“GT” Travel World

Travel with “Good Tour­ism” (scroll down for posts). Learn about spe­cial places, people to meet, and things to do from tour­ism insiders keen to show­case our plan­et’s good, bet­ter, best.

There are count­less reas­ons why good travel is a reward­ing and enrich­ing exper­i­ence. Here are just a few:

  • Cul­tur­al expos­ure: Trav­el­ling provides the oppor­tun­ity to exper­i­ence new cul­tures and ways of life, from tast­ing new foods to learn­ing about dif­fer­ent tra­di­tions and cus­toms. This can broaden your per­spect­ive and help you under­stand and appre­ci­ate the diversity of our world.
  • Per­son­al growth: Trav­el­ling can be a trans­form­at­ive exper­i­ence that helps you grow as a per­son. It can chal­lenge your com­fort zone, build resi­li­ence, and teach you new skills. It can also help you gain con­fid­ence and inde­pend­ence as you nav­ig­ate new envir­on­ments and situations.
  • Bond­ing with oth­ers: Trav­el­ling with friends or fam­ily can be a bond­ing exper­i­ence that strengthens rela­tion­ships and cre­ates last­ing memor­ies. It can also be a way to meet new people and make new friends from around the world.
  • Adven­ture and explor­a­tion: Trav­el­ling allows you to explore new places and try new activ­it­ies, from hik­ing to ski­ing to scuba diving. It can be an adven­ture-filled jour­ney that provides a sense of excite­ment and exhilaration.
  • Relax­a­tion and escape: Trav­el­ling can be a way to escape the stresses of every­day life and unwind in a new envir­on­ment. Wheth­er you’re loun­ging on a trop­ic­al beach or explor­ing a peace­ful moun­tain vil­lage, trav­el­ling can offer a sense of relax­a­tion and rejuvenation.
  • Learn­ing oppor­tun­it­ies: Trav­el­ling provides oppor­tun­it­ies for edu­ca­tion and learn­ing, from vis­it­ing his­tor­ic land­marks to attend­ing cul­tur­al events. It can be a way to expand your know­ledge and gain a deep­er under­stand­ing of the world.

Over­all, trav­el­ling offers a wide range of bene­fits, from per­son­al growth and cul­tur­al expos­ure to adven­ture and explor­a­tion. Wheth­er you’re trav­el­ling to a nearby des­tin­a­tion or embark­ing on a jour­ney around the world, the exper­i­ence of good travel is one that is sure to enrich your life in count­less ways.

Planning a trip to Colombia? Here’s why you should visit the coffee region

September 29, 2022

The wax palms of Cocora Valley in the Colombian Andes. Image by Makalu (CC0) via Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/photos/colombia-palm-trees-3631740/

The vari­ous regions of Colom­bia are vastly dif­fer­ent from each oth­er.  Trav­el­lers look­ing to avoid ‘over­tour­ism’ and embrace ‘authen­ti­city’ should con­sider explor­ing the nation’s cof­fee-grow­ing region in the Andes Moun­tains.  Dur­ing my two and a half weeks in Colom­bia, August 2022, I vis­ited that region, as well as the cit­ies of Medel­lin and Cart­agena.  Here are […]

Read More Planning a trip to Colombia? Here’s why you should visit the coffee region

Wonders of the unexpected: Pleasant surprises in Azerbaijan & Saudi Arabia

September 1, 2022

Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia

I star­ted trav­el­ling at an early age.  When I was barely three years old my par­ents took me on my very first trip to the US, Mex­ico, and the Carib­bean.  I have nev­er really stopped trav­el­ling since.  Dec­ades later I made a pact with a friend to travel to 100 coun­tries; some­thing I was meant to achieve […]

Read More Wonders of the unexpected: Pleasant surprises in Azerbaijan & Saudi Arabia

From New Delhi to Leh on the old Hindustan-Tibet Road

August 18, 2022
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Lamayuru Monastery from the road by Meridius27 (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lamayuru_monastery_from_the_road.JPG

After not being able to travel for two and a half years, in June this year I was for­tu­nate to go on a 23-day tour from Del­hi to Ladakh via the old Hindus­tan-Tibet Road.  The road, which the Brit­ish Raj built in 1850, is still con­sidered ‘off the beaten track’ by trav­el­lers, des­pite the magnificent […]

Read More From New Delhi to Leh on the old Hindustan-Tibet Road

Where wine was born and the local cheeses are prized: Alaverdi, Georgia

August 11, 2022

A montage. Alaverdi Monatery across the top two thirds of the image. Four square image run across the bottom: A qvevri abandoned above ground; a lady standing next to a 350-year-old grape vine; a local cheese; and some traditional cuisine

In 2017, the US’ Nation­al Academy of Sci­ences con­clus­ively determ­ined that wine ori­gin­ated some 8,000 years ago in Geor­gia.  I was already work­ing in Geor­gia and was invited to vis­it the tiny vil­lage of Alaverdi in the heart of Georgia’s Alazani River val­ley, a vast wine­mak­ing area.  With a pop­u­la­tion of few­er than 200, Alaverdi is […]

Read More Where wine was born and the local cheeses are prized: Alaverdi, Georgia

Reflections on the ‘best small city in the world’: San Miguel de Allende

April 7, 2022

Overlooking San Miguel de Allende. By Steven Buchanan (CC0) via Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/photos/mexico-san-miguel-de-allende-dusk-5756222/

A recent “Good Tour­ism” Insight about ‘jouis­sance’ promp­ted me to reappraise the con­cepts of sen­sa­tion and per­cep­tion and the pur­suit of pleas­ure.  It triggered memor­ies of San Miguel de Allende, a magic­al UNESCO World Her­­it­age-lis­ted colo­ni­al town in cent­ral Mex­ico.  The story begins with an artist and one of Canada’s former fig­ure skat­ing cham­pi­ons, the […]

Read More Reflections on the ‘best small city in the world’: San Miguel de Allende

Memories of Jordan (and celebrating the ‘bucket list’)

February 17, 2022

Memories of Petra and Jordan by Melanie Kay Smith

I was at a tour­ism industry con­fer­ence a few months ago listen­ing to a talk on the dev­ast­at­ing effects of COV­­ID-related travel bans on her­it­age des­tin­a­tions.  Pro­fess­or Mike Robin­son, the speak­er, cited Jordan as a prime example.  Amidst my sym­pathy for the des­tin­a­tion and its people, my ‘buck­et list’ quest react­iv­ated instantly in my mind.  It […]

Read More Memories of Jordan (and celebrating the ‘bucket list’)