FIVE DESTINATIONS

New York, USA

On or off the road, I am always dreaming of my next adventure. My current five obsessions, in no particular order.

BERLIN Road Junky Travel Film Festival, 28-30 May 2010. A weekend of travel writing, storytelling; photography and videography; gypsy music; brass bands and travel forums, all in the artistic hub of Europe. The heat and rush of early summer, the Bauhaus aesthetic, and the air of international artistry and vagabondery.

REYKJAVIK Only a five hour flight from New York. A long weekend soaking in geothermal pools, with a face-full of Icelandic mud. A few evenings of pickled fishes and honey mead. Rent a car for a day and drive in a big beautiful circle.

BOMBAY Just left, can't wait to return. Bombay is a steaming hothouse of art and energy. Next time, I'll stay somewhere overlooking the Arabian Sea, develop an architectural walking tour company, finally visit Elephanta Island even though it smells like guano, and star in a Bollywood film with Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Salmaan Khan or John Abraham.

VENICE Carnival, 6-16 February 2010. If only it weren't so cold in northern Italy in February. An afternoon in the Guggenheim and the other museum that I recently read about and have forgotten the name of but is curated by a 35 year old and I thought I could do that, a Bellini at Harry's and a few wrong turns up and over a canal, I'd slip on a black lace mask and wander the streets during Carnival in a trench coat and my imaginary bespoke hightops. If Venice doesn't work out, then I'll take Colombia.

BARANQUILLA Colombia: my ancestral homeland; the second largest Carnival party outside of Rio de Janeiro; and a short drive to gorgeous Cartagena. The Carnival in Baranquilla was brilliantly dubbed one of the "Masterpieces of the Oral Intangible Heritage of Humanity" - the meaning of which both totally eludes and totally delights me.