Subject: re: destinations that change lives
But for me (as I think for many people), the act of travel itself has been life-changing for all the reasons commonly cited as benefits - it gives you new insights into your own ability to cope outside your comfort zone, gives you a view of your own culture from a different perspective, gives you an appreciation for differences among people which can increase your acceptance of those differences, etc. Travel has also become one of my major hobbies. And that has helped to shape my life since it determines how I spend my leisure time. Certain destinations, especially places in the great outdoors, have worked their way into my soul. I have felt more spiritual in the Grand Tetons, at Lake O'Hara (in Canada), on Mount Ranier and in the Swiss Alps than in any house of worship.

So I cannot tell you one individual destination that has changed my life. But the sum total of the places I have been has definitely had an effect. And one of the main reasons to keep travelling is to find those places that will make a permanent impression!

Best regards, Mark May Los Angeles, CA