travel meme

[hnpcc]

1. What's the last place you travelled to, outside your own country?

San Francisco is the absolute last. But we also went to the south-west/north east of the US and a very small bit of Canada (Niagara-Toronto-Chicago) on that trip.

2. What's the most bizarre/unusual thing that's ever happened to you while travelling?

When I was going around Europe I kept running into the same guy from Sydney, and always in the oddest places. We initally ran into each other in Piazza San Marco in Venice, then three months later in an ice-cream shop in Copenhagen, then in Brussels near an autoteller off the Grote Markt, then finally at the Hard Rock Cafe in London. My friend managed one more time, she ran into him in the East German TV tower in East Berlin (which was still East German at that point). Haven't seen him since though...

3. If you could take off to anywhere, money and time being no object, where would you go?

Pretty much everywhere I could. Definitely Capetown-Nairobi-Cairo-Istanbul. Europe again. The bits of the US and Canada we missed last time and the bits we want to revisit. South America, Mexico, some bits of Central America. Train from St Petersburg across Russia to Beijing. Train from Kunming to Hanoi. Phenom Phen. Nepal. Japan. South Korea. The bits of Australia I haven't seen. New Zealand. PNG. Polynesia. Large parts of Asia. Most of the middle East.

If I had to pick initially, I'd really like to go back to Europe again and catch up with people. But it'll probably be via Egypt.

4. Do you prefer travelling by plane, train or car?

Depends what I'm after. Plane is a bit of a necessity from Melbourne to any foreign destination, unless I could fork out a large wad of cash for a cruise ship or something. Or buy a yacht and learn to sail properly rather than on very still waters. I don't actually mind planes though: I can sleep pretty much anywhere and I'm happy reading quietly to myself if I'm awake. Don't ususally bother with the movies though - can't hear them, can't see them. Train - I quite enjoyed Eurailing, and Amtrakking the north-eastern US corridor, much easier than with a car in the big cities. But in the south-west a car was an absolute necessity, albeit an expensive one. To get around Oz, and I think the US/Canada, you need a car. Or a good bus pass and lots of time. Sad but true.

5. What's the next place on your list to visit?

Australia: Flinders Ranges. In two weeks. Really, really, really looking forward to it too.
Overseas: Cairo, where my brother's now living. Will probably combine with some bits of Yurp, given that we'd almost be there (relatively speaking).