Beach near Plettenberg Bay, South Africa. Just because 🙂
Traveling has been a passion (or should I say addiction?) of mine ever since I left the country “on my own” when I was 12 years old and nagged so long till my parents finally agreed to pay for my language camp in South Wales. Of course, I was not really on my own, I was only 12 years old, duh.. BUT it was the first trip abroad without parents and without knowing a single other person there. It was a bit scary and intimidating to be in a boarding school with so many other kids who I’d not known before, but above all it was extremely exciting.
The only reason why I got the idea of going there in my head initially was the photograph of people riding horses on a deserted sandy beach. I, absolutely bonkers for horses at that time, thought this could be my first (and maybe only) chance to go horseback riding on a beach. Austria is an absolutely beautiful country, but unfortunately very beachless.
Having explained my rite of initiation for my travel addiction, I can say that I have seen many parts of the world, encountered many different cultures and appreciated their food, customs, hospitality and attitudes.
Myself in Parque Güell, Barcelona, one of my favorite cities
So, naturally, it comes quite easy to me to write about traveling, which is why something caught my eye recently when I browsed through facebook. A travel writing contest. With 500 to 1000 words contestants are challenged to describe the BEST place they’ve traveled to, to give inside tips, travel hacks and so on.
I think the more places you see, the harder it gets to claim one of them as the BEST. What does that even mean? For me, my most memorable experiences were not only because a place was beautiful, because the nature overwhelmed me, or the architecture stunned me. No. It is ALWAYS a good mix of the way you feel at that time and place, the people you meet there, or the people you’re with, the things you do and see, and yes, sorry to say so, also the weather. So for me, it is pretty much impossible to name one place I’ve been to THE BEST, which is why I’m having trouble even deciding if I should participate in that competition.
I think, to some extent, every place has the potential to become the BEST one you’ve ever been to. When the stars align and all of a sudden all circumstances play out in your favor even the most boring looking place in bad weather has the potential to turn into the best. <3