More destinations for 2010

'Best of' lists — By Bob Riel on January 29, 2010 at 7:20 am

On Wednesday, we looked at some hot destinations for 2010, courtesy of the NY Times. Today, we cover the same topic, only from a slightly different and perhaps more interesting angle. That is, why not forget the travel publications and ask some travel writers themselves – where do they want to travel in 2010? The folks at Matador Travel did just that, surveying their team of writers, and came up with a more personal and pretty intriguing list of destinations. Here are a few:

Xinjiang province, China (Sarah Menkedick) - Xinjiang province called out to me the whole time I was in China. My husband and I chose tropical Borneo over frigid northwest China when my sweet two months of winter vacation rolled around, but Xinjiang has continued to haunt us.

Benin (Julie Schwietert) – My beat — journalistically, psychologically, and mentally — is Latin America and the Caribbean, but I’ve been feeling pulled toward Africa for a long time. I’ve never been. West Africa, in particular, is of interest to me for its political history and its music; of all the West African countries, Benin is where I’d want to go if I had to limit myself to just one country.

Eastern Kazakhstan (Hal Amen) – The fence-less plains, high mountains, and nomadic culture of Central Asia fascinate me. Kazakhstan is good to go year round. In winter there are golden eagle hunting competitions just east of Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, and summer would be an ideal time for trekking the Altay Mountains in the northeast.

Nepal (Andy Hayes) – I can’t help but notice Nepal popping up in unusual places. And given my love for rich, experiential travel, I can think of many ways to spend my time there. I’m not looking forward to the affects of altitude, but I am sure it’s nothing an authentic spiritual journey can’t fix.

There are more than 20 such recommendations in Matador’s full story. Check it out.