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Some days I wake up and long for Slovenia.
My obsession is a bit strange as I never had any particular ambitions to visit Slovenia. When I was there on a work project, I knew little about the country and came and went in less than 24 hours.
But, man, did that make an impression for 24 hours? I rented a car at Ljubljana Airport and drove over sharp green mountains into the Soča Valley. Tiny old villages hung on steep slopes, old stones and lush grass and tiny purple and yellow flowers covering everything. I had to drive by again and again to marvel at the incredible landscape.
When I first saw the Soča River, I laughed delightedly. Known as “the emerald river”, it is an amazing blue / green color like nothing I have ever seen before. Slovenia was like the alpine wonderland of my childhood fantasy, and I had never been aware of its existence other than knowing the name and approximate location of the country.
The next morning I drove back over these mountains, sad that my time there was so short. I will return one day. It’s a place i love
With this type of experience in mind, the New York Times Travel team liaises with writers and editors each year asking them about places that may be included in the annual 52 Places to Go package, our most ambitious list of places to go must have seen.
But we all know it would be a cruel joke to release 52 Places to Go this coming January 2021 as travel is unlikely – and absolutely impossible – for most readers.
Instead, the package is temporarily renamed to 52 Places We Love. Rather than asking the usual group of insiders to make these selections, the Travel section addresses readers. In its call for proposals (and yes, you should participate), the travel team writes:
While we may not know what lies ahead, we can still share the places we loved and continue to inspire curiosity, openness, and awe of the world.
So we turn to you for next year’s list of 52 places we love.
We want 52 love letters to travel, all written and photographed by you, our readers around the world A place in the world that is something special to you. It can be a popular tourist destination or a place that is largely overlooked. You could inspire someone else to go there one day, rethink their assumptions or spark their curiosity about a new piece of the world – all the powerful things travel brings into our lives.
Is there anywhere in the world how you are feeling about Slovenia? If so, they’d love to hear from you. Do you feel passionate anywhere in Australia? Last year there was only one Australian location that made the cut (the Kimberley region) so it would be nice to see strong Australian representation on the 2021 list – both in terms of filings and locations .
You can fill out the form for 52 places we love here.
And now to the stories of the week:
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