The Rough Guide is 25 years old.
In this Guardian article they list their top 25 trips, the first one being island hopping in Greece, which is something I’ve always wanted to do. I haven’t travelled all that much, though I’ve moved around quite a bit. I guess my favourite trip so far has been Barcelona, though I’m thinking that the upcoming trip to Lisbon might end up topping it.
What are some of the best trips you’ve ever taken?
Or dream locations you would love to visit?
casa azahar 
Two trips I’ve done:
1. By rail through the Ecuadorean Andes. Owing to a not-unexpected booking problem, I got to sit on the roof. It made life interesting on the edges of ravines, in the sleet. If ever there was a journey that had nothing at all in common with my daily life, that was it.
2. Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory. Wildlife, rock art, lush tropical vegetation, amazing waterfalls, and the traditional owners of the region still in residence. (It was all the better for being a weekend break during a six-week official posting in Darwin during the monsoon.)
One trip I want to do:
Madagascar, without internal air travel.
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On the roof??? Eep.
You have reminded me of a trip I once took through the Rockies in Canada by train, though I was happily ensconced in the ‘bar car’ which had enormous windows and a domed glass roof so you could take in as much scenery as possible. For me, taking in that much scenery meant seriously needing to be in the bar car. Rather a vicious circle thing.
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Ivan’s trip on the train roof reminds me of a motorcycle trip I had with an ex-boyfriend involving hairpin-bends in the Pyrenees, in an ice-storm, at night, after a big argument. Excellent way of putting things back in perspective. And of solving any lingering digestive problems…
A trip still on my list is Galapagos, diving. And I’d love to travel the world by ship one day – no flying.
Barcelona is a great place, I really enjoyed my visit there. 🙂
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Oh, and Kakadu is on my list, too Ivan!
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Az, ‘eep’ is roughly what my mother said when I told her about being on the roof of a train. (I did’t tell her until I was back home. Simpler that way.)
Truce, Kakadu is a Must. I saw it during the Wet, when all the falls were in full flood and the tourists weren’t numerous. Unfortunately, the insects were numerous and the humidity was appalling – but that’s all part of the charm of the place. One can’t feel intrepid without discomfort, after all.
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I think I’m a rather less ‘intrepid’ traveller myself, which might have to do with my age now. Though as I have always hated camping I doubt I would have ever wanted to hang out in Kakadu during the Wet.
The most ‘intrepid’ trip I’ve ever done was hitchiking across half of Canada (from Winnipeg to Newfoundland) when I was 17. I was with my boyfriend and we set off on a six-week journey with only a couple hundred dollars, a tent and a couple of sleeping bags and a whole lot of chutzpah. The idea was for me to meet all my Newfie relatives (on my Dad’s side) and basically have an adventure.
And we had tons of wonderful adventures, as well as a few scary moments, and plenty of camping with MOSQUITOS the size of sparrows. And I don’t want to even remember the lake full of leeches we decided to ‘bathe’ in one morning. *shudder*
My best story from that trip was when we were on our way back. We got to Montreal with exactly 20 dollars left between us and decided – fuck it! – and went out for a pasta dinner with wine and blew the whole wad. Well, except for enough busfare to get us out to the outside of town the next morning. So there we were waiting for the bus to take us through the suburbs and back out onto the highway and there was a very nice older woman also waiting for the bus and she struck up a conversation with us. We told her about our trip and that we were finally on our way home now. The bus came and we got on, and the woman got off in a rather posh looking area … but just before she got off she came over to me and pressed something into my hand and said she hoped we had a safe journey home. She had given us 20 dollars!
And as luck would have it, after waiting just a short time at the side of the highway a guy picked us up who was going to Calgary and said he would take us all the way to Winnipeg, no problem. And he did.
Cool, eh?
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The only thing I’ve ever had from a stranger at a bus stop is earache. You are lucky…
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