Ever been so overwhelmed by a prospect that you’ve cowered away in a corner of denial to avoid the reality of dealing with it? Before you click onto that hostile cross hovering at the edge of your screen, fearing this to be one of those heavy-hearted, doom and gloom posts, worry not. Today’s post is a happy one, as I have no intentions of being miserable when the weather is doing such a fine job on my behalf.
Until I started this blog, travelling was my favourite way of spending my free time and now I have a blog, it competes forcefully with my other great passion – writing about travel. Predictable much? You can therefore rest assured that there’s plenty of travel coming your way in today’s post but why, then, did I start it off with such melodramatics?
The truth is, I was so overwhelmed by all the ideas colliding together in my head that I almost shied away from participating. Do I try to summarise my favourite cities or skyline views? Do I reminisce about my favourite wildlife experiences abroad? Do I talk to you about the loveliest coastlines or wax lyrical about my favourite tours? (How would I even choose between that special day tour in Bali, the classic vintage car tour in Cuba, the creative street art tour in Buenos Aires or the exquisite food tours unravelling the best culinary highlights in Ljubljana and hidden foodie gems in Marrakech?)
Ultimately, I decided to go back to basics and remembered something that I do at work. When faced with toddlers who REALLY don’t want their ears looked into, one has to deploy some lateral thinking and be armed with some tricks. My method is to gently tell the littl’uns that we’re going to play a game to guess what colour their ears are (not entirely inaccurate incidentally) and I then proceed to ask them what their favourite colour is (temporarily distracting them). The answers are hardly revolutionary, a handful of pinks, a cluster of blues and the occasional child, who surprises you with an unexpected silver or yellow. Children are persistently being asked about their favourite colour and rarely do they have any trouble answering.
My 5 Favourite Travel Colours from Around the GLobe
And that’s when it hit me, my favourite travel moments of all time, the ones that magnetically pull me back towards a destination, the ones that my family are probably sick to the back teeth of hearing about and the ones that generate the kind of photos you never imagined you’d have in your possession, all of those memories involve colour and I thought I would bring you 5 of my favourite travel colours from around the world.
TURQUOISE
The soothing, turquoise waters of the Maldives are so unimaginably still that they must surely have healing prowess and if you’ve been reading my blog for a while, this entirely unedited snapshot from its paradise shores may perhaps ring a bell.
And thousands of miles away, the following year, whilst practising my Spanish in Cuba, I would find that the saturated blue skies in Varadero, Cuba lend an equally competitive hue to the sea and inviting pools.
PINK
When it comes to my likes and desires, I am the proverbial leopard that never changes its spots. As a child, I conformed to all those gender stereotypes of the little girl always liking anything pink and a few decades on, little has changed if my awe-struck wonderment during this pink Seychelles sunset on Praslin island was anything to by.
When it comes to being drawn to colour, I am the moth to the flame (spot the metaphor-loving going on in this post.) The small island of Burano near Venice was the kind of rainbow paradise that I imagine fairytale and cartoon heroes must reside in when they finally make the arduous voyage to heaven. With row upon row of vivid, psychedelic colourful houses, you start to question if your drink was spiked somewhere en route.
And in Buenos Aires, Argentina, one of the few cities in the world where I could genuinely see myself living, even the President’s Office is housed in the warming Pink House, more commonly known as Casa Rosada.
And still on my wish list is the longing to see the famous pink sands of Bermuda shores.
GREEN
Green to me is the global peace-keeper uniting nations all over the world with its harvest and spring properties encompassing everything from the rolling hills in England to UNESCO listed Jatulawih rice terraces in Bali, whose rhythmic uniformity yields an almost hypnotic character.
In Sri Lanka, almost everywhere I went, I was reminded of how green and lush the environment is with the aerial views from Sigiriya rock revealing nothing but green forests merging into the horizon.
And in the raised terrains of the Nuwara Eliya Sri Lankan tea plantations, we acquired relief from the tropical heat and of course, a wholesome cup of Ceylon tea.
TERACOTTA and ORANGE
After being fare more familiar with Europe’s snowcapped icy mountain peaks such as the Matterhorn in Switzerland and the Sound of Music slopes in Salzburg, I was rather taken by the strokes of teracotta soil embedded within the reaches of the Atlas Mountains during a visit to Morocco earlier this year.
One of my most cherished memories of this orange/red, auburn-esque colour was the first sight of the intelligent orangutans in Borneo and the way all visitors harmonised into a unified silence as these orangutans foraged for their lunch.
Borneo also happens to be one of the few destinations in the world that is home to the Rafflesia flower, frequently cited as the largest flower in the world and Indonesia’s official state flower. These spectacular flowers can grow up to 3 feet wide and are most definitely not the types of floral you would want to be presented with on a first date!
White
Not usually a shade I particularly have any inclination towards, there is something about the purity of white seen in the context of travel that has me questioning whether this is in fact my favourite colour of all when it comes to seeing the world.
Contrary to what many imagine, England (or at least London) doesn’t often see the kind of velvety, white snow days seen on adverts for winter warmers. Occasionally when we do, my Mum is the first in the garden clicking away to send photos of the coated tree branches to our relatives abroad but my postcard perfect snow moment was found in Germany a couple of years ago in a small village in Bavaria.
The pristine clarity of the Perito Moreno Glacier in Argentina remains the most astounding sight I have come across on my travels and also happens to be the furthest South I have ever travelled. In some lights, its flawless white was tinted with blue tips but regardless of the colour, every detail of this Patagonian beauty remains etched in my memory.
During the same trip, we explored the Iguazu Falls, both from the Brazilian and Argentinian sides and if you have already visited these waterfalls or other similar, magnificent waterfalls, then you will understand how hard it is to fully appreciate the vehement ferocity of these falls until you stand face to face with them.
Of all the words I can conjure up to describe Iguazu, peaceful is not one of them. The cathartic sound of the numbed roar of the falls perhaps has a peaceful quality but it was the force, beauty and number of these waterfalls that struck me the most .
The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, one of the absolute must-sees in Abu Dhabi, however, was a white laid out in total contrast. No sounds of nature, no sounds of water but rather the sound of spirituality and religion, a place of peace and shelter.
Have you ever been struck by colour during your travels? What is your favourite travel colour?
Part of a monthly travel blog link up with Emma, Kelly, RebeccaS and guest-host, Frankie.
Why Waste Annual Leave? 
I absolutely love this post! Such a create way to show and talk about different places you’ve traveled to!
Thank you so much! Can’t tell you how happy your comment made me – I’m so pleased you enjoyed the post 🙂
Lovely pictures and nice concept!
How kind of you, thank you so much!
Utterly stunning – what a perfect way to round out the topic!
Aww, thanks so much Emma! Favourite colours were so much easier to choose than favourite other things 🙂
What an original, lovely and beautiful post, Shikha. I like all the colours and photos, but I particularly adore the story about how you persuade children to having their ears examined.
Such a lovely comment Mette, thank you, that really made my day 🙂 Haha, after virtually getting kicked and slapped by cross toddlers, I realised I have to think of some other ways around this dilemma!!
Love this idea for the topic. Blue is definitely my favourite travel colour, my Instagram is really dominated by it! I can’t wait to see Iguazu Falls on our trip next year.
Lots of love,
Angie
SilverSpoon London
Thank you Angie! Yes, I’ve seen lots of beautiful blues on your Instagram! I love it too – blues, turquoises, I’ll happily take those colours 🙂 I’m sure you are absolutely going to LOVE Iguazu Falls!
I have to say I’m definitely drawn to the colour blue in travel, the colour of a tropical sea has always been my favourite but I do lean towards the stereotype of being a girl who loves the colour pink too. I especially love that photo of Burano, it’s so bright! 😀
Honestly Emma, Burano was one of the loveliest places I have ever visited anywhere! Every house was so vivid and it was unbelievable to think this is just another regular little residential area that just happens to be full of rainbow colour & I’m definitely hoping to blog about it soon! I’m with you on the tropical sea blues – irresistible aren’t they?! 🙂
What a beautiful idea for a post!! LOVE these pictures and colours… and for me, it would probably be blue ❤
Thank you for the kind words Tim, I’m so happy to hear you liked the post! And thanks for sharing your favourite too – looks like blue is turning out to be a popular one 🙂
I think I like the same colours as you! Except for the pink, I love the others…:)
Hehehe, how can you not like pink Sha?! 🙂 Though I am biased because I really like it but I’m glad you liked some of the others one that I did too. It’s funny how colours like white and orange don’t particularly catch my eye in day to day life but during my travels, it was an entirely different story!
So true! Haha…I’m OK with pink but purple is more my color…;) hehe…I’m in London by the way! 🙂
I love purple too actually – my wedding decor was mostly purple in fact! Lovely to hear you are in London! How long for? Would be lovely to meet up if we were able to coordinate something ☺
Awww! So sorry I read this too late! I would have loved to meet up when I was there but I was just so tired when I was there that I didn’t really go online…haha….it’s too bad though! 😦
What a lovely post – I really enjoyed your pics and of course your enthusiasm 🙂 It is amazing the emotional impact colour has on us. I loved the greens of Jatiluwah also and can’t wait to see the lush tropical green of Sri Lanka this Christmas! I’m a sucker for turquoise as well.
Oh wow, you’re going to Sri Lanka Natasha, that will be amazing! If you need any tips that I can help with, feel free to ask and I hope you have an amazing time. It is SUCH a diverse country! Thank you so much for your lovely comment too, really appreciate it 🙂
This post is so creative! I absolutely love it. And your photos are SO stunning! And wow, by the looks of this post, you’ve basically traveled the entire world! Keep it up! 😉
http://www.travelalphas.com
Awww thank you! This post basically just stemmed from my inability to be decisive about any of my other travel favourites! But I grew to rather like the idea of thinking about my travels in terms of colours so I’m delighted to hear you enjoyed it too 🙂 I still have a fair way to go before I can be content I’ve seen a lot of the world believe me but it’s a lot of fun continuing to explore as I’m sure you’d agree to, being a fellow travel enthusiast 🙂
What a beautiful way to share your favourite travel experiences! Each picture is so visually stunning, it’s near impossible to choose a favourite between the five colours!
Hehe, you’ll notice how I myself avoided actually selecting one favourite out of the five so no judgement fro me! Thank you for reading and for your lovely comment about the photos – it’s always a bit easier to snap a lovely photo when the colours in front of you are so vibrant and eye-catching 🙂
The Rafflesia flower looks amazing, and I love the story that you tell children about examining the colour of their ears!
Suze | LuxuryColumnist
Hehe, it works a treat with the toddlers who very much have their own mind Suze! The Rafflesia flower was absolutely enormous Suze, there’s another photo that I’ll try and dig out another time of me standing next to it which gives a clearer perspective of just how enormous it is!
Color and travel, what a creative way of looking at it. Beautiful.
Thank you so much Mila! So many of the loveliest sights I’ve seen around the world have been full of one colour or another so I thought it’d be fun to try and catalogue them together like this 🙂
What a great concept – I love the fact you have featured Iceland as rainbows
Thanks so much Adam! Funnily enough, I found Iceland so inspiring that it was on the plane journey home that I started my blog and my first ever blog post on here was called Rainbowland Reykjavik because I loved the Icelandic rainbows so much 🙂
https://whywasteannualleave.com/2013/07/22/reykjavik-iceland/
great idea for a blog post and some amazing photos!
Thanks so much Andy!
Hi Shikha,
What a lovely, reflective post and approach to travel. It truly is the senses (sights, sounds and smells) that make the most wonderful impressions that last. Thanks to the camera you’ve been able to share these colours with us. Who’d have thought that I’d appreciate pink as much as I do now?
I love that sunset picture at the Seychelles, gorgeous.
Thanks so much for such a lovely comment! I’m so pleased you enjoyed the post and that I managed to get you to see pink in a different light! I completely agree with you as well about the fact that the sensory experiences from our travels are often the most memorable. Thanks so much for reading ☺
Love this! I thought that I’d be all about the green but as I looked through I now feel very confused 🙂 All amazing and some great pics!
Haha, thanks so much Adam! To be honest, I was a little indecisive to – that’s why I copped out a bit by choosing 5 favourite colours instead of just the one
I love this post and your amazing choice of photography. Turquoise and green are always the most synonymous with travelling for me somehow.
Thank you Katie! I know exactly what you mean as I don’t think I’ve ever seen a turquoise travel photo that I didn’t love or that didn’t get me wishing I was on holiday!
great post!
Thank you Tanja! So pleased to hear you liked it 🙂