Destinations Beyond: World Tour

Personal

Ghee Teo's blog motivated me to post my own little map of the places I've been. See below.

My world tour started almost 30 years ago in 1977 with a high school band trip to Guatemala. That was an eye-opening experience for a young American! A three week business trip to Malaysia (KL mostly, but I visited the Highlands and the historic coastal town of Malaka) was fascinating. My favorite was the three weeks I spent on a Sun business trip in Sweden. I took the whole family (thanks Sun!) and added a 4th week driving across Norway to the fjords (check out this pic) on the western side of the country in and around Bergen. Wow!! Twenty hours of daylight per day made it even nicer. We also took a ferry over to Denmark and drove the length of the country to Copenhagen, stopping to visit the original LegoLand. My business trip to Frankfurt was also a highlight with side trips down the Rhine and to the historic town of Worms and Heidelberg. Hawaii and Paris weren't bad either, again thanks to Sun! Singapore was a cool little country. Oh, and my recent 10 days in Sydney, Australia was awesome - with a hiking trip in the Blue Mountains on the final weekend.

I've also been to most of the 50 United States. One of my favorite trips was the drive to Portland, OR for a conference speaking event. I took the family and we enjoyed many stops along the way. But hiking part way up Mt. Hood and Mt. Saint Helen, and the Columbia River Gorge offered stunning views. I still need to get to Alaska and Maine.

I was scheduled to travel to China and Korea and India last year, but those trips were canceled at the last minute because of the three hurricanes that hit my hometown. I thought it best not to leave my family to fend for themselves during the impending storms! I hope to visit those and many other countries in the years to come. The world is an amazingly diverse and highly interesting place.

April 11, 2005 01:57 PM EDT Permalink