My First Ever X-Factor Travel Awards

A to Z of my favorite travel destinations — X is for the X-Factor

Okay, okay I know I’m cheating. But what else can I do?

I have struggled with X since the start of this alphabetical travel challenge, wondering what I’m going to write about. I’ve now started writing Y and Z so X is the only thing standing between me and completing this marathon.

I have not been anywhere in the world that starts with the letter X, as far as I remember. No destinations to choose from. I even half-considered trying to find the nearest place that starts with X and travel there to complete my list, but I want to spend my travel dollars on somewhere I really want to visit.

So it finally hit me. I can cover some highlights and lowlights of my travels, with my very first X-Factor Travel Awards. X-Factor is that je ne sais quoi (I don’t know what it is) that makes something unique and special. It usually means something good but we’ll see where this takes me.

So without further ado… ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, here are your X-Factor Travel Awards.

The X-Lax Award

I think this one speaks for itself — we all know what Ex-Lax is used for. There were actually a few places in the world vying for this title — Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa where I trekked up the mountain while reinfecting myself with Salmonella (not on purpose.) But that was more of a violent stomach illness that didn’t really require Ex-Lax so much as Gravol. Vietnam was also in the running. I had traveler’s tummy a few times during my month there. I know I brought it on myself, because I kept eating fresh vegetables like those delicious lettuce and mint wraps for spring rolls that I couldn’t get enough of. That was pretty bad, but the winner is… drumroll please…

India. That’s probably not a huge surprise to anyone who has ever experienced Delhi Belly. But I was so sick and it hit me just as I was beginning a marathon train trip from Udaipur to Mumbai — 17 hours using a filthy squat toilet on a moving train.

The X-Treme Adventure Award

The nominees are hot-air ballooning in Cappadocia, Turkey, scuba diving in the Red Sea, parasailing in Waikiki (remember I’m afraid of heights AND water)… and the winner is… Wakeboarding in Lake Ontario. So yes, afraid of water, afraid of boats, and never tried water skiing in my life. So why, at the age of 47, did I agree to take part in a media challenge at the Wakeboarding Championships on Lake Ontario? I have no idea. Wakeboarding is like water skiing on a single board (with no fin to help steer), and again I had never waterskied on two boards. Do I really need to tell you what happened? It was an epic disaster. I couldn’t stand up for longer than a second and let me tell you that lake water was cold and felt like concrete behind a speeding boat. I was sore for a week.

The X-travagence Award

I don’t often travel extravagantly. I may splurge on a night out at a fancy restaurant in Paris, Barcelona, or Tel Aviv. But my most extravagant vacation was to Hong Kong, way back when I was in my twenties.

My best friend and her parents had planned a trip along with some of her parents’ friends and they asked me to come along. Everyone was very wealthy so it was first class all the way. First-class flights on Singapore Airlines (one of the world’s top airlines at the time), staying at the Peninsula Hotel (one of Hong Kong’s most luxurious and most famous hotels — they even had a fleet of Rolls Royce cars that could chauffeur us around the city), we ate at the finest restaurants and even had a private room at the Hong Kong Jockey Club for an evening of horseracing. It was an amazing trip. But I had to take out a loan on my cherished black Camaro to pay for it.

When I returned to Canada in the dead of winter, I plugged in my car one night (no it wasn’t electric, we had to plug in our vehicles to keep a heater going under the hood to prevent extreme cold weather damage to the engine.) It short-circuited and my engine caught fire. When I was finished with the insurance company, my trip was paid off and I had enough money left over to put a down payment on a new car. Win-win.

The X-plosive Award

No not the burrito kind.

I have seen fireworks lighting up the sky all over the world. I was in Israel at the start of the 2012 war with Gaza as air raid sirens sounded, tracer fire spread across the sky, and rockets exploded nearby. But no the most explosive experience I had was… Barcelona’s Merce Festival. Not once but twice. The highlight of the festival is Carrefoc (literally Fire Run), where people dress up as monsters and devils and light fireworks aimed into the crowd. You heard that right. With sparks of fire exploding all around you, it’s important to keep your wits about you to prevent burns, singed hair, or holey clothes. It was one of the most adrenaline-pumping experiences of my life.

The X-treme Crowd Award

Have I told you I hate crowds? This could have been just about anywhere in the world. I have been in some very crowded places, especially at the peak of tourist season at one or more vacation hotspots. But the tightest squeeze I was ever in was… La Tomatina Festival in Bunol, Spain. Thousands of people squeezed into the narrow street as big truckloads of tomatoes made their way through the crowd, amid a shower of tomato juice and seeds. Despite the crushing crowds, it was an exhilarating experience.

The X-calibur Award

This award recognizes the coolest Medieval or ancient place I’ve visited. The nominees are Ta Prohm Temple in Cambodia (featured in the Lara Croft movie Tomb Raider), Nijo Castle in Kyoto, Japan (a wooden medieval castle with squeaky wood floors that warned of intruders), but the winner is… Carcassonne Castle in the south of France. It’s a true medieval castle, like the ones you read about in fairy tales as a child. It was magical and because it was low tourist season, my friend and I were practically alone in there.

There are many more categories I could have added, like X-posed (I will leave that to your imagination), Most X-cellent Beach, X-treme Desert, Most X-cellent Meal. But I will leave you with my top award, from all categories.

The X-Factor Award

This is the place that everyone is always asking me about. My favorite place in the world. I always answer the same, it’s always whatever place I am in. I really haven’t disliked any places I have traveled to.

I adore the Iberian Peninsula, both Spain and Portugal captured my heart and Barcelona is near the top of my list of favorite cities in the world; I fell in love with India for the culture and its incongruous blend of high energy and peaceful serenity; but I think the place I would have to choose is… Tel Aviv. It has that certain something I can’t put my finger on, but it was love at first sight. It turned out that it wasn’t all good times, since I ended up living there for a year and a half, but it’s still one of my favorite places on earth… so far.

Thank you for reading. For more of my favorite travel destinations, you can check out my list of stories: