Your Best Place in the World

Next to you, sitting next to me.

 

In the car, windows down, volume up.

There's a time of day early on a Saturday or Sunday morning between 6 and 8 before SoCal wakes up and gets going when the drive down PCH from Long Beach thru Seal Beach and Bolsa Chica into Huntington Beach is relaxation at its best, as you breathe in the salty smells of the ocean, wind against your face, favorite tunes on blast, and look to your right to see waves crashing down.

Likewise, the drive north on PCH starting in Santa Monica thru Malibu until you catch the 101 in Ventura and take it all the way up thru Santa Barbara with the Pacific Ocean on your left side is spectacular.

Now I'm in Vermont and these mountain roads were built to drive. Route 9 from Downtown Bennington to Main Street Brattleboro is my favorite stretch in the country. Up and down with curves and swerves. Just a beautifully engineered road. Same with 11/30 starting in Manchester thru the ski mountains till you get to Springfield (or vice versa). Same with the Route 4 corridor starting in Rutland and ending in White River Junction (or vice versa). Route 100 is the called the "spine of Vermont" and it cuts through farms and streams and rivers from Wilmington down here in the south all the way up to the Canadian border. Route 14 is a fun road too.

If I did pick a place, it would be playing in the waves at Huntington Beach.

 

I'm not sure Internet sites count here ...

 

In and out of the waves in Montauk

 

I went to London on my honeymoon and never wanted to leave. There was so much history to explore and the Thames is spectacular. So pretty.

Domestically, any place where my morning coffee is good, the air is fresh, the company is fun, the scenery can be watched for hours and the beer is plentiful is my favorite place. Mendocino County, Pismo Beach, Olympia, Santa Cruz, Coronado all favorites because of less the place and more the memories.

 

Route 100 is my favorite drive.

 

My wife's family has a log cabin at 8,200 feet in the Snowy Mountain Range, 20 feet from the Little Laramie River. Two miles to a town of 250 or so, 27 miles to Laramie. It's absolute heaven in the summer.

I could also spend my life on Isle of Palms/Sullivan's Island near Charleston, SC. Visited last year and fell in love with the place.

 

1. Probably my oldest and dearest best friend's front porch. No great view -- just a little koi pond and a nice yard -- but good conversation and an endless supply of iced tea.

Everything else:
Best sunsets: New Zealand, west coast of the southern island. Wish I'd taken pictures every night.
Best beach: Bondi beach, Australia. I got a kick out of watching the little kids' surfing school.
Where I could just camp out forever and go native: White Beach, Puerto Galara, Philippines. Learned to dive there.
Country, other than Hong Kong, where I've visited the most: Malaysia. Absolutely love it. Been to KL, KK, Georgetown, Penang, Miri., more. I have no idea why I like that place so much, but it's gorgeous, cheap and has great food. It was also super easy to get to.
Coolest hiking: Tiger's Nest in Bhutan
Also echo the Scotland thing. I felt very at home in Glasgow.

And right now, I have an absolutely fantastic view of the Bosporus from the cafeteria at work. It will never, ever get old.

 

I haven't been there yet. But I'll get there someday.

 

I'm also pretty partial to the clear waters and sugar-white beaches on the Redneck Riviera. If I could pinpoint a location, it's about 1/4 mile west of the Destin bridge. There's a little stretch of beach owned and maintained by Eglin AFB that still makes my heart melt when I put my feet in the sand there.