How many have been to Shangri La?

I'd be surprised that you have been to Shangri La.



However,

I've been to Potala Palace, but never to Shangri La. I also know it's a fictional place, but very often people relate Shangri La to places that seem utopia-like.
Therefore, the "open to discussion."

Not exactly ShangriLa, but I've also been to Iceland. I know Reykjavik pretty well, because I spent hours walking around town.

Have you visited Windhoek or Abidjan?

Take this as a compliment if you like, but in my opinion, the problem with travel for you could be that you are the more interesting person as compared with most people you would meet in your travels. Meaning, your life could be a movie; I'd have to believe that few people that you meet in your travels could compare. Or, viewed another way, the people that you meet on your travels are getting the better end of the deal, so to speak, since they met you.

I don't believe that for a second. That's the reason I love travel. I meet so many interesting people, and have made many friends all around the world.
I know Bob Brodsky, a rocket scientist. We've kept in touch for several years, but don't know how he's doing since he was a little older than I. He used to ask me to visit him in Southern California. When he had planned a surprise birthday party for his wife, Patti, he invited me, but it meant a four hour layover in Los Angles, so I didn't go. He wrote several books that were biographical that I read.
I met Richard Pimental while on an African safari in Southern Africa. We did another trip together in Africa after that. Richard taught Life Sciences at Cal Poly for some 40 years. I met another professor from that first trip, Dan Piel, who gave me an original oil painting that now hangs in the entry way of our home. Unfortunately, he suffered from a rare blood disease and passed away.
I met the editor of the English newspaper in Mexico, Francisco Baez. He gave me a tour of Mexico City the last time I was on my way to Cuba. His family is from Cuba. He also taught at the university in Mexico City for ten years. I met Sergei in Moscow who also gave me a personal tour of his city. I also know Bashir Samma of Dar es Salaam in Africa. He's a doctor there, and we have communicated with each other for several years until his passing. I also know several people in Singapore, and have met them a couple of times. I was a guest in their home for dinner, and the second time was when they were my guest for dinner at a nice restaurant in Singapore. I met them on a trip to Scotland, England and Ireland. I came down with the shingles, and Bill had pain meds that he gave me during the whole trip. We kept in touch, and on my first trip to Singapore, I told them I wanted them to be my guest for dinner. Instead, they took me to their beautiful home, and treated me to a wonderful dinner. On my next trip to Singapore, I insisted they be my guest. Fortunately for me, there was a well traveled gentleman in our group who knew of some nice restaurants in Singapore, so I treated them for a meal there.
I used to visit London often. On one of my trips, there was a gathering of a2k members at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese on Fleet Street, and I met people from the UK and Walter. I also met Alan Smith, Kitchenpete, and Prince at that gathering.
I also met Sergei on a2k, and he gave me a tour of Moscow when I visited there.
So, you see, I've been very fortunate in my travels to have met so many people.

This is where I stayed in Nepal: Nagarkot Fort Resort in Nepal. Sitting outside in the sun, drinking some vodka, looking out at the Himalayas, was my Shangri La.

No. I know Windhoek has a beer brewery. We were on dugout boats on the Caprivi sailing among water lillies. Two of us went fishing, but we didn't catch anything. The tented camps in Africa has tiled bathrooms. The meals are gourmet, and they even made cakes in those crude ovens. Ernest Hemingway never had it so good. We even stayed at the Stanley Hotel in Nairobi where Hemingway and Eva Gardner stayed. The swinging fans on the ceiling in the bar provided the perfect ambiance. Sure would love to go back. The game drives during the day and evenings were fun.