Expert: James Bell - 4/3/2007

Question
Hi Jim
I am writing to ask you about all the places you have been at around the world. I have never been anywhere but Florida. Is there some places you really enjoyed? And could you give a brief description on what they are like? I see photos of many world cities and attractions. Wonder if they look as great as the photos show. Sounds like you had a great job. Thanks.

Answer
Greetings David -

I apologize for not getting back to you sooner.  Having been a "world traveler" with the Air Force, I can proudly say I have been on every continent in the world, save Antarctica (I was scheduled to fly down to McMurdo Station, but it got cancelled at the last minute).

Trying to choose which is the best is difficult.  Each place is special.  I have been in Fairbanks, Alaska during the winter solstice, when the sun never comes up.  With temperatures at 20 below zero, I enjoyed going outside and watching the Northern Lights.

I have toured the pyramids in Cairo ... there it was much warmer.  I have been through Hawaii over 130 times, but I enjoy walking along the beaches of the island of Wake.  That island saw heavy battle at the same time the attack on Pearl Harbor was taking place on Dec 7., 1941.  Another tropical paradise that I enjoy is Diego Garcia, south of the equator in the middle of the Indian Ocean.  Both Wake and Diego Garcia are military only locations, so it is impossible to see as a civilian, and I miss the fact that, now retired, I will never visit them again.

I have been to Japan, Okinawa, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Germany, Spain, Greece, Italy, every country in the Middle East (except Iran), Israel (carrying the U. S. Secretary of State), Crete, Egypt, Somalia, Turkey, Iceland, Greenland, Denmark, Belgium, England, Australia, New Zealand, Panama, Canada, Newfoundland, Mexico, and all 50 states, including most of the territories (Guam, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Marshall Islands, etc.).  I've even been to Florida ... panhandle to tip.

I even had the opportunity to spend four days in-country in Siberia, as guests of the Soviet Union.  The city is Ulan-Ude, and it is southeast of Lake Baikol.  Did you know that Lake Baikol is the largest fresh water lake in the world?  It has more water than all the great lakes combined (because it's over 5,000 feet deep).  It contains 20% of the world's fresh water supply and would span a distance from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

When I first started flying, I bought a globe of the Earth and started sticking pins in it to all the places I've been.  I ran thread between the pins showing the flight routes.  After 24-years, most of the globe is black with lines.  I guess that means I've been to a lot of places.  Each one has a special memory, and I have many stories to tell.

When I went back to my high school reunion, someone spouted off the statistics that, in most American schools, 50% of the graduates never leave the city, 75% never leave the state, and 95% never leave the country.  I found it exciting that I had been in Japan only three days before we made the trip to my hometown for the reunion.

If you get the chance to travel, do it ... you will be a much richer person because of it.

Good luck with your future.

Sincerely,
James Bell