BABICHE MARTENS, photographer
I couldn't pinpoint my favourite place in the world - I have too many! Every country has something different to offer, and many have changed a lot since I saw them last, their primitive beauty gone in this technology-driven world. So the newest place to excite me is the most recent I've visited, New York City. At least it's a landscape that I can rely on that won't change too much. Even in the grips of a snowstorm the city had a pulse. I can't imagine how wonderful it would be in summer ... I'm not a big fan of cities, usually only visiting for two maybe three days, before moving on to smaller more rural areas. But New York is a city I could easily lose myself in for two weeks. As a visual person, I loved the multicultural faces and the stunning historical architecture, plus recognising areas where my favourite TV shows and movies are filmed. I loved meeting (or accidentally bumping into) tough New Yorkers on the street, too.
JANETTA MACKAY, beauty editor
Samarkand on the old Silk Road in the dying days of the Soviet Union was about as far from New Zealand as you could get. To visit this outpost of East and West, which was once at the crossroads of history - traversed by Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan and a centre of scholarly learning and early astronomy - was an unexpected privilege. Turquoise tiled mosques, spices piled high in the markets, the tomb of Tamerlane and drinking vodka hidden in a teapot of Uzbekistan's signature white, blue and gold china. This was a trade union exchange trip made before the area opened up to tourists and remembering it is bittersweet as the friend I travelled with is no longer around to share the memories.
