Why?

If you enjoy spending your holidays in a club hotel in the Caribbean drinking Mai Tais, that's fine. It's your holiday and do as you please. And I personally enjoy the occasional Mai Tai on the beach, too. For me, though, spending more than a few days in the aforementioned Caribbean club hotel would be akin to purgatory. Because I like moving around, seeing new things and going to distant places.

As such I have read my fair share of guide books to figure out where to go and what to see. Eventually I noticed a few annoying biases. The authors would try to cover all regions of a country equally, judge on a relative scale and provide more details on touristy and easy to reach places. For instance, I see little reason to spend any time in Santiago de Chile apart from the international airport. Santiago is a nice city for Chile, but it's not in the same league as Mexico City. Still, any guide book you pick up on Chile will spend a full chapter on the city.

World Heritage Sites are different. They are as objective as it gets. They make you travel off the beaten path. I will always fondly remember my cab ride in a winter landscape to Holasovice. More often than not these are great sites.

Initially, I focused on quantity. And while this may seem stressful, it did give me a good picture and overview. Of late (ever since reaching the magical 300) I collect differently. Now I plan my trips on the truly great sites and pick up any site to the left and right I can visit on top.

So, should you become a whs traveler, too? My honest recommendation is to do as you please. But if you are going to country anyhow (and be it in a club hotel), then use the map provided on this site and check out if any world heritage site is nearby. It may force to travel a bit off the beaten path, but trust me, it will be worth it.

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