About

Hi, I'm Shannon O'Brien. Welcome to my travel website where I like to try to accomplish the impossible task of finding "the best" destinations on planet earth. I actually enjoy using statistics to find a general estimate of what makes something "the best." Then I use editorial judgment to narrow things down and rank them.

I've been working on this travel website since 2010, which began as a Word document I printed out into book form. Which, I guess, isn't really a website at all.

My favorite part of travel is the surreal feelings, like cresting a hill and seeing mountains that fill the whole sky and thinking to myself, "Wow, this was once all under water..." Which is sometimes true.

My other favorite part of going on a trip is having a pina colada by the hotel pool and laughing at a bad joke with whoever I'm with.

As I travel, I am always learning. For example, always use all your senses and fully soak up the novel experience of traveling; and never use the hotel mini bar, unless you want to pay $27 for half a bottle of actual cheap wine. As I go, I like to share with internet strangers the things I learn, and update my website accordingly as I figure things out.

I hope you find this information useful on travels and that you find a 900 year old tree to hug that hugs back.

Safe travels,
Shannon O'Brien