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Leanne Best, actress
Colorado, USA
I chose Colorado, where I could visit beautiful towns like Lyon, Loveland, Boulder, and small, family-owned farms along the way. For a girl from Walton Vale, Liverpool, names like Eagle Rock and Crested Butte with their rolling green hills immediately evoked my childhood passion for Western culture and history and urged me to hit the road.
The scenery here is breathtaking. I've ridden horseback everywhere, including the foothill trails of the Rockies. I've hiked in the foothills, visited hot springs, camped and hiked...
I spent most of my time reading in coffee shops (the ones in Boulder's Pearl are heaven). I found my dream hat at a gas station on Route 36. I indulged my love of crystals in the roadside jewelry and gem shops—many of which were made by local artisans.
Although I didn't go too far, I still wandered far enough to have some beautiful moments that I will remember forever. This is definitely a place I always look forward to returning to, my own little piece of sky.
Simon Reeve, author and television presenter
Copenhagen, Denmark
When I was 20, I went on a vacation with my friends. We thought we were going somewhere “hot,” but someone in the group booked us flights to Copenhagen. When we arrived, it was freezing cold, and the four of us had only shorts and flip-flops, and no one had a guidebook.
Being young men with little experience in life and travel, the only thing we could do in that situation was to go drinking. The bar we went to, Woodstock, was decorated like something out of a Star Wars movie and made me feel like I was in an out-of-this-world colony, a place filled with chaos and freedom of love.
My friend decided to call his ex-girlfriend who was working on the Oresund Bridge and tunnel project connecting Denmark and Sweden. She took us down to the tunnel under construction. In our drunken stumbling, we ended up running into the security guards. They had to stop the construction but luckily they decided not to "fine" us. I suddenly thought, this is what a vacation should be - with experiences that, although not glamorous, are definitely unforgettable, mixed with madness and adventure.
Of course we should all have profound and eye-opening travel experiences, but having a crazy—and fucked up—experience with your friends isn't so bad either.
Ruby Wax, comedian and writer
Trancoso, Brazil
After seeing pictures of Trancoso, a place near Porto Seguro, Bahia State, Brazil, I was intrigued for over a decade. I finally got the chance to visit two years ago.
In Quadrado, you’ll be struck by a real sense of community, with main squares and churches everywhere. There are football matches, weddings, funerals, ceremonies… and horses roaming in and out of bars. All you have to do is sit in a cafe and look around, and you’ll see all the life.
In the evenings, all the trees will be lit up with little lights and people will open their houses as if they were bars, and they will sit there and enjoy delicious chicken. As you pass by, someone will stop you and ask you to dance some samba. Continue to some other "bars" that will havecapoeira(a traditional Afro-Brazilian art form, like ballet). Here, people are not "surrounded" by tradition - they play with and enjoy tradition.
I have traveled a lot, but Trancoso still stands out to me most because it is as beautiful as a Dali painting. Each house in Quadrado is designed differently and in vibrant colors: turquoise, fuchsia, lime. Inside there are carved indigenous masks with feathers and religious icons lit with fairy lights. All mixed with modern elements.
Quadrado also has beaches surrounded by majestic forests filled with exotic birds. People live in the forests and there are tribes that will invite you to visit their villages. I met an artist in his 20s. Although we didn’t speak the same language, we danced the night away, and we both cried a lot when we had to say goodbye.
Kim-Joy, baker
Iceland
Iceland is one of my favorite places to visit because it is completely different. It feels like I am on another planet with volcanoes, black sand beaches and geysers. The culture and food are completely different too.
Despite the cold weather, people here still love ice cream. I even found an ice cream shop in Akureyri that was open until midnight. People also love swimming in the cold beaches. I tried swimming in Silfra - the water was 2 degrees Celsius! The amazing views quickly made me forget the cold. The water was crystal clear so I could see everything - both sides of the tectonic plates, the beautiful rocks and the flora. I never thought swimming in cold water would bring a sense of peace, but it did.
Many homes in Iceland have outdoor hot tubs. This also helps Iceland create a very special bread calledhverabrauð(volcano bread). This type of bread is not fermented, the flour is put in a sealed metal pot, buried deep underground and baked for 24 hours thanks to the temperature of the ground.
I visited an underground bakery in the Lake Myvatn area. As a baker, I considered this experience one of the highlights of the trip. The cakes tasted amazing with rye, fine flour and golden syrup. I tried some cakes with butter and soup and it was really delicious.
Jack Monroe, food critic and social activist
Plymouth, England
When I was a child, I used to visit my Aunt Helen in Plymoth every summer. She had a secret garden full of fruit trees, a well, and two geese, Charlie and Geraldine, who always tried to chase me around. I’m not sure if I or the geese made more noise, but my Aunt would always appear at the back door, waving at us with a towel to remind us that we were disturbing her peace.
Dinner at my aunt's house always involved a large group of relatives gathered around a table to enjoy koupepia (stuffed grape leaves), roast chicken, salt and pepper potatoes, marrows cooked with tomatoes and olive oil, and juicy plums from the garden.
When I grow up, I want my family to have the same memories of hospitality, endless dinners, and doors that always stayed open no matter how far apart we were. If I had one vacation to take for the rest of my life, it would be a carefree summer like my childhood, with baked potato sandwiches and soup.avgolemonoHot and steaming tea delivered to your bed by a "Greek goddess" whose heart is as deep and beautiful as the Mediterranean Sea.
