bus ride to Perugia's city centre and a walk up to the hilltop hostel on Monteripido. So started my love affair with travel, complete with engine trouble and a three hour delay on the maiden trip.

Almost forty years (and many delayed flights) later, my love of travel has not diminished. I have been lucky to travel quite extensively both for work and for fun, visiting many different parts of the world. Some places I visited numerous times, so much so that I feel completely at home and in my element whenever I happen to go back. In other locations, it was more of a quick in and out. This is true for most business trips which usually consist of airport-hotel-meeting-hotel-airport kind of experiences with hardly any time for sightseeing or relaxation. But even such turbo-charged, fast-forwarded forays offer an opportunity to discover a new city, a different culture or a special way of doing things.

Some time ago, I started jotting down a list of places I have been to. I left out all those locations that were just stop-overs on the way to somewhere else, transit points on a journey where I simply passed through or stayed for less than 24 hours. I split the list into three categories: Countries, Cities and Cruises. Countries includes islands such as Sicily, Sardinia, Crete and Rhodes which are not independent states in a geopolitical sense, but are large enough to warrant a separate mention. The list of cities is far from exhaustive. For example, during the five years I lived in New York, I visited 36 US states and many cities within them, too numerous to mention. The three cruises mentioned in the third list are journeys in their own right, comprising visits to various ports of call en route.

I am sure I am missing a few, but for what it's worth, here goes.

Countries Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Crete, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark. Dubai, France, Ghana,

Germany, Gozo, Gran Canaria, Hawaii. Isle of Wight, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand,

Peru, Puerto Rico, Rhodes, San Marino, Sardinia, Scotland, Sicily, Switzerland, Tanzania, Tenerife, Tunisia,

UK, USA, Vatican, Yugoslavia* and Zanzibar.

Cities Amsterdam, Aspen, Athens, Atlantic City, Banff, Bangkok, Barcelona, Bari, Bath, Beijing, Beirut, Belfast, Bilbao,

Brussels, Budapest, Cambridge, Cancun, Cinque Terre, Copenhagen, Dublin, Dubrovnik, Durham, Faro,

Granada, Halifax, Heidelberg, Marbella, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Las Vegas, Liverpool, London,

Lugano, Madrid, Malaga, Marrakesh, Milano, Moscow, New York, Newcastle, Orlando, Oslo, Paris, Porto,

Prague, Puerto Vallarta, Rapallo, Riga, Rome, San Francisco, San Sebastian, Sarasota, Seville, Shanghai, Sligo,

St Petersburg, Stockholm, Tallinn, Toronto, Valencia, Varese, Venice, Verona, Vienna, Viseu and Warsaw.

Cruises Alaska, Mediterranean, Norwegian

I will be updating the list to reflect new trips, and past ones I may have forgotten. Stay tuned.

#countries #cities #journeys