The Best of the Decade 2010-19: My Favorite Travel Destinations

I love to travel and was fortunate to get to many great places over the past decade.

Certainly, it's hard to compare trips, sights, experiences, etc., and gratefully, even more minor excursions to places like Kansas City, Grand Rapids, Detroit and Dayton were highly enjoyable.

I will cover my favorite restaurants in another post, though many of those will be local to Chicago and its suburbs.

The museums ranked below exclude any in the Chicago area, and I probably won't do a separate post for those, so should note my fondness for The Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Science & Industry, Field Museum, Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, American Writers Museum, DuSable Museum of African-American History, Chicago Cultural Center and others.

Favorite Trips

1. Peru - 2018 
2. Europe (London, Paris, Krakow, Vienna, Budapest) - 2013 
3. Japan - 2019 
4. India - 2017 
5. Rio de Janeiro & Buenos Aires - 2014 
6. New York City - 2017 (also 2011, 2015)
7. Mexico City - 2015 
8. London & Paris - 2011
9. Washington DC, Baltimore & Philadelphia - 2016
10. Iowa Road Trip - 2013
11. Playa del Carmen & Chichen Itza - 2019 
12. Boston - 2018

Favorite Global Cities Visited

1. London
2. Krakow
3. Paris
4. Mexico City
5. Vienna
6. Tokyo
7. Budapest
8. Buenos Aires 
9. Rio de Janeiro 
10. Kyoto 
11. Mumbai 
12. Lima


Favorite U.S. Cities Visited

1. New York
2. Boston
3. Washington
4. Philadelphia
5. Grand Rapids
6. Mason City/Clear Lake, IA
7. Kansas City
8. Detroit
9. Cleveland
10. Key West
11. Las Vegas
12. Buffalo


Favorite Sights Seen

1. Machu Picchu (Peru)
2. Taj Mahal 
3. Eiffel Tower
4. El Castillo, Chichen Itza (Mexico)
5. Kinkaku-ji (Kyoto, Japan)
6. Big Ben
7. Amber Fort (Jaipur, India) 
8. Chand Baori Step Well (Abhaneri, India) 
9. Niagara Falls
10. Ollantaytambo Sanctuary (Peru)
11. Schönbrunn Palace (Vienna)
12. Flatiron Mountains (Boulder, CO)
13. Bethesda Fountain (Central Park, New York)
14. Liberty Bell/Independence Hall
15. Great Buddha of Kamakura 

Special note: It's hard to call Auschwitz-Birkenau a "favorite" site, but it was certainly among the most impactful places I visited this decade.


Favorite Events Attended Away From Home

1. 2016 World Series Games 1 & 2 - Cleveland, OH 
2. Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band - London, Washington, DC, others
3. Springsteen on Broadway - New York, 2017
4. Paul McCartney - Paris, Green Bay, St. Louis
5. Lollapalooza Buenos Aires - 2014
6. Moulin Rouge musical - Boston, 2018
7. U2 - Denver, 2011
8. The Book of Mormon - New York, 2011
9. Yakult Swallows baseball game - Tokyo, 2019
10. Red Sox vs. Yankees - Boston, 2018
11. Ebertfest - Champaign, IL, several years
12. The Rolling Stones - Detroit, 2015
13. The Who - Buffalo, 2019
14. Radiohead - Kansas City, 2017
15. Chelsea FC soccer game - London, 2011

Favorite Museums Visited Beyond Chicago

1. Louvre - Paris
2. Secretariat of Public Education Building (Rivera Murals) - Mexico City
3. National Gallery - London
4. National Gallery - Washington, DC
5. Metropolitan Museum of Art - New York
6. National Anthropology Museum - Mexico City
7. Belvedere Museum - Vienna
8. Gandhi Smitri - Delhi
9. Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame - Cleveland
10. Kunsthistorisches Museum - Vienna
11. Carillon Historical Park - Dayton
12. Frida Kahlo Museum - Mexico City
13. Courtauld Gallery - London
14. Detroit Institute of Arts
15. Tate Modern - London
16. Meijer Gardens - Grand Rapids

Plus several other art museums: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (Kansas City), Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston), Baltimore Museum of Art, Walters Art Museum (Baltimore), St. Louis Art Museum, Cleveland Museum of Art, Musée National d'Art Moderne (Paris), Philadelphia Museum of Art, Barnes Foundation (Philadelphia), Milwaukee Art Museum, Larco Museum (Lima)