“Heratis still recount the story of Queen Gowhar Shad, the daughter-in-law of the conquerer Taimur who moved the Timurid capital from Samarkand to Herat in 1405 after Taimur’s death. One day in the company of 200 ‘ruby-lipped’, beautiful ladies-in-waiting, the Queen inspected a mosque and madrassa complex she was building on the outskirts of Herat. The madrassa students (or taliban) had been asked to vacate the premises while the Queen and her entourage visited, but one student had fallen asleep in his room. He was awoken by an exquisitely attractive lady-in-waiting. When she rejoined the Queen, the lady was panting and dishevelled by the exertions of passionate love-making and thus she was discovered. Instead of punishing her or the student, the Queen ordered all her ladies-in-waiting to marry the students in a mass ceremony so as to bless them and ensure they avoided temptation in the future. She gave each student clothes and a salary and ordered that husband and wife should meet once a week as long as the students studied hard. It was the kind of story that epitomized the liberal, human tradition of Islam and madrassa education in Herat.”

You are very well traveled!

I’d love to talk to you about Memphis sometime! I’m already hooked because of the influence of Memphis on the Blues, but Memphis also seemed like the confluence of many interesting things. It’s just a short drive from the heart of Mississippi as well as what is generally considered the Midwest. It’s indisputably “southern” and indisputably a big city. It’s also one of the cities that seems to straddle East and West. I’m very curious about Memphis.

Pitcairn Islands would have made the list even if it was much shorter… that place has a crazy history, geography, everything. It’s almost impossible to visit, however.

Mali in general is fascinating because it is a functional democracy despite being one of the most poverty stricken nations in the world, and surrounded by juntas and dictatorships. It’s historically interesting because Timbuctou was Africa’s major academic center through much of the middle ages. Mopti is a desert city that occupies a similar role today.

I know less about Arusha than most of the other locations here, but it’s a middle sized city in Tanzania that is fairly cosmopolitan and close to a lot of the natural wonders in that country.

Sapanta is a place I wish I had visited when I was in Romania, but I did not. It is in the heart of Maramures, an ethnically distinct area known for rustic traditions and enormous and ornate wooden Orthodox churches. As thoroughly “Romanian” as Moldavia, but supposedly much more relaxed. (Moldavia is very fine, but not ultimately relaxing).

Jessica and I spent our honeymoon in Placencia, and Belize in general is kind of a point of exchange between the African heritages of the Caribbean and the Native American influence throughout Central America. Driving north along the Placencia Peninsula is a bit like taking a trip around the world, which I really enjoyed.

I know so little about Scotland, although several places there did make my longer list. Ditto New Zealand. I took a look at Kabul and Mazar-e-Shairf, but not Herat. What is it like?

I can tell you all about what living in Memphis is like…

I’ve been to 5 of the places you listed outside the U.S.: Cape Town, Colombo, Cuzco, Hong Kong, and Lahore. I’d be happy living in any of them, although I think Cuzco would feel pretty isolated. Cape Town and Lahore are two of my favorite places on the planet.

I’ll be curious to look up some of your more obscure entries. I’ve heard of Marrakech and Srinagar, but some of the other names are new to me (Arusha, Mopti, Placencia, Sapanta).

My list would definitely have some place in Scotland (probably Oban), Faro Island, somewhere on Guernsey, and somewhere in New Zealand. Maybe Herat, Afghanistan?

You might be right about it being a niche audience, but they broke a profit at $25M today, so if so, it’s a niche that’s willing to spend some serious dough!