25 Random Thoughts On Visiting My 250th World Heritage Site

Last month I spent 2 hours exploring the Emperor Hadrian’s villa in Tivoli, Italy. It marked my 250th visit to a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here is a collection of thoughts and facts about world heritage sites that I’ve collected over the last 6 years: 1) As of the time of writing, there are 962 …

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Everything Wrong With the Animaniacs Nations of the World Song

If you grew up during the ’90s, or if you were just around for it, you might remember a catchy tune sung by Yakko Warner of the Animaniacs. That song recounted all the nations of the world in one fast-paced list. If you have never heard Yakko’s World before, take a listen right now. It …

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Is it Safe to Travel to the Balkans?

Balkans travel safety at Mehmed in Višegrad

In a few days, I’m going to be flying to the Balkans, where the Adventure Next conference will be taking place in Ohrid, Macedonia. In addition to attending the conference, I’ll be renting a car and visiting some of the nearby countries, many of which I haven’t been to before. Safety is a big concern …

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World Heritage Best & Worst

I am going to caveat this whole post to say first, that any list of the best and worst things in the world is highly subjective, and second, that most of the “worst” sites fall into “disappointing” rather than downright bad. There is something of value in each site, otherwise it wouldn’t have gained the …

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Off to St. Helena!

In 2011 I did a post listing the 13 places in the I most wanted to visit but haven’t yet. To date, I’ve only visited one of the places on that list: Lord Howe Island in Australia. Today I’m embarking on a trip in Cape Town to cross off the second destination on my list: …

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Damnatio Memoriae: Erasing People from History

Damnatio Memoriae

Transcript The ancient Romans had a practice called Damnatio Memoriae, which was to banish someone’s memory from public life. It was also sometimes known as oblivion. It called for the complete deletion of the person’s name or image from all statues, inscriptions, coins, and texts.  While the practice neither began nor ended with the Romans, …

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The Quick and Dirty Guide to American National Parks

This guide is for both Americans who are looking to explore their own country, and for those from outside of the US who are looking to make a trip to America. It is by no means an exhaustive treatment of the subject, but it should answer some of the obvious questions and give you a …

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After 11 Years of Traveling Around the World, What’s Left? (Answer: A Lot)

After 11 Years of Traveling Around the World, What’s Left? (Answer: A Lot)

I recently celebrated my 11 year anniversary of turning over the keys to my house to travel around the world. Since I started traveling full-time I’ve done and seen more than most people ever will in their lives. I’ve been to over 120 countries, 340 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and all 7 continents. After so …

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