What Country Have You Visited and Want to go Back to?

RCF

RCF

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Between work and pleasure I have been to 5 continents (not Antarctica not Africa).

The countries I have enjoyed the most that are at the top of list are: China, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Denmark, and France because:

China - so many wonderful people and so much history; phenomenal history! They are a proud people. My wife and I spent 5 weeks touring China before adopting our first child from there. Food in China is not the US version of Chinese food. Most memorable - meeting with a local Chinese person earning about $1k a year. She provided us lunch (which she could not afford to do). We talked with her for several hours through our interpreter. Her goal in life was for her son to attend and graduate from college. I met a older teen in the marketplace outside the hotel and she asked if I could help her with her English. I said yes only if she would help me with my Chinese. DEAL! BTW in our ~5 weeks touring we never saw the sun nor the the stars ---> pollution! A funny: I was raised on the 'clean plate club'. Do not do that in China. We went to a dim sum restaurant. I cleaned the plate and more dim sum came. After 5 plates of food I figured it out - leave one on the plate and no more would appear. Do not ask me about the cost of that meal!

Saudi Arabia - on business for 5 weeks. The hotel I stayed at flew in a 747 plane load of food everyday during Octoberfest - OMG! If we went out for dinner and prayer time occurred, lights were turned off and doors locked us in. Driving around in the desert we saw lots of people camping out in tents next to the freeway. Their yearly communion with nature. No camels - only BMW's and Mercedes Benz's. Saudi's love to negotiate. If you do not negotiate, they are insulted!

Italy and France - the locals are great, The wine and food is even better. Lots of history too!

Denmark - Beautiful, fit and young strawberry blondes riding bicycles. Did I mention the beer - room temp and wonderful? Back to the strawberry blondes...

Now to the country I want to go back to the most. It is not listed above. Any guesses?

It is the USA!

The USA is actually 7 countries or more depending on how you address California:

NW
NE
Mid-Atlantic
South
Deep South
SW
Mid-West
*California

I have fished in all states except Alaska. Each is a unique experience. Food from each 'country' is very different and very good.

I will not go back to the South and especially the Deep South. I lived in Alabama when MLK marched through town and George Wallace locked out blacks from the universities. I went back 20+ years later on business and the supplier took us out for lunch and said ' you do not have to worry about "those" people'. I will leave it there...

I love the NE. So beautiful and people are great. So was the fishing. Life is a bit laid back too - which I like a lot..

The SW and especially the national parks and Native Indian culture is amazing!

A shout out to Tennessee because it tugs at my heart. I was introduced to hillbilly and blue grass music there. Remains as my favorite types to this day.

But the country labeled as NW is my favorite.

What say you on your favorite country to visit or re-visit?
 
Seen a fair amount of the world. New Zealand's South Island stands out as the favorite.
South East Asia was beautiful, but have NO desire to go back.
 
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Like you, I'd put China at the top of the list. My trips were all too brief but definitely left an impact. I think the average American would be absolutely flabbergasted at how advanced their cities are.
 
A 28 year USAF career exposed me (and eventually my wife now of 54 years) to a lot of the world. Assignments in Vietnam, Philippines, Alaska, England, Germany, Turkey and of course multiple locations in the US provided tremendous opportunities to see and experience the world. We’ve been to every US state and territory except one—Maine—although I fished the Androscoggin River in New Hampshire once just a few miles west of the Maine border. When it comes to the OPs question as to where I’d like to visit again it can’t be boiled down to just one place. There are three places I’d return to in a heart beat:

The Philippines—tremendous historical ties to Spain and the U.S. Great people and fantastic cuisine.

Turkey: In 2.5 years in Istanbul, I gained a tremendous appreciation for the history of the region, its culture and cuisine. A fascinating country with all manner of geography and opportunities for safe travel to out of the way places with a deep connection to ancient history. Some decent brown trout fishing if you have the right connections.

Australia—This is just another world, so far removed from everyday life in the Northern Hemisphere. Big, varied, easy on the wallet and above all a very friendly place. Some really decent trout fishing in Tasmania and Victoria. World class saltwater fishing around the entire coastline, especially in the Northern tier tropics. Great seafood, wine and fresh meat and vegetables no matter where you go. The big difference—population density. Australia is roughy 10% smaller than the continental U.S. but has a population of approximately 28 million, much less than the US’s 350 million. It isn’t a crowded place.
 
mark wlker said:
Seen a fair amount of the world. New Zealand's South Island stands out as the favorite.
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Can you tell me why? The South Island had always been on my bucket list until my fishing buddy went there a few months ago and returned to say it looked like many places in the US.
 
Brute said:
I’ve been many places on the globe…Iceland is on my list to return to, possibly next year. It may be the most beautiful country I’ve visited…the food is great, the people friendly…and the brown trout are big…
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Pingvellir! Blew my socks off. One foot on each of two tectonic plates, and the ancient Nordic history of that specific place. Beautiful and unique country, but be prepared for weather. My girls wanted to live there.
I love Italy, France, Spain, Greece and especially Ireland, but the tourists have made it nearly unbearable. I elected to stay home but Norway sounds outstanding too.
 
Italy. My wife and I went on a bicycle tour from Florence to Rome in 2006. Beautiful country, wonderful people, and out of this world food and wine. There is no such thing as bad food in Italy, unless perhaps it was at the one Burger King we saw somewhere. Hah! I'd go again in a heartbeat, and I really don't understand why we haven't.

We spent 3 days in Paris, mainly visiting the "must do" museums, and they were more than worth the time spent. Unfortunately we struck out in the food department. Don't know why, but the restaurants left me unimpressed. I'd only go back if I had a trusted list of food to eat and places to get it.

Kamchatka, Russia. A once in a lifetime fishing trip for me. Mousing for big rainbow trout was incredible. I'd like to go back, but the trip was too expensive for me to casually repeat. The food kept me alive for the trip, but was definitely nothing to write home about. And now that Russia is on the list of sh!thole countries, I guess I never will visit it again.

Canada. Only been to B.C., and more times than I can count. Going again in 2 weeks. Great scenery, quality fishing, and very friendly people. Oh, and affordable. And the food is vastly improved since I first began visiting there over 50 years ago.
 
Salmo_g said:
Italy. My wife and I went on a bicycle tour from Florence to Rome in 2006. Beautiful country, wonderful people, and out of this world food and wine. There is no such thing as bad food in Italy, unless perhaps it was at the one Burger King we saw somewhere.
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So true about the amazing food and one of the most surprising meals I had was at a McDonalds just outside Sienna. It was a chicken wrap sandwich with Grana Padano and so good!
 
Italy...because it's my kind of place.
 
Italy: while at a gas stop I wandered into a low, overgrown area, noticed the tile floor, and realized I was in a decrepit Roman bath. There’s more historical spots there than maybe anywhere.
After our first Italy trip we went to Greece. Akrotiri, an ancient city on Santorini dates to around 2000 BC, and had underground sewer and drainage. We haven’t come that far since.
 
Tuscany....liked Le Marche and the Adriatic coast also. Ravenna was full of history, fantastic old sites. San Marino was cool in its own way too.
But Tuscan hill towns and landscapes were my favorite. I'm not a big cities guy, the smaller places and slower pace, friendly folks and evenings in the small town piazzas were my kind of thing.
Brute said:
Where in Italy did you enjoy the most?...Toscano, Amalfi Coast, Piedmonte?...you've not had a tomato until you've had one in Tuscany...
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Canada
US
Mexico
Guatemala
Costa Rica
Colombia
Ecuador
Chile
Argentina

Scotland
England
Norway
Sweden
France
Germany
Italy
Spain
Switzerland
Monaco
Albania
Kosovo
Turkey

India
China
Japan

Guam
CNNI (both technically US but different enough to warrant listing)

Australia
New Zealand

Kenya
Tanzania

I'd go back to all of them given the right context. Only place that gave me pause was Kashmir, India; I wasn't a huge fan of being in a "hot" zone and never got used to having so many people point guns at me. The skiing was good though.

Turkey was probably the biggest surprise. I had no expectations and everything about the place was amazing!

Kenya/Tanzania (or probably anywhere in sub-Saharan Africa) are priority for a return trip.

Antarctica is a glaring omission that I hope to remedy someday.
 
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Mossback said:
Tuscany....liked Le Marche and the Adriatic coast also. Ravenna was full of history, fantastic old sites. San Marino was cool in its own way too.
But Tuscan hill towns and landscapes were my favorite. I'm not a big cities guy, the smaller places and slower pace, friendly folks and evenings in the small town piazzas were my kind of thing.
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Im with you…we spent a week in a 12th century village in Tuscany where fresh grape tomatoes, basil, pasta, wild boar sausage, fresh baked bread & bottles of Brunello were delivered to our doorstep nearly daily…it was difficult to leave. But one of my favorite restaurants on the planet is accessible by boat on the Amalfi coast…La Conca Del Sogno in Nerano…it sits over the water where local fisherman would bring fresh lobsters, clams and live fish to swim in a giant salt water enclosure so you can pick your meal from…fantastico…
 
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