My Travel ABCs

Never one to ignore peer pressure, I’ve compiled a list of my travel ABCs below, as requested by superstar blogger Suki.

A – Age you went on your first international trip: 4-years-old, Hong Kong. Must have been wild because I don’t remember it at all.
B – Best (foreign) beer you’ve had and where: All the best foreign beers I’ve had were in San Francisco (thank you, Toronado, La Trappe, City Beer Store). For the sake of this exercise, I’ll say a nice cold Estrella Damm while overlooking Barcelona.
C – Cuisine (favorite): Sushi and Mediterranean cuisine. When they invent a falafel sushi roll, I will have tasted God.
D – Destinations – favorite, least favorite, and why: Venice is unlike anything I’ve seen before. I love the architecture, the canals, testing my Italian with gruff Venetian bus drivers… It’s a mixed tapestry of wonder.
E – Event you experienced abroad that made you say “wow”: There are a lot of cats in Turkey.
Cat in Ephesus (photo)
F – Favorite mode of transportation: I love walking because you get to know every little bit of a city while toning your buttocks. I also love trains.
G – Greatest feeling while traveling: Freedom and finally finding a restroom when you really need one.
H – Hottest place you’ve traveled to: Thailand. It was so hot I swear I could see the heat.
I – Incredible service you’ve experienced and where: I’m always amazed by staff members on cruise ships. They really love their jobs and it shows.
J – Journey that took the longest: Traveling from Virginia Beach to New Orleans. A misread train ticket had me staying at a hotel overnight in Greensboro. Also: Driving from San Francisco to Las Vegas. So boring. Never again.
K – Keepsakes from your travels: A friend in Rome gave me some delicious pasta and chocolate from a gourmet shop near the Vatican. It’s the best dried pasta I’ve ever had in my life. I just finished it and now I am of the sad.
L – Let-down sight, why and where: Universal Studios Hollywood. Don’t ever go there immediately after Disneyland unless it’s still 1995.
M – Moment where you fell in love with travel: Don’t be silly.
N – Nicest hotel you’ve stayed in: A five-star hotel in Beijing. The bed was huge and I was small and life was good. I recall watching Scream 2 from my room. Less nice.
O – Obsession – what are you obsessed with taking pictures of while traveling and why: Alleyways and people. I also have plenty of shots of graffiti and street art. You get a taste of local culture, politics and humor with street art.

P – Passport stamps – how many and where from: Last one was in Amsterdam. I’ll leave it at that.
Q – Quirkiest attraction you’ve visited and where: The Winchester Mystery House in San Jose. Not far but definitely weird.
R – Recommended sight, event, or experience: Traveling can start the second you step out the door. Find your passion and follow it. Doesn’t matter where.
S – Splurge – something you have no problem forking over money for while traveling: Dinner with friends. A fancy dinner makes a great memory.
T – Touristy thing you’ve done: Arabian Nights in Florida. It’s like a Middle Eastern version of Medieval Times, and together they form the chicken dinner equivalent of the Crusades.
U – Unforgettable travel memory: A request for gay sex in a New York City hotel lobby restroom. It occurs.
V – Visas – how many and for where: I usually use American Express. Kidding! Mastercard.

W – Wine – best glass of wine while traveling and where: It was during the last night of a three-week Mediterranean trip with my family and our family friends from Hawaii. I picked some cheap bottles of wine in a Barcelona grocery shop and we sat in the hotel room drinking it. It was profound because these were the people who raised me as a child, and this was perhaps the first time we hung out as equals.
X – eXcellent view and from where: Staring up at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. No photography. No talking. So beautiful.
Y – Years spent traveling: The word “home” still has two meanings for me.
Z – Zealous sports fans and where: When I was checking into a hostel in New York City, the staff member asked where I had just come from. Boston. “You’re not a Red Sox fan are you?” Fearing for my life, I said no.