Editor’s Note: I originally posted this back in April. Since then I’ve received numerous replies and emails about it. Some people have complained I am a snob. Others think I am being too judgmental. Some agree I’ve hit the nail on the head with my rant about the Ulles, the book, the TV show, and the cultural mediocrity it all represents.
Whatever your opinion, I am adding this preface and reposting because I actually have a question for you, dearest blog readers. You see, week in and week out, this post is one of the most searched for on our blog. Hundreds of people Google ‘1,000 places to see before you die’ and they end up here. And thus I am curious: when you type that search term in Google, what are you actually looking for? Are you simply hunting for a pre-packaged marketing concept broadcast over on the Travel Channel? (If so, I assume you haven’t made it even this far into the post…)
Or are you looking for actual, unbiased, honest-to-goodness travel inspiration? If so, let me make a humble suggestion: Skip the ‘1,000 Places to See Before You Die’ book, television show, T-shirt, DVD, podcast or whatever. Just go. That’s always the best advice. Just pick a destination and go. And as always, leave me a comment telling me what a snob I am, how wrong am I, how right I am.
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If only we had made it to Timbuktu…
Once upon a time I was excited by the concept of ‘1,000 places to see before I die’. As a lifelong traveler, the idea of visiting a thousand of the world’s most exotic, far-flung and inspiring destinations before — what’s the right word here, perishing? kicking the bucket? fading to black? — felt like something I had to do. Success was not to be judged on actually accomplishing this goal, but in the effort spent trying.
And the effort would be daunting. Assuming you can tackle 1 ‘must-see’ destination per week, you’ll need to set aside nearly 20 years to visit all 1,000 locations. On a budget of $25 per day, those 20 years will cost $182,500. If I adjust for inflation, well, we’re talking some serious cash.
But that’s part and parcel of the concept’s power. To actually visit all 1,000 places requires Commitment (note the capital C). It requires sacrifice. It is not something for weekend warriors or mere armchair travelers.
And then a few years ago I discovered a book called 1,000 Places to See Before You Die. My first reaction was annoyance. I was annoyed that somebody had actually written a book about the concept, thereby sucking the authenticity out of it by transforming the noble idea into a crass commercial project with a bottom line and a marketing plan.
I was equally annoyed that it wasn’t me who had the foresight to suck the authenticity out of the concept, by transforming it into a book with a bottom line and a marketing plan…
Clearly I had been scooped. But who was the author? Was she in the model of Tony Wheeler, the legendary founder of Lonely Planet and a man who knows travel? (Pardon this brief detour: Check out Tony’s new book, Bad Lands, an account of his travels in George W. Bush’s so-called ‘axis of evil’, Iraq, North Korea and Iran. Now that’s a travel book!)
The author is Patricia Schultz. I’ve never met Patricia. But I’m certain she is a lovely person. She is a freelance travel and fashion writer based in New York City. And as a one-time freelancer based in New York myself, I can recognize Patricia’s project for what it is: a great idea written by somebody who was at the right place, at the right time.
Don’t get me wrong. I think the concept is 100% compelling. And I think some of Patricia’s recommendations — a hot-air balloon ride over the plains of Kenya, the Pushkar camel fair in India, etc — are spot on.
I just wish the book had been written by a road-weary traveler who has spent — sacrificed, struggled through — 20 years personally tracking down each and every one of these ‘must see’ sites. I suspect that our New York City-based fashion and travel writer has not personally visited more than, say, 50 of the 1,000 places she writes about. I’m happy to be proven wrong. (If she has visited more than 200, I will eat a hat. If she’s ticked off more than 500 on the list I will personally carry her bags and cook her meals on her next trek in Nepal.)
Normally I don’t get this worked up. However a few weeks ago I started seeing television commercials — and billboards and magazine ads — about a new show on the Travel Channel called ‘1,000 Places to See Before You Die‘. The advertisements were omnipresent. They were slick. And they did a good job getting me excited about the show’s USA premiere last month. So I surfed the Travel Channel website and found this:
“Inspired by Patricia Schultz’s best-selling travel book, ‘1,000 Places to See Before You Die’ chronicles the journey of a young couple who put their lives on hold to travel the world for 14 weeks.
Albin and Melanie Ulle, newlyweds from Colorado, experience the vast beauty and diverse cultures of 13 amazing countries and approximately 100 of the 1,000 Places from the book, while unearthing all the local charms and traditions along the way!”
Hang on a second. I was expecting some life-changing description. I was expecting the Travel Channel to throw resources at this idea and to create the definitive television travel experience. Maybe my expectations were unrealistically high. But I can tell you I was not expecting “a young couple who put their lives on hold to travel the world for 14 weeks.”
Fourteen weeks? Are you serious? 14 weeks? That’s barely three months. Was this TV show really about a newly married couple who travel the world for 14 weeks? Because in most parts of the world these are called ‘honeymoons’ and they don’t usually end up on television.
I know of a dozen people out there, on the road right now, who are better qualified to lead armchair travelers on a journey to the world’s top 1,000 sites. How is it that the producers of the show don’t bother to include some authentic travelers into the mix?
The answers — that character-led programming is what drives television ratings, that this couple beat out 900 other couples in the auditions because telegenic good looks are more important than actual travel experience, that nobody really cares if the backstory is coherent as long as the program makes money — are no surprise.
The problem, of course, is that a show about real travelers, going to real places, would not make money. Alas, this is why I am not a television executive. Yet I am a traveler. I have authored a dozen travel books and visited more than 50 countries. I am not bragging. I am just saying I can tell the difference between travelers and tourists.
And on the road leading to the world’s 1,000 must-see places, the Ulles from Colorado are merely tourists. There’s nothing wrong with that. The world needs tourists. But I wish the producers had shown us the real travelers they met along the way. In doing so they would have created a compelling television program that lives up to the promise of its concept. Instead we get ‘travel lite’ with too many commercials.
–Scott McNeely
Source: 1,000 Places to See Before You Die
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