50 places to visit are enough for a lifetime

A book that’s currently on the market tells readers about “1,000 Places to See Before You Die.”

The book is by Patricia Schultz, formerly a writer for Frommer’s guidebooks. One thousand places? I’ve traveled in a mad frenzy for the last several decades and I’ve been to perhaps 500 such places.

At best, the normal American traveler should count on visiting perhaps 50 major cities or islands in a lifetime. That number allows a reasonable sampling of almost all the major cultures and important physical attractions of the world.

Where to start?

In the U.S., there are perhaps 13 indispensable visits to make: First to New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., repositories of our history and most important current cultural endeavors; to Yellowstone, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon, our three most important national parks; to San Francisco, New Orleans, Honolulu and Miami, our most exotic cities; and to Las Vegas and Orlando, Fla., for comic relief and relaxation.

To these you might add Chicago, Montreal and Mexico City, for a total of 16.

In the Caribbean, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, reveal the history and enduring aftermath of the Spanish conquest of the New World.

In South America, Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires are the must-sees, bringing our total to 20.

In Europe, it’s arguable that nine cities exhaust the list of essential visits: London; Paris; Amsterdam; Rome, Venice and Florence, Italy; Madrid; Copenhagen; and Berlin, for a total so far of 29.

In the Middle East, add Cairo and Jerusalem, and in Africa you’ll want to see Cape Town, South Africa, and Nairobi, Kenya, where you should take in a safari. We’re up to 33.

On the Indian subcontinent, Bombay and New Delhi are vital. Moving farther into Asia, the key visits are to Tokyo; Hong Kong; Bangkok, Thailand; and Beijing, bringing our total to 39.

In the South Pacific and Polynesia, Sydney, Australia; and Auckland, New Zealand; Bali, Indonesia; and Tahiti are must-sees. Now we have 43.

Add seven choices of your own (Alaska and Colonial Williamsburg, Va., should perhaps be included), and you’ve reached 50. It’s an ambitious program that will challenge the limited travel time of most Americans.

I have, of course, offended dozens of cities and tourist bureaus by eliminating their names from this comprehensive listing of worthwhile destinations.

But 1,000 places to see before you die? Give me a break.