Customer Reviews

1,000 Places to See Before You Die Calendar 2010 (Picture-A-Day Wall Calendars)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm always drawn to this calendar because it includes countries that can't be found in every other calendar. Plus, as with any 365-day calendar, if you don't like one photo, you'll most likely like many others on the page.

Months are organized by themes. They include in order: French Riviera, The Chilean Coast, Costa Rica, The Cabot Trail and Beyond (Nova Scotia), Iceland's Ring Road, The Hill Towns of Tuscany, Imperial Cities of Morocco, Spain's Pueblos Blancos, Route 66: Arizona, Trans-Siberia Express, South Carolina's Low Country, The Romantic Road (southern Germany). Images are crisp and beautiful, full-color and the color appears to print true to form, definitely inspiring of places I would want to go.

In general, photos consist of shots of art or other artisanship work from the area; cuisine; geographical features; people, particularly those doing a job or activity that is popular in the area; or major attractions/destinations, such as the beach or a church. I haven't been to most of these places (yet), but from what I can tell, the pictures seem to be representative of the area, encompassing a variety of different themes. You're also not going to see photos where you look at it and think "that could be anywhere in the world". A picture on the French Riviera page captures the essence of the French Riviera.

For those unfamiliar with the format, there is a larger photo at the top of the page. Next to that is a short written description of the area, and a map that shows where the area is. The written description covers things like highlights of the area, describes specialties or atmosphere of the place. It's a nice little way of wetting your appetite for imagining a trip there, but it's small enough that you still focus on the gorgeous pictures. Then smaller pictures are located below the big photo and description, over the space for each day. Some of these pictures are for one day and others stretch horizontally over two or three days, which makes for a nice break in monotony as it's not all little boxes.

Also, at the top, each of the months has a small calendar box showing the days of the previous month and the next month, but it's pretty small (maybe an inch by inch per month), so unless you're going to have it right next to you, I wouldn't recommend you buying this calendar if you really need that feature. However, for the regular calendar for each month, the numbers are nearly an inch long (black on white paper), so with normal eyesight, they can easily be read from a few feet away. The calendar uses nice fonts that are gently stylized, so they're attractive but easy to read. The entire page then is wrapped by a color border, with different colors representative of the different areas. (i.e. a French Blue for the French Riviera).

To me, Arizona was the most boring page. Colors just were not as bright as all the other pages, and a few images had to be looked at closer to be able to see what they are. Tuscany was probably my second least favorite, but I still liked it okay. I would rate all of the other pages great. I love this calendar anyway, but if I were a judge, I'd still have to give it high marks, as I usually find that I only like about half of the months in a standard 12-month calendar.

I barely glanced at it when I bought it, just heading right towards the cash register, and since it's just as nice as last year's, I'll do the same thing in 2010 (God-willing)!

Happy 2009!

Last year I bought my boyfriend the England version of this calendar, and this year I bought him this one. We have been thrilled with both. We have it hanging in our kitchen and both of us love it -- we look at the pictures while we're waiting for coffee to brew, cooking dinner, making a grocery list. I also think it would be fun to cook a meal each month that is themed to the place in the pictures -- so this month it would be Chile, last month Southern France.

The photography is gorgeous and inspiring -- so much so that at a recent party some of our friends were hanging out in the kitchen and without our consent turned the page to the next month early because they wanted to see the pictures.

I love a splash of color in each day & this calendar delivers. I also enjoy traveling & the calendar has pics & info about great places to visit around the globe. It's educational & fun.

I opened this and thought: "Hmmm, there is only one place on each day...so this means this calendar should last for over two years...." Alas, I was fooled. Technically this should be labeled "312 places to see before you die" since it shows 6 places per week 1 each mon-fri and 1 for sat and sun combined.

It seems a little more do-able, I suppose.

Beyond this little faux pas the calendar is quite enjoyable!

i love these 'picture a day' type calendars. ive been able to find one in person for the last 5 years or so, but this year didnt see one i liked (i dont want a picture a day of ireland! i want a new place each month!). this is gorgeous, and i enjoy looking at each day as i cross it off. i only started using it since i started my afghanistan deployment, so it has been a morale booster.

Most calenders I get just sit on the wall or on my desk and I forget to turn it each month or day. This calender's been getting a bit more attention. I haven't skipped ahead because I want to see each month as it comes. Each month focuses on a different country, says a little blurb at the top with a map, and a picture for each day with a heading of where in that country it was taken. It's pleasing to the eye, I love knowing about different countries and I also love photography so this is a good calendar for me.

I was a little hesitant to order this product because I was not sure how the calendar would look. There was only a picture of the cover and I'm a visual person so I was disappointed that no one had posted pictures of how the inside of the calendar looked. Once I got over the fact that I didn't know how the calendar would look I was extremely excited when I ordered it because the reviews were great. Once I received it I liked it but I wasn't in-love with it, the pictures weren't as great as I had hoped. Don't get me wrong some it's still an okay calendar but next year I think I'll just go with a calendar that focuses on a specific location like Italy or beaches.

P.S. I added a picture so y'all can see how the inside looks like

Until you can afford to travel to all of the amazing places in these calendars (last year's was also amazing), you can settle for escaping the daily grind with the beautiful photos and the descriptions of each location. The calendar has a dominant photo for each month along with a dozen or so smaller photos sprinkled among the days. The day blocks are spacious enough to actually write in. It's my favorite calendar. If you need two calendars, the BBC World calendar is also pretty spectacular.

Picture-A-Day calendars are the best! I love having so many pictures to look at throughout the month. The 1000 Places one is my favorite because they always highlight places I wouldn't think to visit, and they show such a diversity in the culture. They also have calendars that focus on specific countries, which are great as well. The squares aren't terribly huge if you like to write in events, but they're sufficient for most people.

OK, I was bitten by the '1,000 Places to See' line, and thought I would get a calendar with roughly 365 different photos of vastly different places, but the reality is you get 12 locations, and some pictures within those locations. ALL of January is New Orleans! I was hoping to see some real off the beaten path type things, but this calendar falters in that aim. I really wish I knew it was far more basic that advertised. I prefer my calendar last year by Ansel Adams.