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At the end of 2010, we quizzed members, contributors and staff about their favorite discoveries this year. Read more Best-of-2010 Interviews.

Marcella Echavarria, social entrepreneur

What was your favorite trip this year and why?

I loved Swaziland, Southern Africa’s well-kept secret with a rhythm that is deep and serene at the same time. You can’t mistake the sacred energy that surrounds the country. I also returned to the cobblestone streets of Guatemala’s former capital, Antigua, where indigenous, Spanish and Mestizo heritage merge. It is a place where history is on a truly human scale.

What was your favorite hotel/resort (and why)?

Amanfayun in Hangzhou. It beautifully blends the simplicity of Chinese rural tea culture with Aman’s definition of luxury; quality, respect of place and a vital cultural context. I also returned to Posada del Angel in Antigua, the first hotel I covered as a travel writer ten years ago when it was Antigua’s only boutique hotel. Now in 2010 when Antigua has many hotels, this precious gem remains a classic, a place of character and a colonial oasis with the best service ever. They remembered me and what I liked for breakfast!

What was your favorite new travel discovery

I had the privilege of attending the opening of Museo Casa del Alabado, a small museum of pre-Columbian art in the center of Quito, Ecuador. Works are arranged thematically, offering a new and fresh way of looking at the past.

What is one thing you learned while on the road?

That journeys bring more journeys and that places chose you as much as you choose them.

Where are you dying to go next year?

Here is my preliminary list for 2011: Mali, Ethiopia, Morocco, Brazil and Jordan.