With Christmas coming up next week and another year coming to an end, it’s time for me to look back at this year and start planning for next year. This was a rough year for me, losing Larry Yoshida my best friend. Instead of talking about what we plan to do next year on my TV program, I thought today I would talk with you about my travels.

For work I get to do some traveling. Many of my friends say I travel a lot more than most people. I’m not sure if that’s true or not, but I have a question for all of you. Where would you go next year if time and money wasn’t an issue? What would you like to see? What’s on your bucket list?

Most of my travels are for work, usually to and from conventions. Some are here in the States, others are in Europe. Sometimes I also get to travel for filming for my TV program. Here are a few of the places I’ve been to over the past 20 months. They aren’t in any special order. I just thought I’d share this today because last night it hit me how many people I see in their 70’s & 80’s on the road that are on their very first overseas trip, I feel blessed that I have been traveling most of my life. I hope you enjoy my pictures.

Milan, Italy

I was just here in October, I picked Milan for two reasons, one I had never been there before and two I wanted to go see the Last Supper painting. Milan is a big city, but like all big cities it has pockets that are great to explore.

Duomo

The Catholic Cathedral of Milan. It is the second largest Cathedral in the world, only the Vatican in Vatican City is larger. It took hundreds of years to build this Cathedral and was one of the highlights of my visit to Milan. Here are a few pictures of the Duomo.

The Last Supper Painting

It was Leonardo da Vinici in the late 1490’s who painted the Last Supper mural here in Milan. It was painted in a dining room that all the priest ate in everyday. During World War II three of the walls in the room were wiped out by bombing, it’s a miracle the painting stayed intact. I bought my tickets to see this painting three weeks before I left for Europe. Access to the painting is very limited. Only 25-30 people at a time are allowed into dining room to see it. The guide I had was great, she did a great job of explaining the painting, the room and even the painter. This was by far my highlight of being in Milan.

Paris

I have been to Paris over ten times. I do like it there. I know most Americans say the French are rude, I haven’t seen that. Most of my television conventions are in France, so I usually have to fly in and out of Paris to get to work. On some of my trips I try to stay in Paris for a few days to get over the jet lag before I have to start working at the conventions.

What can I say about Paris that hasn’t already been said. To me it’s a magical city. I like it’s rich history, the art and of course it’s food. Everyone talks about all the tourist spots and yes I like some of them too, but in the evenings or late at night I like to sit out along one of the small canals and just take in the sounds and smells of Paris. It seems the more time I send away for all the tourist traps of Paris, the more I like this city. There are some many places I’ve been to in Paris that I could write about, I’m sure it would take me over a month to cover all of them one day I’m sure I’d write some of those blogs, but for today I’d like to just share a few of my pictures of Paris with you.

Qatar

Qatar was the first country I ever visited in the Middle East. Last year I made five trips there. I was hired by a television network in Qatar to produce a fishing series for them, it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I have to tell you I had a great time there and I got to do some awesome fishing. The people there were very nice to me and very open about sharing their cultural with me. I can’t wait to get back there and do some more fishing and exploring. Here are a few pictures from my travels to Qatar from last year.

I hope you enjoyed these pictures. I have so many more pictures and locations to share with you. So I’m asking you again, if you could travel to anywhere in the world where would you go? What’s on your bucket list?