My Picks For Best and Worst Travel Experiences of 2013

Wait! Don’t worry, this isn’t yet another Pollyannaish review of my year in travel. Well, maybe it is a little bit. No, instead it’s a quick back look at some of my favorite posts of the year about the good, bad and ugly of my travel experiences.

 

Best Domestic Travel Destinations

I didn’t do a whole lot of domestic travel this year; an oversight I’d like to address in 2014. What trips I did take though I thoroughly enjoyed, including these close-to-home favorites.

• Historic Savannah, Georgia – A Trip in Photos
• Surprised By Local Travel – An Unlikely Couples Weekend in Hershey
• Wreaths of Williamsburg
• Three Moments of Perfection at the Ritz Carlton Amelia Island

 

Best Travel Experiences

I’m an active traveler, so this was a really hard category to narrow down to just a few of my favorite experiences. More than being active though, what makes an activity truly great is its ability to surprise and amaze. With that in mind, these were without a doubt my favorite travel experiences of 2013.

• Walking on Water in Antarctica
• Great Drives – Exploring The Villages and Inlets of Sweden’s West Coast
• Safari in South Africa: Fact, Fiction and Photos
• Looking for the Game of Thrones in Dubrovnik
• Swimming with Whale Sharks in Mexico
• The Perfect Day and A Reminder Why I Love To Travel
• An Unusual Urban Kayaking Experience in Cork, Ireland

 

Best International Destinations

By far most of my travel is international and this year marked a great year for international adventures. My favorite country visited may have been Croatia, but all of my exploits were a whole lot of fun. Here are some of my favorite posts about those countries.

• Antarctica in Five Photos
• 11 Reasons Why I Fell in Love with South Africa
• Five Things I Wish I Knew Before Visiting Croatia
• The World’s Newest Epic Drive – Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way
• 7 Questions About Taiwan You Were Too Embarrassed to Ask
• An Unlikely Love Affair with Curacao

Worst Travel Experiences

As much as I love to travel, it’s just not possible to like every new place visited. So while some of these destinations and activities may have redeeming qualities, I don’t see them.

• Dear Toronto: It’s Not You…Well Maybe It Is
• I Was Supposed to Like Florence, Italy
• Mixed Feelings Exploring the Khlongs of Bangkok
• Five Places I Was Supposed To Like But Didn’t

Best Foods Enjoyed Traveling

I have said a hundred times that food is arguably one of the most important aspects of the travel experience and I still hold firm in that belief. The memories we retain from the smells and tastes of food are amongst the strongest and we retain those memories for years after a trip. I definitely ate my fair share of great foods in 2013, but these were some of my favorites.

• Learning How To Eat The Best Dumplings In The World at Din Tai Fung
• The Unusual Story Behind The Best Ice Cream in Ireland
• Eating in Croatia – 8 Bites to Remember
• Eating the Best Bunny Chow in the World
• A Swedish Tradition Everyone Should Try – Fika

 

Lessons Learned This Year

If you’re a regular reader, then you know that I tend to get a little philosophical at times. Sometimes it’s ranty, other times it’s a topic that means a lot to me. Out of all of my oddball, inspirational posts though these are my favorite from 2013.

• Stop Marking Time In Your Life
• 20 Things Every Smart Traveler Should Know
• The Truth About Traveling as a Gay Man
• Confessions of a Traveling Homebody
• La Petite Mort – Finding Travel’s Little Death (It’s a Good Thing)
• Five Things I’d Tell the 1998 Me
• How To Find And Live Your Passion
• The Importance of Failure

These are some of the travel experiences that made 2013 memorable for me – what are yours?