When I mention to others that I have been traveling for a while, I get the almost inevitable question, “what has been your favorite country?” As with food, I have no particular favorite, as there is just too much to love. I always managed to dodge this question, but I’ll at least present this for you—11 places that I love, and to make this fun, 3 others that I hate have yet to appreciate. Finally, I’ll leave you with my thoughts, on why you should be skeptical of lists like this.

A year ago, I set off on my world trip, with no idea what this experience would lead to. It’s impossible for me to capture in a single blog post, the multiple ways that this journey has transformed me—I can however, reflect on how I arrived here, and share the two most significant insights that my travels have led me to so far.

Within a forest monastery, for four days and three nights, I plunged myself both physically and mentally into practicing meditation. I never once tried formal meditation before this. Maybe a few times a year I would close my eyes and try to “clear the mind”. I didn’t come back from this experience knowing how to bring about world peace, but I did come back with a new awareness, along with being incredibly relaxed. More importantly, I found a new tool for keeping myself focused.