CONCEPT
I’m having a tough time, so this rationale will be more succinct.
Obviously this follows the same premise as the 5 states to visit… which choices are both rich and encompassing.
Admittedly, I am making these calls only semi-informed. Nations vary so much in cultural makeup that I have only a tentative understanding of most.
AMERICAS
Argentina: A choice I know something of but not a great deal. Argentina seems so deep and sad. So windswept and driven. The boulevards of Buenos Aires and the sweeping green desolation of the Pampas. Ah…
Cuba: The fact that I don’t smoke does not mean I do not like the smell of cigars. The fact that communism has failed does not quench or diminish my fascination with Cuba. Most of all, I’ve seen photos of bleached colonial buildings and have heard the languid trumpets… when I’ve can say I’ve heard jazz in Chicago, New Orleans, and Havana, then I will have something to talk about.
Mexico: My one experience with Mexico was an afternoon in Tijuana. It was bleak and discouraging. Having seen, however, the vibrancy of the murals and street music in Pilsen, Chicago, and read the legends of the Aztecs, this seems a place of blinding color.
Peru: Almost an all-out tie with Brazil. Brazil has many things that Peru does not: Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, the Amazon Basin and some of the least explored parts of the world. But Peru has two things that Brazil does not: the Andes and the remnants of the Inca, one of the civilizations with which I am most fascinated.
United States: It is home. Rich. Desperate. Kind. Reckless. Young. Contradictory.
EUROPE
Greece: A no-brainer. Half of our institutions come from this place. What has Locke suggested that can’t be summed up in Athens, or Marx in Sparta?
Ireland: My great-grandfather’s home. So chill and drizzly and warm and cozy. I almost felt as though I could live here.
Italy: Same argument as Greece, though they’re completely different. As a Catholic, this would be hard to pass up. And I love Italian architecture.
Romania: I spent a summer here. Shall I sum up? Cacophanous frustration. I love Romanians, and Hungarians, and Germans, and Turks, and Roma. It’s too bad they all hate each other. They share one of the most beautiful lands in the world.
Russia: I knew I had to include one of the “old powers” on here… France, England, Germany or Russia. I think, however, because of it’s century-long experiment with communism, and its current troubled state, Russia has had a much more complete “tragic arc.” In terms of age and experience, I think, it is one of the wisest nations in the world.
AFRICA
Egypt: Like an old grandmother that sits in the corner, telling the most magnificent stories. That’s the stereotype, at least, and there’s something to it. On the other hand, Cairo and Alexandria are modern, active powerful cities. This nation has a strong sense of themselves.
Morocco: If Andalucia is Europe infused with Africa, is Morocco Africa infused with Andalucia? Maybe it just seems that way to me…
Nigeria: Admittedly, I know little of Nigeria except for its great diversity and musical traditions. However, Nigerians I have met have talked about it as Texans describe Texas. I am intrigued, in spite of myself.
South Africa: My goodness! This has to be a no-brainer. One of the most spectacular but troubled, galvanizing and important parts of the world. Why? Because the way South Africa addresses its problems shapes their dimensions and provides us with a vocabulary.
Tanzania: Similar to my knowledge of Nigeria. It’s a vast and wild country. And Zanzibar is a cool name for a city. I admit, my reasons here a very superficial, and if I knew more, I might choose Kenya.
ASIA
Cambodia: Partly a genuine curiosity about how a nation steps from a murderous regime directly into full-blown tourism. But whatever. I want to see the jungle. That, and while Buddhism was born in India, here it took root, and flourished.
China: Oh, China China China China China. How could I make a list like this and not include China? You leave me breathless in awe.
India: Oh, India India India India India. How could I make a list like this and not include India? You leave me shaking with excitement.
Israel and Palestine: This tiny, dusty, semiarid land is sacred to more than half of the humans on the planet today. It is sad that it has become what it has become, but keep in mind, it has always been that way. I do not believe that great movements are born of ease, but rather that ease and the desire for ease corrupts great movements. I have to go. I have to see where it all happened.
Japan: Friends who have taken on Japan have become almost cultish about it. To me, it seems oddly familiar, considering how alien so much of the culture is to my experience. But I’m just talking. I don’t know.
OCEANIA
Antarctica: Humans are fine, but this is the only place in which to really take a break from humans. In any meaningful way. You can see further into space here than anywhere else in the world. Given the cold and isolation, how perfect.
Indonesia: I know little about Indonesia, but the images I have seen, the dancers and statues, the jade and ruins are so powerful, I cannot keep my mind away.
Micronesia: Again, we have isolation. But, then, we have the silence broken by the sound of the ocean, almost everywhere you could go among these tiny islands. My heart too has a place for tropical paradise.
New Zealand: Actually, it has nothing to do with the Lord of the Rings. Cultures collided here, among breathtaking surroundings, with limited recourse to outside powers. And it’s so far south.
the Phillipines: Given much as is my answer for Nigeria. I know very little about the Phillipines, but I’ve known several Filipinos, and the energy with which they engage their homeland… I am drawn to an island culture that is so diverse…