A week ago, I published a post on ‘My most magical travel experience‘. This was a compilation of posts written by seven of my facebook friends. Several readers asked what my most magical travel experiences were. It’s so hard to choose – there were so many. After much thought, I’ve narrowed it down to three:
Summer flight from Vancouver to Amsterdam
The cabin was quiet. I couldn’t sleep so I checked the flight path – we were above Baffin island in northeastern Canada. I raised the shutter and watched the sun slowly dip its head below the horizon, casting an intense reddish, golden glow across the vast icy landscape. No sooner had the sun disappeared, it rose again. Within a few minutes, the sky was illuminated with fresh, warm hues of pink and orange. Pure magic!
Sailing trip around the Whitsunday islands, Australia
It was a warm night. I stretched out on my thin mattress on the deck. Waves gently rocked the boat and in the distance, I could see the twinkling lights of other boats anchored in the little harbour. I turned my gaze to the majestic star-studded sky above. The constellation of Scorpio, with its long curly tail, was unmistakable. A shooting star streaked across the velvety black sky. Then another and another. I didn’t make a wish. I’d never felt so blessed.
Seeing the northern lights
I looked out my hotel room window and saw a faint greenish glow in the sky. “The reflection off the snow of the night skiing lights”, I thought. I was in Finnish Lapland, north of the Arctic Circle, and I was excited about the winter experiences in Lapland that were still to come. I went downstairs to the hotel restaurant for dinner. The waitress approached me with the menu and we started chatting. She asked me what I was most looking forward to and I said, “Ooh, seeing the northern lights!”. “Have you been outside yet? You can see them right now”, she casually replied. I didn’t need another second. I jumped out of my chair and dashed to the exit. I saw them the second I stepped outside: swirls of greenish-blue light that seemed to dance in the sky. I watched them with breathless amazement.
[…] the Dead Sea at sunsetdriving through the Cape Floral Kingdomwitnessing a marriage proposal in Petraseeing the midnight sun from the airfloating in a frozen lake in Laplandseeing the northern lightsvisiting Bora Boracruise through the […]
Hi Luciana,
Thanks for your comment. Yes, looks like I’ll have to do another ‘magical experiences’ post to include ones from the past year! 🙂
Cheers,
Keith
Swimming with dolphins like that seems amazing! Wow! I was surprised you didn’t list the aurora borealis in Finland, I remember reading it here a while ago and I thought it was something magical!
And on your flight: that’s one of the reasons I enjoy flying during the day, I can still remember flying over the Amazon back in 1998, it was amazing!
[…] My Most Magical Travel Experiences. Some of my most memorable travel moments. […]
Great experiences, I have never been to Australia, but I’ve heard great things about Curacao.
Nice pictures!!!
Hi Diana,
Thank you for your lovely comment. It’s the small things or fleeting moments that indeed stay with us forever.
Thanks for sharing your magical moment.
Cheers,
Keith
I think it’s interesting – the singular things that somehow imprint in our memories of travels. They are rarely grand, and they are almost always personal. When I read the entry about the flight from Vancouver to Amsterdam, I remembered one of my moments – flying from Philadelphia to Vancouver, my first transcontinental flight many years ago. Flying over the Cascades literally took my breath away, I had never seen mountain ranges from that perspective before. It still gets to me when I make the short jaunt over the Alps from Milan to Frankfurt.
I love that you pay attention to these moments. In the end, they are really what make travel so important and valuable and life-changing.
Wow, thank you Beverly for your lovely comment. Really appreciate it… as it’s comments like yours that motivate me! Thank you!
Warm regards,
Keith
From reading your blogs I know you have had many magical travel moments, but every time you share one with such lovely prose, it is a motivation to those who have not had the pleasure, and stirs a memory for those who have. We thank you for sharing.
Oh so hard! 🙂 Thanks for your comment Jen!
Cheers,
Keith
OMG, with experiences like these, it is indeed hard to pick one favourite travel moment! All 3 you mentioned above are truly, truly magical! You described it so well that I actually feel like I was there with you, experiencing the beauty!!
Hi Amy,
It was tough. Think I could write a few more of such posts. 🙂 Glad you liked it.
Hugs,
Keith
With so many trips under your belt, I’m surprised you can pick to three. 🙂 These are truly magical and the pictures are amazing!
Thank you Andi! Yes, the Whitsundays are truly magical!
Cheers,
Keith
WOW, those seriously are magical experiences!!! Ahhh, I LOVE traveling! I have been to Oz so many times and each time I wanted to visit the Whitsundays, but I never could find the time. So sad!