October 8, 2020

Letter 179

Australia, Tell Us The Places in the World You Love the Most

By Besha Rodell

The Kimberley region in Western Australia, which was featured in 52 Places to Go in 2020. Asanka Brendon Ratnayake for The New York Times.

The Australia Letter is a weekly newsletter from our Australia bureau. This week’s issue is written by Besha Rodell, a columnist with the Australia bureau.

Some days, I wake up longing for Slovenia.

My obsession is somewhat odd, seeing as I never had any particular ambition to visit Slovenia. When I found myself there, as part of a work project, I knew barely anything about the country and came and went within a span of less than 24 hours.

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But, man, did that 24 hours make an impression. I rented a car at the Ljubljana airport and drove over pointy green mountians into the Soča Valley. Tiny ancient villages clung to steep hillsides, old stone and lush grass and tiny purple and yellow flowers covering everything. I had to keep pulling over to gape in wonder at the outrageous countryside.

At my first glimpse of the Soča river, I laughed in delight. Known as “the emerald river,” it is a startling blue/green color, like nothing I’d ever seen before. Slovenia was like the alpine fairyland of my childhood imagination, and I had never even been aware of its existence, outside of knowing the country’s name and approximate location.

I drove back over those mountains the next morning, full of sadness that my time there was so short. I’ll go back one day. It is a place I love.

With those kinds of experiences in mind, The New York Times Travel team reaches out to writers and editors every year and asks them for places that might be included in the annual 52 Places to Go package, our most ambitious list of must-see destinations.

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But we all know it would be a cruel joke to release 52 Places to Go in 2021 this coming January, since travel is unlikely — and downright impossible — for most readers.

So instead, the package will be temporarily rebranded as 52 Places We Love, and rather than ask the usual group of insiders to make those selections, the Travel section is turning to readers. In its call for submissions (and yes, you should participate), the Travel team writes:

While we can’t know what lies ahead, we can still share the places we’ve loved, and continue to inspire curiosity, open-mindedness and awe for the wider world.

That’s why we’re turning to you for next year’s list, which we are calling 52 Places We Love.

We want 52 love letters to travel, all penned and photographed by you, our readers around the world, each about one place in the world that is special to you. It can be a popular tourist destination, or a place that’s largely overlooked. You might inspire someone else to go there one day, or to reconsider their assumptions, or to spark their inquisitiveness about a new piece of the world — all the empowering things that travel brings to our lives.

Is there somewhere in the world you feel the way I do about Slovenia? If so, they would love to hear from you. Do you feel passionate about somewhere in Australia? Last year there was only one Australian location that made the cut (the Kimberley region), so it would be nice to see some strong Aussie representation on 2021’s list — both in terms of submissions and locations.

You can fill out the form for 52 Places We Love here.

And now for the week’s stories:

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Australia and New Zealand

A cafe in Auckland in August.Fiona Goodall/Getty Images

New Zealand Stamps Out the Virus. For a Second Time. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who is facing re-election, called the country’s reopening a validation of its “go hard, go early” response.

Hidden Beneath the Ocean’s Surface, Nearly 16 Million Tons of Microplastic. New research shows that the amount of fragments embedded in the sea floor is far more than the plastic floating on the ocean’s surface.

Distrust of China Jumps to New Highs in Democratic Nations. The sharpest rise in negative views was in Australia, while unfavorable opinions jumped in the United States and Europe, a Pew survey found.
Pompeo’s Message in Japan: Countering China Is Worth Meeting Face to Face. The American diplomat’s willingness to meet with allies in Asia, despite the crisis embroiling the White House, speaks to fears of China’s rise.
An Italian Spritz Without the Buzz. Lyre’s latest nonalcoholic spirit is Italian Spritz, which shines with a splash of soda and an orange slice.
Untangling the Story of a Deadly Blaze in Australia and ‘The Arsonist’ Who Lit It. A review of Chloe Hooper’s new book about the Black Saturday fires.

Around the Times

Senator Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence were separated by plexiglass barriers and seated more than 12 feet apart during their debate in Salt Lake City on Wednesday.Erin Schaff/The New York Times

Virus Takes Center Stage as Pence and Harris Skirmish in Debate. Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris met in a face-off that was more civil than the unruly presidential event but featured sharp exchanges over the virus, China policy, job creation and health care.
Why Conspiracy Theories Are So Addictive Right Now. QAnon, #TrumpCovidHoax and other conspiracy theories may be part of a larger authority crisis created by the internet.
Putin, Long the Sower of Instability, Is Now Surrounded by It. Fueled by the pandemic, uprisings in Belarus and Kyrgyzstan and a war in the Caucasus region are undermining the influence of the Russian leader.
Regeneron Asks F.D.A. for Emergency Approval for Drug That Trump Claimed Cured Him. The company said that doses of the unproven treatment would be available for 50,000 patients. It’s impossible to know whether it helped the president.