For all of our adult lives, we’ve loved travel. And one of the things that’s kept us excited about travel for all these years is being inspired by the whole process. Of course we love experiencing new places and cultures, but we also take pleasure in planning and making all our own arrangements for our travels. We relish researching where to go and what to see, as well as working out how best to move around, sleep, and eat. Face it – we like it all!
But no matter how well we plan, travel can be a mixed bag of unforgettable experiences – from pure bliss encounters to cringe-worthy mishaps. Which brings me to our post-trip analysis and the “Best and Worst” list from our recent travels.
Early in our travel life, a happy hour exchange with great travel friends produced our first Best and Worst list. Creating the list usually took place late in the trip when things were fresh on our minds. It was really a random brainstorm of the most vivid memories of the trip – both good and bad. It’s a simple format, and like trip photos, it’s gotten to be a great conversation starter and a wonderful way to relive our trip … and hopefully learn from our mistakes.
The full list is at the end, but here are a few of our favorite memories and why they made the cut.
Best Day Trip: Mdina, Malta
We travel very light which helps us stay mobile, but avoiding an unnecessary hotel change simplifies our travel. And our day trip from Valletta to Mdina ticked all the boxes: a charming fortified hill town; a pleasant bus ride through the Maltese countryside; and an uncomplicated return to our hotel in Valletta. Bonus: it was a film location for Game of Thrones.
Best New Food: Egg Coffee in Vietnam
While waiting out a downpour under a lakeside umbrella in Hanoi, we tasted our first Vietnamese Egg Coffee. The combination sounds gross but it was surprisingly delicious, and put our normal cappuccino to shame. The patter of the rain, beautiful views, and stimulated taste buds tweaked all our senses. And this is what travel memories are made of.
Worst Airport Experience: Entry into Japan After Covid
Japan was ultra-vigilant about Covid and was very late to open its borders to foreign travelers. We had carefully researched and prepared the proper documentation for entry – only to arrive and find the process had changed – on that day! In addition, our arrival coincided with a couple of other jumbo jets. Needless to say, we were part of a milling mass of confused and bewildered travelers just trying to get through the airport. The three hours it took to clear immigration certainly qualifies this experience for the “Worst” category.
Coolest National Tradition: Fika in Sweden
The Swedish word Fika, pronounced “fee-kuh,” is both a verb and a noun. In English, fika means “to have a coffee break.” We call it the best excuse for sugar and caffeine, but it’s so much more than that! In addition to delicious coffee and glorious pastries, the focus is on camaraderie and socializing.
Biggest Surprise: The Architecture of Dubai, UAE
We had read all the recent tourist reviews of Dubai, and decided to make it a stopover between Bangkok and Vienna. If you’ve read our post, you know that we were absolutely gobsmacked. Over the past few years it’s become a global financial center and popular tourist destination, and this futuristic city has one of the best collections of contemporary, cutting-edge architecture on the planet.
Best National Treasure: Skansen Open Air Museum, Stockholm, Sweden
Skansen, the oldest open air museum in the world, presents a slice of life in a simpler time, a showcase for the resourcefulness of common people, and a window into the rural roots and culture of Sweden. No stuffy history here, just authentic buildings and homesteads which highlight the customs, traditions, and everyday life from every part of the country.
Worst “Oh Shit” Moment: Wrong-Way Bus in Busan, Korea
Thanks to spotty cell service and poor maps, after visiting Busan, Korea’s Gamcheon Village we got lost and disoriented, and boarded the wrong bus going in the opposite direction than we needed. Gamcheon Village is on the outskirts of town, and by the time we realized we were way outside of town, the realization of being the only English speakers on the bus quickly turned to the panic of “Oh Shit! We’re going the wrong way!” A bad feeling? You betcha.
Best Low-Hassle Alternative to New York’s Broadway: Chicago
One of our priorities this past year was to see more live theatre. And since you can hardly consider theatre in this country without visiting New York, we made a quick hop to the Big Apple and saw The Book of Mormon and Illinoise.
We also flew to Chicago to see Yippee-Kay-Yay which is a very clever, one-man parody of the movie Die Hard (reopening the age-old debate: Is this the best Christmas movie of all time?) For us, what Chicago lacks in show options, it makes up for with accessibility, less hassle, and lower prices.
Most Unforgettable People: Students Practicing English in Hanoi, Vietnam
Sunday afternoon in Hanoi’s Hoàn Kiếm Lake Park is a family time for passeggiate, ice cream, and young lovers on benches in the shade. But our stroll took an unexpected turn when a group of six clipboard-toting teenagers approached us with a series of questions specifically designed to practice their English. The kids were polite, enthusiastic, as well as disarmingly charming. We were surprised by the personal nature of some of their questions, but we went away chuckling nonetheless.
Our Complete Best and Worst List
- Best Day Trip: Mdina, Malta
- Best New Food: Egg Coffee in Vietnam
- Best Seasonal Extravaganza: Keukenhof Gardens, Netherlands
- Worst Airport Experience: Entering Japan after Covid
- Coolest National Tradition: Fika in Sweden
- Biggest Surprise: The architecture of Dubai, UAE
- Most Fun Way to Explore a Big City: Water taxis on the river in Bangkok, Thailand
- Best National Treasure: Skansen Open Air Museum in Stockholm, Sweden
- Biggest Disappointment: Lausanne, Switzerland
- Best Last Minute Pivot: Skipping Israel just before its crisis
- Worst “Oh Shit” Moment: Taking a wrong-way bus in Busan, Korea
- Best Travel Tech Discovery: VPN for internet security
- Hardest City to Explore: Hanoi, Vietnam
- Easiest Alternative to New York’s Broadway: Chicago, Illinois USA
- Most Unforgettable People: Students practicing English in Hanoi, Vietnam
- Best Decision: Traveling extremely light
Traveling the world opens doors to new cultures, breathtaking sights, and extraordinary memories. But even with its bumps and warts we keep coming back for more because the good always far outweighs the bad. It’s all just part of the joyous journey that makes travel so fun and rewarding.
How about you? How do you reminisce about your big trips? Do you make “Best & Worst” Lists?
Happy Holidays,
James & Terri
Photo Credits: 8. Linus Mimietz 31. Alexandra Tran 32. Antonio Gabola 34. Bill
GALLIVANCE 
It’s very rare to see Japan included in the worst list of anything. But I can imagine the frustration you felt, especially after making sure that you have complied with all the regulations. If you had traveled to a beach in the southeastern coast of the West Java province in Indonesia in the early 2000s, you would have probably had met me and a few other people asking you questions to practice our English. When we did exactly that — I remember interviewing some Dutch tourists and a few others from the UK — we also asked some very personal questions. I never realized how strange this was until I became more and more exposed to the world and the differences in how people from different countries think.
Bama, it’s interesting but I’ve never really thought much about but what constitutes a “personal” question and how amazingly complex it can be. It can change depending on the individual, socioeconomic group, nationality, age, etc. Also, what I find “personal” in one setting won’t necessarily be in another. In the meantime, practicing a foreign language with native speakers is the best practice, and the Vietnamese kids were pretty cute about it.
And I’m glad the Covid travel restrictions have been lifted. After spending time in Japan and seeing how organized the country is, it was surprising to see the disarray at the airport. It was frustrating for us because we had worked so hard to follow procedures, and ultimately, none of our prep helped. ~James
A tour in Panama [while Alie and her sister had a great time elsewhere] in 2006 definitely qualified as my “worst,” but even that had its benefit. Now when I have a bad experience, I just say “Well, there was Panama” and put it in perspective. On the other hand, we have a very hard time defining the “best” because we have had so many great experiences and find almost every place has positive and negative qualities; Alie loved Panama. 😁
You’re right Ray that it’s hard to pick out the “Best” experience because it can depend on so many things. I’m always perplexed when someone asks me “What’s your favorite place that you’ve visited?” I also agree that every place has positives and negatives. My personal philosophy is that every place has interesting aspects if one pays close attention, and that’s the attitude I try to carry with me when we travel. ~James
Interesting read, you two. We don’t make lists, but we could come up with some extremely bad and extremely good experiences. It seems like everything in our life measures in extremes. There is never a normal day, or just a fun day, or an uneventful day. It gets a bit much sometimes – especially with a neurotic dog – but, like you said, the good still outweighs the bad. Otherwise, we have to stop what we are doing. And then what?
Liesbet, We’ve had a few airport and weather delays recently that reconfirms to us that as the holidays and crappy weather approach it’s time to head home and stay home. But, as you know better than most, travel throws curve balls at even the best plans, and realistic expectations can help deal with the unexpected. In the meantime, as long as the scales tilt toward the good side we’ll just carry on traveling. ~James
I love following along with you two on your travels and love your bests and worsts, with the reasons. keep doing what you’re doing. no matter where I go, I only take a carry-on, makes it all so much easier
Thanks Beth. We’re committed to very lightweight carry-on only and it’s made all the difference. On our round the world trip we lived out of 10-15 lb backpacks for two months and it worked just fine. We know that our style isn’t for everyone, but we see lots of travelers struggling with heavy luggage and realize that we’re never going back. In fact, we enjoy the challenge of trimming ounces off backpacks on every trip.
you two are pro level
A great list. I have never made a list but one of the worst travel experiences for me was flying from Budapest to Vancouver though the US, with a broken ankle. It’s a long story. Hubby flew home the day before so I was on my own, which normally would not be a problem but this was a nightmare! Best experiences are too many to mention.
Darlene, there are few things more miserable than being sick while traveling, and I’ve been on enough trans-continental trips to know what a trial it must have been to get through multiple airports with a broken ankle. I once flew from Khartoum, Sudan to Dallas, Texas with dysentery … I won’t go into details. The only upside I can think of is appreciating every day that one is not sick. ~James
What a great list, although egg coffee would go on my worst list, I hated it. As others have said, it’s difficult to pick a best, but I like how you’ve further defined it. Worst or most disappointing are thankfully few and far between, but we have had our share. Here’s to more years of best experiences. 😊 Maggie
Maggie, we create one of these B&W lists after every trip, and it really is a great way to relive the trip. Of course, blogging will also accomplish part of the reminiscing as well. And one thing that always makes it on the list are the people we interact with. One of the things that I didn’t discuss on the wrong-way bus in Korea was that we didn’t have the right ticket to get back to town and some local guy saw us struggling and volunteered to let us scan his pass. Incidents like this make good memories as well. ~James
The people usually are attached to the best stories aren’t they?
Aw this is an absolutely lovely reflection list. I’d have been so confused in Japan with those COVID rules as well!!! And getting on the wrong bus – we’ve been there many a time, that “oh sh*t” rush as you realise is never fun!
Hannah, we love taking buses and use them whenever we can. In addition to being able to see the city and countryside, we get a good exposure to the locals and see some of their lifestyle choices. However, without fail, on every trip there’s some bus incident that we don’t plan on. On our most recent trip to Paris we were on the bus from the Eiffel Tower to the Bastille, and the bus just stopped midway and the driver pulled over and shooed everyone off the bus. As it happened, a bus strike started on that day at that exact time, (2:15 on Wednesday … who comes up with this stuff?) and we had to walk back to our hotel. Go figure. But the upside was that we were able to walk by Notre Dame to see the state of the renovations. ~James
Great post, and loved the stories!
Thanks Pam. I hadn’t thought about it, but these are travel stories, and I guess that’s what we all want to remember. ~James
Fantastic post! I love this novel presentation of travel best and worsts.
Thanks Rebecca. Posts like this one are fun to put together, and once we have the ideas they almost write themselves. Always a positive when writing a post. ~James
Well, I think you two are particularly creative. And I will give you full credit if I use the framework for a post.
Rebecca, thanks for your kind words, and feel free to use the format. I particularly like writing these short blurbs using the bullet point format. They’re quick to write and I can use my creative juice on writing the content as opposed to worrying about continuity throughout the post … if that makes sense. ~James
This was such an entertaining post. And a perfect capsule of what travel is really like. Your Japan airport experience reminded us of a late night arrival in Christchurch – hundreds of people and only one immigration officer T work it too 4 hours!
Merry everything you two.
Alison
I’ve been there Alison: late night arrivals and limited staff. We had a similar experience in Poland once, and strangely, coming back into the US. The interesting thing was that after a while order totally broke down and people were jumping the queue, and pushing and shoving. In addition to being a pain, it was a bad reminder of how rude, egocentric, and insensitive people can be sometimes. Luckily, it doesn’t happen often. And after that Bah-Humbug, I wish you and Don Happy Holidays as well. ~James
Loved reading this post James & Terri. I can relate to so many of the best & worst scenarios you have shared, including the “oh shit” moment! This happened to us, not once, but twice, on two different trips to Italy! One needs to be resourceful and flexible in order to enjoy the most out of our travel, particularly when we are doing most of the planning. Thanks for such an enjoyable read. Lynn💕
Thanks Lynn. We’ve always done all our own planning, and are totally addicted to the flexibility of making our own decisions about all facets of our travel plans. However, having said that, after one of these screw ups on a bus/train schedule or route, I can see how some folks like pushing the easy button and going on arranged tours. After the fact, I usually realize that the mistake isn’t nearly the disaster that it seemed at the time, but it’s hard to have this opinion in the middle of an Oh Shit moment. 🙂 ~James
So hard to say, James: Dodging tornados on my bicycle and forest fires when backpacking seem fit the bill.Or waking up with a bear standing on top of me. Definitely an “Oh shit” moment. Loved your list. Learning to drive on the wrong side of the road in an Irish city where I got lost in a rainstorm after dark probably qualifies. Then Peggy forgetting an apple in her day pack a month ago when we were returning from our Danube River trip and being held under lock and key in a the veggie quarantine room for a couple of hours wasn’t much fun. –Curt
Curt, your best and worst list is just as I would expect with someone like you and Peggy. Lots of good tales from an exciting life. I remember the bear story and that definitely qualifies for all sorts of categories – but worst for sure. Even with the horror tales, at the end of the day it’s better to wear out than rust. ~James
“at the end of the day it’s better to wear out than rust.” If I were a religious guy, I would say “Amen,” James.
What an awesome post. I can’t say I’ve ever made a “best and worst” list but it’s actually a great idea. I do however journal every day and many of those “ahh shit” or “wow” moments tend to be ingrained when we write about them. I have to concur with your egg coffees in Vietnam (and the coconut ones too) and also about being approached by Vietnamese students in Hanoi looking to practice their English. Lots of fun. Thoroughly enjoyed reading your post. Happy travels, story telling and sharing!
Thanks Miriam. I’m glad you enjoyed the post. You have my admiration for journaling. I think it’s a great way to document one’s life, and I’ve tried many times to develop the habit – and it never took. I even tried buying a fancy-smancy leather bound journal as a motivator and even that didn’t work. I’m sure it says something about my personality, but if I knew that I’d have to put it in my journal. 🙂
And coconut coffee. How on earth did I miss that? I love coconut and I can’t imagine it’s anything but delicious. ~James
Oh my!!! Coconut coffee was THE best, both iced and hot. You’ll just have to go back!!
Terri and James,
For those of us who consider a delay, missed connection, or a lost bag a “Worst” experience, you add layers of experience, reflection and respect to your experiences. These are the gentlest of “Worst” experience stories — humble, wry, and mindful of the cultural variances that make travel such a powerful and personal experience. Thank you for opening my eyes to the world for over 50 years, and for reminding us that grace is a necessary travel companion.
All my love,
EL
Thanks for your kind words El. This meaningful comment shows that you really get us and our travel style. One of the reasons we can spend so much time on the road is knowing that we have a supportive, loving family to come home to. Thanks for all the decades of being there. Love to you and all the Fam there. Much Love, J&T
LOL, it’s always lovely to read we’re not the only ones!
Best & worst lists are a brilliant way to remember recent, and sometimes distant (in memory travels).
Many of our lists tend to centre around food (a huge part of our travels), some being country specific (such as top 5 tacos in Mexico), to the more worldly (best gelato flavours, or simply best meals we’ve).
Best friends we’ve made through travels is also another fun one, as remembering people, is a beautiful way of reliving great shared experiences or moments!
Absurd moments are always a good one too!
We love our best and worst list tradition and still use it today. It’s a wonderful reminder of trips. And I have to say that blogging also helps in that department. We routinely get 75-100 views on our blog posts every day which helps motivate me to go back and read some of the posts on long-ago trips. The photos and stories are great conversation starters for us.