There has been a proliferation of books listing the top places to see – ten years ago there were virtually none on the travel shelves of bookshops, while now there is likely to be a good selection, or, perhaps more accurately, a large selection.  We all love that feeling that something is best, combined with the desire to tick things off – the same mentality that makes some of us draw up ‘to do’ lists, perhaps even including some items we have already done just so we can tick them off, and feel good right from the start. One of the most popular is the 2003 publication of Patricia Schultz’s 1000 Places to See Before You Die – admittedly sometimes dubbed 1000 Hotels and Restaurants to See Before You Die. 20% of the places are in the USA, and none, for example, are in Libya, but it still sits on the shelf and is regularly consulted.