This week marks the end of a year and a decade. It seems everyone is reflecting on the "bests" of the time, and I think it's a good thing to look back on where we've been. Would love to be able to claim I could recommend the all-time best places to see, but there's too much left on my list. So for the last Wanderlust column of the year, I looked back at my own travels through the decade, and picked a favorite for the year. Whether this brings you inspiration or calls attention to a place you may not have known to visit, I hope we all have happy travels in 2010.

2000 Valle de Guadalupe, Baja California — Mexico Just over an hour south of San Diego lies Mexico's premier wine country. It's a charming rural area northeast of Ensenada, Baja's largest port city, featuring boutique vineyards with mission style haciendas. I'm no wine expert, but I can certainly say I enjoyed tasting. This article from The New York Times offers a more detailed review.

2001 Kowloon, Hong Kong —  China I visited Hong Kong after it was reunified with China, but you may know that this city was a British territory for over 150 years until power was transferred in 1997. The British influence is evident from some architecture to double-decker buses, but its most notable influence is language. Though I learned a few Cantonese phrases during the week I spent there, most all signs are written in Chinese and English.

2002 St. George Island, Florida — USA In my opinion, the best US beaches for swimming and sun are along the Gulf Coast. St. George Island is about an hour south of Tallahassee, and offers a long stretch of gorgeous white sand. The warm gulf water is as inviting. Unlike other Florida resort areas, the beach here is not lined with hotels. It's a great place to rent a beach house to accommodate your beach going friends.

2003 St. John's, Newfoundland — Canada In case you're ever on Jeopardy, you might need to know that St. John's is the oldest city in North America. It's also the farthest east, which put it on the receiving end of the first transatlantic telegraph and flight. But here's a more fun tid-bit: It is believed that St. John's renowned George Street has more pubs per square foot than any other street on the continent.

2004 New England — USA, Quebec — Canada Rufus and I took a fall leaf peeping tour on an itinerary I'd recommend to anyone. We drove from Boston to Quebec City via New Hampshire and Vermont. After a night in old Quebec, an incredible place with the old-world charm of Europe, we headed west to cosmopolitan Montreal. Next stop was Burlington, VT, where we crossed Lake Champlain by ferry. This put is in the beautiful Adirondacks of upstate New York. Every road we took on this journey was lined with trees exploding in color. The window of "autumnal perfection" is short — take this trip mid-October.

2005 Scenic Route 12, Utah — USA Rufus and I found ourselves on Utah's Scenic Route 12 after exiting incredible Bryce Canyon National Park (pictured). We were headed northeast to Arches, and thought it might be a shorter route. It probably took us ten times longer than travel on the freeway, because we couldn't know by looking at the map: This is the most incredible, awe-inspiring, mind-blowing, they're-not-kidding scenic thrill ride either of us have ever driven. This 124-mile national scenic byway is a destination in and of itself. If you're touring Utah and have the time, don't miss it.

2006 Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming — USA That's not an impressionist painting. It's a photograph of a volcanic pool at Yellowstone National Park. I really didn't know what to expect before visiting this magical place — I thought we were off to see Old Faithful. That famous geyser is worth a trip, but there is so much more to this park. Hot springs, bubbling mud pots, steaming fumaroles ... many with brilliant, psychadelic colors. We were lucky to see a lot of parks in the west in 2006, and a favorite is no easy choice. But if you can only see one in a lifetime, I hope everyone has a chance to see this place.

2007 New Orleans, Louisiana — USA New Orleans hosts its famous Jazz and Heritage Festival on two weekends every spring. The last weekend in April and the first in May was a favorite time when I lived there, and it's certainly a favorite time to visit. The 2010 line-up has been announced on the website above, by the way. If you make it, I bet it will be your favorite trip of the year.

2008 Olympic Peninsula, Washington — USA In the end of Summer 2008, we flew to Seattle and back home through San Francisco. In between, we toured the Olympic Peninsula, Washington's North Cascades and Mount Rainier national parks, and then made our way through Oregon and California along the coast. It was such an incredible trip, it's hard to pick a highlight. If I had to recommend one part of this journey to others, I'd say go to Olympic.

2009 Colorado River in Utah — USA This past September Rufus and I went white water rafting on the Colorado River through Utah, which is easy to pick as the best trip of the year. It might even qualify as a lifetime best. We spent the whole day floating down 17-miles of canyon on the Tag-a-long Expeditions Westwater tour. Images courtesy of Flickr's Creative Commons Service. Click the photos to see other work by these photographers.