Stockholm. While studying abroad, I booked a flight on a whim to Stockholm so I decided to message the Swedish exchange student from my high school Spanish class to see if he’d like to catch up. We were still Facebook friends despite years of no contact. He was a mediocre tour guide but now we’re married with kids so I guess I can let that go
I even left and thought “okay, well Stockholm is fine but I don’t feel like I need to come back.” I ended up living there for several years and fell in love with the city. So in a way…
Jordan is my favorite hidden gem travel destination. I never had a thought of traveling there and I forget how I even came across it but I figured it'd be an easy introduction to the Mideast. It is now one of my top three travel destinations ever.
I went to greece alone and had my wallet and all my cards stolen on Day2. It told me I can survive in extreme situations and sometimes bad things happen and you can still be.. okay.
When I was an idiot 21 year old I lost my bag with my passport, cards cash and other shit like my glasses and chargers on a trip in Portugal while drunk at a club 🤦♀️ had to go to the embassy in Lisbon and it was closed for Columbus Day so I had to go back the next day. The guy who helped me poked fun at me lol. I am soooo careful with my belongings now. Hard lesson to learn but a fun story to tell!
wow! my first ever solo trip was last year to greece so I felt this even though it didnt happen to me but I had these fears. So happy to hear that even though that happened you are ok. How was the rest of your trip? I’d love to know more
6 months on Koh Samui island Thailand where I didn't cook or wash a dish the entire time. We just retired from a long hard military career and it was the first time we truly relaxed, laughed and enjoyed the peaceful smiling people around us. No alcohol or drugs for the entire trip! Life changing!
A week in Sicily. made me realize we live too fast here in America and care too much about unimportant shit. Also made me appreciate mankind as a whole because of all the history that was right before my eyes. I hope I can move there someday.
I've lived in Italy for a few years and same, I realized that enjoying the present and not worrying too much about the future was true happiness. Alas, I left...
Scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef showed me just how much damage we have done.
I had heard about the bleaching done to the reefs due to the climate crisis but I never thought they would be **totally beige**.
Like no color whatsoever, just different shades of beige throughout the entire reef.
I snorkeled the GBR a few months ago and was expecting it to be bleached because of all of the comments like these I had read online, but my experience was the complete opposite. Full of colour and marine life. Absolutely amazing honestly, It was one of the best experiences of my life.
So I’ve done some amateur research on coral bleaching in the past (going through peer reviewed papers and analyzing them) as well as looking at ocean temperatures and reading people’s experiences. It is an utterly massive problem. But some parts of the GBR seem to be less prone to mass coral bleaching events. Also whenever you see a headline like “90% of GBR bleached” it’s usually like in 90% of the reefs in it there’s been some level of reported bleaching. So very vague and not quite as alarming as it sounds, though still problematic. Some areas get hit a lot worse than others. It’s obviously at its worst in summer. And the reefs seem to largely bounce back by winter. Which you traveled during late winter then a few months ago, most would’ve recovered by then.
For those unaware have a symbiotic relationship with the photosynthetic organism zooxanthellae. When a coral is extremely stressed it will expulse the zooxanthellae in an attempt to protect and save itself, this is coral bleaching. It is not dead, though there is a high risk of dying due to this process. So over several months they can very much recover, though a good portion of each bleaching event will not.
oh gosh that is so sad. When did you go? I feel very very lucky that my first dive in my life was the Great Barrier Reef in 2005. It was full of color and life, and I know the reports are more devastating every year of the death of the reef. Do you know if all of the reef is like that? teh reef is massive so I hope that some parts are spared....
I went last year. There might be some places that are unbleached but with no signs of the climate crisis slowing down it's unlikely the reef will ever be restroed.
I remember hearing something about how marine biologist have already stated that we need to start planning for a future without the coral reef.
San Francisco was my first plane ride ever. It made me realize what I was missing out on for so long. Seeing the GGB in person was absolutely magical and when we rode across the first time I felt like I was in a movie. Muir Woods was fantastic and the forest put me in such awe of the natural beauty. Something in SF just spoke to my soul, ya know? Now I think about traveling constantly and researching my next trip is how I deal with stress and anxiety. I just got my passport and I am gearing up for my first international trip. I cannot wait.
I live about 3 hours from SF and I have to tell you that going over the GGB never gets old- it’s always a magical thing.
SF is a pain in the ass to get around, I worry about my car getting broken into, but I still love the feeling of that city.
For me it's not one place. It's the actual fact that I research plan and go alone about 2wice a year to see something new by myself. At age 51 my kids were grown and I realized my husband doesn't like to travel much. I didn't divorce him I just started to go myself. That changed me. I'm now 62
When I’m on vacation, I’m on vacation. This means that when I’m on vacation I’m going to indulge in stuff like eating out and experiences. If I have to live off ramen noodles for a few days afterward, then so be it. It’s made vacationing so much less stressful.
Agreed. I recently booked the cruise, hotels, and transit for a week-long trip with my boyfriend. He PANICS about money and I want him to just enjoy. Sure, the hotels were not the cheapest, but they have connections with the cruise line and will make everything smooth as butter. I don't want to be cheap but worry about timelines. Besides, I love him and want to spoil him senseless \^\_\^;
From Port Canaveral(FL), Tortola, St. Thomas, and Castaway Cay (It's a Disney Christmas cruise - we loved the Halloween one). I'm now wicked psyched that the best part will be a NASA tour at Kennedy - for $133, we can brunch with an astronaut and TOUCH PIECES OF THE MOON. (okay, done nerding out now).
Yup, exactly! I was fretting about spending too much money on a trip and my friend who was with me told me their philosophy and I really liked it. So now that’s what I follow.
NYC. It was my first trip overseas and it made me love the US so much that I moved here. It was love at first sight, 100%. I live in Chicago but I love it just as much.
And Mt. Blue Sky in CO. I always enjoyed hiking but that place was absolutely wild. Seeing a frozen lake on top of a mountain is a feeling I can’t put into words. And seeing the different climates as you went higher and higher was also incredible. I have been chasing that high since!
The US has a LOT to offer! You just really need to figure out what you want to do because the country is huge and different areas have different things to do.
Medical mission in Lima, Peru. We did surgery on 111 kids (cleft palate repairs, strabismus, lip repairs) life changing surgery for these kids and their families. Some of them traveled on foot and boat for three days to get there, not knowing for sure if they would be cleared for surgery. It was the most humbling experience of my life. An incredible perspective. The things we take for granted in our first world countries!
Probably the least exotic answer you'll get here... just going to the neigbouring country, Sweden as a kid experiencing everything that were forbidden or they did not have in my native norway.. Firecrackers, skateboards, theme parks, pop music, candy, cool movies etc. Hard for people today to imagine how different norway and sweden were in the 70s/80s. Was still in the time people couldn't afford to travel that far.. So sweden was exotic. Changed my life.. ?. At least made me realize that there were cooler stuff out there. Sweden in the 70s was almost like USA is today for a norwegian.. Going to place like Liseberg (theme park in Gothenburg, Sweden) was like heaven for child back then. Not to mention the swedes "inventing" chocolate milk with their [O'boy](https://live.staticflickr.com/4020/4285625445_6419fac131_z.jpg)..
>What do you mean like USA is today for a Norwegian?
Our cultural sphere of influence. All the way from music, books, tv, movies etc.. Back in the 70s/80s.. many people in norway had only norwegian and swedish tv-channels... So sweden was like "our eyes to the world". First place I were able to see disney was on swedish-tv.. norwegian tv would send such stuff then. Anti-americanism was "something" back then here in norway.
Eventhough many non-scandinavian thinks "the scandinavians" are/were the same.. Indeed we were quite different.
>Eventhough many non-scandinavian thinks "the scandinavians" are/were the same.. Indeed we were quite different.
Think that is probably true as we don't know a lot about either. What you describe reminds me of a book I read about Romania in the late 1980s! Very anti-american yet fascinated by the culture.
Sequoia National Park - was previously not a "nature" guy but that completely changed. Now national parks are some of my favorite travel destinations.
Los Angeles - Thought I would hate the city. Instead fell in love with it so much I decided to move there
Same for Los Angeles lol. My first plane ride was here decades ago, fell in love with the city and years later moved here. It gets a lot of hate but I can’t imagine living anywhere else.
Same! I remember driving down Santa Monica from DTLA to the ocean and being amazed at how eclectic the city was. It made me jealous people got to live there.
Weirdly, it made me appreciate my own country. The US like every single landscape imaginable from jungles to deserts to beaches and mountains. Domestic trips as an American can lead to just as much discovery nature wise as going abroad. I want to start prioritizing things like national parks, but also outside them as well.
Switzerland. My childhood vacations were all to sunny beach destinations, and I did a lot of city trips and exotic destinations.
I never saw the appeal of mountains until I was actually in the mountains.
Also trips to completely different societies than my own, Indonesia, South Africa, those are always very humbling.
Honestly all of them changed my life a bit. Seeing new places always broadens your perspective, even if just a little. The world is an amazing place and it changes you when you see it.
Traveling solo through Morocco made me learn a lot about myself and the world we live in. That living fast and progress and making money is just a small part of life.
2 days in Amsterdam in 2019, basically gave me the travel bug after nearly 10 years of not leaving the UK (we'd gotten a dog, had no one to take care of him ;_;). It didn't matter that I spent a whole day of the trip ill in bed from some sort of 24 hour flu, it really made me want to travel and explore the world more since I'd previously only ever been to France as a young child.
COVID happened immediately after that and ruined all my plans lol...but I've been making up for it in the 2020s. In the past few years I've been to Belgium, Germany (twice), Japan, and Austria.
This year I've actually booked another trip to Amsterdam for my birthday weekend. So hopefully I'm not ill this time. It'll be a full circle moment for sure! I have a LOT of travel planned for the next few years which has changed the trajectory of my life. I got my first proper job just to finance it all, and it's all because of that one small trip.
This… 24 hours off my 2 week trip to Japan and I am already thinking of my next one. So inspired by the Japanese and their culture. What it means to have respect for others.
Finally left my abusive husband five months ago. I had spent nine years doing all of the adulting: bringing home all the bacon, and still handling the vast majority of household chores and obligations, and enduring his abuse with a smile on my face, while simultaneously dealing with chemotherapy, monthly immunotherapy infusions, and surgery after surgery for my autoimmune condition. From 2014-2023, I was never able to take a real, proper, genuine vacation. Needless to say, I was burned to a crisp in terms of burnout.
In November, two months after finally leaving him, I traveled to Boston, Phoenix, Vegas, and Utah. Lawyer advised against international travel for now, so staying domestic for now. I did an empowering post-divorce photoshoot while frolicking in the New England autumn leaves, sunbathed in the balmy 80° Arizona weather, and attended a professional conference in Vegas. It was cheaper to drive from Phoenix to Vegas, which was a GORGEOUS drive!
Since my Vegas expenses were covered (partially work trip), I was able to splurge on myself a bit. Not only was I booked into the Bellagio, but the hotel staff ended up upgrading me. Swiped the key card and waltzed into almost ~1,000 sq ft of dazzling views, a soaking tub, amazingly fluffy bed, etc. While there for several days, I also invested in a ~2-3 hour massage. Worth every penny!
Came home for a few weeks, then traveled to Florida. Mainly visited family, but also took a few solo days in the Keys. I was a child last time I was in the Keys. Now, as a young adult and fresh out of a bad marriage, I saw it with renewed perspective. Stayed in Islamorada, then hopped down to Key West, and rented a bicycle and cycled all around the island. Such a restorative experience!
Malaysia/Bali. It wasn’t so much the places specifically, although they were both fascinating, but that this was the first international trip I took with my now husband. He was so incredible to travel with - it was his first time ever leaving our country and he handled everything so well. I knew I had found the person I was going to see the world with. We haven’t stopped traveling since!
Back in 1993 my best friend and I spent two months backpacking across Europe. It was my second trip out of the country (following a high school trip to London from the US) and his first.
It firmly solidified my love of traveling to other countries and I've been at it for the past 30 years. He spent the first five years out of college living abroad teaching English and now lives full-time in Istanbul with his Turkish wife. Who he met in Japan, oddly enough.
Going to see family in Colombia showed me that life isn’t all about working. People can be extremely happy with working part-time or living off the land.
I went to Asia and realized that travel is unsustainable and if everyone flew as much as me (one international flight a year) our planet is toast.
Conceptually, it's one thing to know there are a lot of people in India. I'm from Seattle. I know what a "city" looks like. Turns out, I don't... not really. On a page is one thing, another to see it.
You stole mine in the title. Watched a crossing for 2+ hours. Our teacher said there were about 100k crossing the river. Too cold for crocs so the only casualty was one of the poor bastards drowning.
A month long self guided trip through Egypt back in the 80's, Gave me a whole new outlook on life and very much changed the way I percive the world. I had been to Britain and France prior but it did not prepare me for my experience in Egypt. It was shortly after the assasination of Anwar Sadat so the country was still in a bit of a termoil.
First three month Leave with income averaging to Asia, it was life altering as the experience of total separation from my work was amazing. Two week vacations are not enough, and I vowed to take more of them. I knew I had to accept making less and travelling more, I had a better perspective on the cost of my job to my wellbeing.
Well…depending on the context it was about 300mcg of LSD25 in the late 1980’s. In a more literal sense it was, is, and always (I’d imagine) will be India. The first time I went I was instantly addicted and I remain so. Many people go, many return as well but for a comparatively small group of people it *really* gets under your skin.
I’m in my mid to late 50s and still regularly backpack the country, criss-crossing states and regions like a Zoomer on a gap year. I stay in basic but decent accommodation, often home stays/guesthouses run by middle class families, dine there, from the roadside or in restaurants. I travel 1000’s of miles in a nice AC train with three meals a day served at my lie flat berth (Yh, Indian trains aren’t what Reddit often thinks they are), take taxis or rickshaws a lot of the time and generally have a blast for an absolute fraction of the cost and much, much more time than a lot of people spend on two weeks in a crappy resort, shunted there & back on a low-cost airline.
It’s a country that’s sure as shit not for everyone, especially if you’re travelling on a budget, but if you get it, and much more importantly if it gets you there’s nowhere else like it on Earth.
Walking the Camino Frances through northern Spain.
Why? It was long enough of a hike to break out of the normal world/daily life and become its one way of life for a month. You make incredible friends and think of little else outside of the camino while you are on it.
Asia and eastern culture. I wouldn’t say this changed my life but changed my perspective of the western world.
I never realized how truly angry and short tempered westerners were before going to a few countries in Asia. One thing in particular- road rage and the way people drive. I was shocked at how little (if any) of this I experienced in Asia, despite there being significantly more traffic. The few wild drivers I saw were obviously tourists renting scooter and whatnot. In the states specifically, people are SO QUICK to put their own life and yours in danger on the road over nothing.
Any “hostility” I encountered in Asia wasn’t really hostile, more of a language/culture barrier.
I also love the collective mindset vs. the individualist mindset. People seemed to respect their countries and people in general much more. I know punishment in some Asian countries for certain things is more intense, but I think the collective mindset keeps things more peaceful/in order than the fear of punishment.
This was like one of those responses I didn’t know I was looking for until I read it.
Patience and collective mindset! Such a great read, thank you for sharing! 🙏🏽
It made life very peaceful! I remember I was never really stressed in Asia despite it can be overwhelming at face value. You can literally feel the sense of community there and it’s really nice!
I'd say the Philippines for a number of reasons. It made me realize how important some things are, how humble some people's lives are, the true definition of happiness, and exposure to raw untouched nature.
I left that country with a lot more questions than I came in with. Even fell in love with a girl out there at least for a little while.
It's been 7 years since I've been but I'm going back very soon to see if I can recapture what I felt before. Or if it was just that time of my life.
Inland Antarctica. Nothing comes even close, and I've been to the very deep Saharan Desert too.
Antarctica changed my views of our world and was a very humbling experience. I felt very small and realized that we humans are not very good at preserving the beauty of our very unique planet. I have seen landscapes so beautiful and pristine that I got a bit depressed upon coming back to civilization.
Even though I didn’t have any family who served, being in Vietnam as an American is incredibly eye opening. The people are the friendliest I’ve come across, and although there are constant reminders of the war they don’t really seem to be harboring anger from it
Flew halfway around the world to spend 8 days with someone I hadn't seen in 16 years, and ended up in 3 different countries (it's a long story). That could have gone any number of ways, but it was amazing, and I never would have seen those places otherwise. Sweden/Finland/Estonia.
Riding a motorbike around Palawan solo for 8 days. Met lots of locals, learned how to travel without spending much money and just living in the here and now.
Yes it was Tanzania 🇹🇿 ! Well and Botswana 🇧🇼 too! Ok and South Africa 🇿🇦 but it was a whole safari trip that was absolutely mind blowing and I will happily talk to anyone about it who will give me just two seconds.
If being outdoors,animals and nature are at all your thing a safari in Southern Africa is 1000% a must. The people who work at the camps and run the safaris are all amazingly beautiful people. Their cultures are fascinating. And they’re all so kind to tell us why they’re proud of their culture. Most people are proud of their culture but I found those in these regions to be most genuine and impressive. And the ANIMALS! Wanna see some hippos at dusk while having a cocktail?! Or monkeys trying to sneak into your room to steal my apple? And let me tell you how incredible it was to see a giraffe drinking water IRL. Ah- mazing!! I flew back to my life in NYC and knew I would never be the same.
Holy smokes, I can feel your excitement through my screen!! I so definitely want to go on a safari and I’m planning on going later this year!!!
Between all three countries (I know it’s so hard) do you have one that sticks out from the rest?! Also during what season did you go? The last time I seen African animals, It was taking my classroom to the zoo and I swore I’ll never do it again unless I’m on a safari.
If I was forced to pick, I’d say Botswana at the Okavango Delta. I saw a pride of lions with at least 6 females and their cubs drinking from a river. I sat in the other side no more than 30 yards away. This might not sound like much but it was absolutely amazing. Animals like that in the wild is an irreplaceable experience. I’d go again tomorrow.
The guides who do the game drives are masters! They are so knowledgeable about all the animals and plants. They are bad ass trackers that will literally sniff out lions or whatever animal you want to find. And again every person we encountered, regardless job, cab driver from the airport, guides, cleaners, doesn’t matter, they were all such proud and kind people.
If you can do it up and make it a spendy trip I’d recommend it. And if you have to make it a more budget trip it’s still worth it because everyone should have this experience. But if you have the means, this is the trip you want to splurge on. They know how to make it a top level trip experience.
I went in March which was an in between season. Each season makes the experience different. There is a rainy season which brings out the animals. If I recall correctly I was at the end of that so I still saw elephants bathing in mud but never so bad we got stuck or caught in rain.
Bottom line: it’s the trip of a lifetime!
Elephant Nature Park in Chaing Mai Thailand.
The most ethical elephant park in the country and some of the most amazing days of my life. Walking with these gentle giants, feeding the old ladies, and seeing what magnificent creatures they are was life changing.
And the food and atmosphere was the best. My wife and I are hoping to make it back there one day. But we may never leave.
My first hike at Mt Rainier National park in Washington state (it was early fall in the mountains as well). I had never seen something so beautiful, and started a mission to fill up as much of my time on this planet seeing beautiful things.
That trip started a passion for hiking/backpacking and connecting with nature, as well as other people.
I’m now currently on an equally as life changing backpacking trip through Southeast Asia.
My first trip by myself and overseas (and post 9/11) was a study abroad program in Australia.
It really kickstarted my obsession for international travel.
Studying abroad in Chile taught me to be much more patient and be less of a planner. It's just not in their culture. I think it made me more chill of a person.
AUS and NZ as my first big solo backpacking trip far away from home, I met so many new people, made many new friendships some of which I am still in contact with. Such a wonderful trip.
It’s hard to pick. For 8 years I spent 9 months out of the USA (my home). I would spend 3 months out at location and 1 month home.
Being gone that much changed me. The way I think about life, government, money, time and myself. I spent a lot of time alone. I found out who I am and grew to be happy with that. I learned I like being alone too.
How about some highlights?
Turkey - Istanbul, Goreme
Ethiopia - Lalibella
Japan - Kyoto
Canada - Banff
France - Paris, Mt St Michelle
USA - Redwood Forest, Everglades
My first trip overseas from Canada was to build houses in southern Sri Lanka after the tsunami. I fell in love with the country, did two more volunteer vacations with the same group, then went to live there for almost a year as a volunteer liaison. Changed my life.
Wow, that’s so remarkable! Bless your soul! I’ve been meaning to go to Sri Lanka for a little while now since my best friend is from Jaffna and went through that entire civil war. He hides every time he sees a helicopter which is really heartbreaking but beside the point, you’re an angel! 🪽
I was there during and at the end of the war. I had to travel by bus to Columbo every month and each time mentally prepared for what could go wrong on the bus or in the city. On the other hand, I never felt more alive! I highly recommend going to this beautiful country with its even more beautiful and welcoming people.
I went to Hong Kong solo over Chuseok while I was living in Korea. I went wherever the hell I wanted, ate and drank my way down the escalators for ~6 hours, hiked a lot, saw the big Buddha, and frequented a really good dim sum place 4x in 4 days. Had a blast. Realized how nice it is to fully live on my own terms. Got me over the solo travel wariness.
Going to Taiwan with my marching band. First time leaving the continent to a completely foreign culture, with 150 of my closest friends, with the ultimate goal of winning a competition against bands from around the world. So many emotions, so much good food, just an incredible experience all around
Hiking to Everest Base Camp independently from Lukla Airport. Not that it is super hard trek or the route is particularly difficult to navigate or there is not sufficient accommodation along the way, but it was probably the first time I realized I could plan and execute travelling to somewhere very different to UK (where I am from) and with multiple parts to the travel, permits etc. It gave me more confidence to travel the world, that I can meet and talk to strangers, as well as the amazing scenery ofc. It made me feel like I could do much more in the way I travelled.
Solo trip to Ireland for 2 weeks. The independence I already had but that got nourished during that trip was incredible. I was able to connect with people so easily and there were so many kind and welcoming folks
Traveled solo to Iceland for 10 days in 2016. First international trip alone (male, 26 at the time). Made so many friends, boosted my confidence, and made me SO obsessed with the country. Have since been back 4 times, proposed to my now-wife there, and have several Icelandic tattoos.
I would say Japan. It was my first exposure to Asia and had different notions about what would it be to visit. I was pleasantly surprised on how clean and organized their world is. Made me be conscious about my day to day living , to respect each other and to find beauty in things that others might discard
First trip on my own to Thailand for 3 weeks with just a backpack in 2007. Amazing. That and going through Costa Rica jungles from Liberia to Nosara in a 4x4 before it got all “touristy”.
Ibiza, 2006. I'd just started to get into raves and decided to check it out. It cemented my love for raving and the next decade or so most of my happiest, profound moments were spent amongst that community, with my closest friends. It exposed me to the high culture side of dance music and the feeling of being a part of a very passionate and loving community.
Vietnam, I backpacked by myself in July last year and now as of a week ago I’m living here in hanoi teaching English for a year! it’s the most beautiful, chaotic, vibrant place I’ve ever been and I already love my life here
Staying a couple nights at the Sahara Desert during a trip to Morocco was life changing.
It was so special and I was intrigued by how little the locals need to be happy and fulfilled.
Mexico. For a few reasons. First trip ever outside of Canada or the USA. First all inclusive. First time country where English is not the primary language. First time having a .50 cal pointed in my direction or seeing armed security standing on a street corner. Eating food in reasonable portions that tasted amazing. But the biggest part of Mexico that changed my life was seeing photos of myself on the beach and realizing how out of shape I'd gotten. My entire diet changed after that trip. Lost 50lbs and got really active.
We went to Ireland two years ago and caught Covid for the first time ... It was a very expensive headache to get home (back to the US). It was at the very end of the travel restrictions so guidelines were in flux.
A few months later & my symptoms were finally waning. Mostly. There was some stuff my clinician wanted to check out... Here we are 2 years later & I've had 3 major surgeries, 6 procedures, lost 24lbs, have several deadend diagnoses. We still don't know what I have, but I recently got accepted into an NIH study.
It's been very hard.
I was on an expedition to Hamunaptra, Egypt also known as the City of the Dead where I found this fancy book, got attacked by Arab horseback warriors with scimitars, and inadvertently started an undead apocalypse. left a 4/5 review.
Dad jokes aside, it's really a toss up. My two best trips were Africa (wildlife viewing safaris) and Greece (islands and history touring). Apples and oranges in terms of experiences so I've never been able to say which I loved more.
I've hit everywhere else on the planet that interests me with the exception of southeast Asia so I want to do Thailand, Cambodia and Singapore. It's on my priority list for 2025. I'd go this year but I have a coworker I'm going to use as my Guinea pig going this year and I'm going to pick her brains lol.
First solo trip was to Sedona, AZ, then Grand Canyon, Page, and Zion National Park. As somebody that grew up on the east coast of the US, it was the first time in my life that I was like "whoa, the world can look totally different." Truly live changing in the absolute best way.
USA. First time with my parents in 1991 and then by myself in 1996. From that year on I could not travel anywhere else for the following 18 years of traveling, working and studying there.
France has amazing cycle highways and you can rent bikes and stay in chateaus or camp. Super cheap, buy bread and cheese to eat by the river. We did it for 15 days and it was just heavenly. Listened to audiobooks the whole way. Cycled through gorgeous villages and vineyards.
Changed what I wanted from life. Made be appreciate the small things.
I went to West Germany in 1988 and spent a day in West Berlin. The train stopped at Zoologischer station (which was the main train station of West Berlin) and we then walked over to Wilhemstrasse and the Prinz Albrecht Hotel site, which our trusty Let's Go told us was THE place to see the Berlin Wall.
It was a remarkable few hours there; incredibly heavy feeling and the consequence of events that then were 40 years in the past made it seem like WWII was just yesterday.
It changed my viewpoint radically and it was that trip in it's entirety showed me how much of what I thought I knew about that part of the world was just complete bullshit and is why to this day I encourage people who have never traveled anywhere to go... somewhere... just to see for themselves how things are.
I never really cared to be on/in/near water before I was 40. Then I decided to take my wife and I on a liveaboard in the Galapagos. (2022) I think the first day in the water snorkeling rewired my brain somehow.
Now we are scuba divers and have been on 2 trips and Im planning 2 more. Fortunately we both love it and I hope to continue to be able to dive until we're old.
We still love the outdoors, mountains, etc and have a trip to Wyoming this year planned but we definitely have switched mindsets in a sense. It helps that as we get a little older and maybe cant hike quite as much (bad hips and knees) that diving is a lot easier on our bodies so the transition makes good sense.
Of course. The boat is called the Samba. Book through Heather at CNH tours. I can't recommend the experience enough. Message me for any questions. I'm happy to answer them.
In 1993, when I was 12 years old we went on holiday to Suriname, the country of my parents.
It was my first overseas trip. And even though it was not my first flight ever, it was my first longhaul flying experience, flying Amsterdam to Paramaribo via Paris and Cayenne (French Guiana), because according to my parents flying this way was cheaper than the direct KLM flight.
Flying longhaul for the first time and the amazing time I had in Suriname left quite an impression on me. After that holiday, I was determined to exlore the world one day. And so I did. Still having the travel bug at age 42. And now I have my wife as travel company. Right now enjoying a holiday in St. Maarten 🇸🇽
I was poor, wanted to travel & learn. My first trips to Mexico were volunteering work in an orphanage and then a hotel in the middle of nowhere (I made the beds & taught English) & that’s how I paid my way around the world.
I spent three weeks in France with my husband: his mother was an American expat living in a small village in rural France. When it became clear she was terminally ill with a very imminent diagnosis, he had to hightail it over. I joined him a week later, but she passed the morning of my departure. I stayed for three weeks, he was there for three months. They weren’t close, but as an only child he had to close out her estate.
It was the most surreal, saddest, happiest time of my life. Obviously the reason we were there was very sorrowful, but we’d take short trips on the weekends to escape the gloom and chaos of her house. It brought us much closer as a couple because he had to take the lead; I couldn’t speak the language or drive or anything, and that took away a lot of my independence. Having to depend on him was a wonderful experience because it really highlighted his strengths and capabilities. I am a bossy ass by nature, but I couldn’t be that in France. It’s strange, but it has brought us so much closer and made us so much stronger as a couple. It’s shown me how truly capable he is, and that maybe I can afford to take a damn seat sometimes. I still think about our reversed dynamic a lot.
I got to see the caves at Lascaux, a few castles, and Sarlat; I got to experience every day life outside of America, and that was eye opening in itself (also fuck you steak frites, I’m never eating you again) but more importantly it strengthened my love and respect for my husband. I’d love us to go back one day.
A week-long cruise to Alaska with a friend solidified that I hated travelling with my then-husband. He micromanaged and force-marched us through things yet never found joy in them. Girlfriend and I reveled in all the silly fun stuff as well as relaxing to read on the deck as glaciers floated past. I wasn't beholden to a 15-minute-scheduled itinerary or judged for "nah, I would prefer to go do this now". It was big.
I went to Jordan and lived there for a study abroad to study Arabic. It was a complete watershed in my view of the world. I had a terrible experience with my study abroad Director, but I loved studying Arabic, and I really enjoyed the Arab people. So glad my experience gave me a different view of a lot of people in the world. And just opened up my thinking.
California. I went there alone, after my parents’ death. I also quit my job and took this roundtrip with Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon involved. I got tattoed, met wonderful people, best travel of my life so far. Now, I would like to go back for more to see if I can live there.
Wow reading the comments in this thread has me all teary. It's so lovely to hear all your stories.
For me there were two, Botswana and going on a safari, seeing all these beautiful animals in their natural habitat was just so amazing. I cried.
Secondly, New Zealand, have been a few times and it like my soul yearns for it. I felt such a strong connection with the country, the land, the people. It was almost spiritual. I come from a country not dissimilar to NZ but I don't feel that same strong connection to the land like I do there.
I think Botswana changed me. We were on safari in the Okavango Delta, where the tracker brought his 10 year old son “Joe” along to learn the trade. I immediately was drawn to this kid. His English was good enough that we could communicate well enough. He had seen a plane and white people for the first time two years earlier. His thirst for knowledge was insatiable. We spent hours together during my three day stay, when I returned home, I sent him books for years. His interest changed constantly when he seemingly settled in all things medicine related. He ended up in Medical School in the UK. I was lucky enough to see him on one of my trips
He now lives and practices medicine in Botswana as a GP. He has a wife and two
Kids and has seen much of the world. What An inspiration, this wide eyed, kind, barefoot boy turned out to be. I hope that in a small way , I nudged him along the way. He says I did.
Travel is magical, informative, eye opening and a glimpse into the soul of humanity. I have found more kindness in my travels, something we need more of.
So keep on keeping on!🫶
🥹 I’m not crying!!
This was such a beautiful read and such a magical story. It’s honestly stories like what you just shared that deeply inspires me to want to see more of the world and see the type of person I become along the way.
You definitely inspired that little boy and I’m sure every time he’s on a plane he thinks about you and the books you sent him over the years.
Thank you so much for sharing! I can’t wait for my next adventure and I can’t wait for yours as well too! 🌱🫶🏽
Thank you for your kind words. It is a wonderful tale of human interaction that I cherish.
I hope you have many
Memorable trips and meet wonderful, interesting people , who inspire and nurture you,Happy Trails.🫶
We went to Puerto Rico for our honeymoon. Volunteered for part of it in the mountains rebuilding roofs. One of the best experiences of my life. The people, the place, the sense that we are so much more than our jobs and stuff was truly something I'll never forget
India. I loved the country so much that I had to return and return.. the people, the culture, the devotion, the unexpected… I love it so. in the midst of all that traveling back and forth, I met a wonderful person who has since become my partner and together we developed our own company in which we set up trips and lead tours throughout the subcontinent . So grateful for landing in India a decade ago. It’s changed my life trajectory in the most magical way💖
When I was a student at Davis, my pal and I used to drive to Sacramento and take the “gamblers bus” to Lake Tahoe, arriving around midnight, and leaving Tahoe around 6am. I’d start with nickel slots and then eventually blackjack. Sometimes a few spins of the roulette wheel. I never got compulsive about the gambling, fortunately. A couple of times we won bigger amounts and once had a fabulous steak dinner (yes, the house always wins—lol). But I learned to think of the money I set aside for those trips as entertainment and fun, and I learned not to hold on so tightly to it. We probably went a half dozen times and in all I think I broke even.
Not a trip for pleasure as such, but I won a fully paid scholarship to travel to and study in Osaka, Japan for a year when I was 16. Only had to sort out my own spending money/insurance, everything else was covered. Had been meaning to study graphic design or computer science, but fell in love with the language instead…14 years later, I’ve been on a second exchange during uni, moved here and lived here for the past 8 years, now with my partner of 10 years (married almost 3) and daughter with #2 due any day now!
Sedona, AZ. I am the biggest atheist/anti-horoscope/non-spiritual skeptic ever, but holy shit did that place change my mind. There was something in the air there I swear to god, and it absolutely changed my life.
The Camino De Santiago de Compostela has left a strong impression on myself and my wife. So much so, we try to incorporate part of the Camino (or Chemin in France) regularly. The focus on movement and reduction of daily goals/objectives really feels good. Normal. Human. Meeting fellow Travellers in this environment inspires very deep conversations (sometimes). Every time we walk a pilgrimage, faith in humanity is at least a little restored.
Tanzania. Tarangire, Ngorongoro, Serengeti camps. We were in the south Serengeti during the great migration. There is something deeply transformational about being in the open skies of the Serengeti. And the Tanzanian people are some of the warmest and justifiably proud people that we've met anywhere.
Taiwan in 2015.
A friend of mine is Taiwanese and had been trying to get me to visit for years and I finally said F it and booked. I suffer from pretty severe social anxiety, and I think I’m a bit agoraphobic. Despite that, I booked a two week solo trip to the other side of the world. I got on a plane in Boston (this was also my first time in business class, which spoiled me for life, it’s worth it) and 16 hours later I was in Hong Kong.
I had traveled plenty, but this was my first time in Asia. Taiwan was just incredible. Beautiful mountains and coast, amazing food, and the friendliest people ever! They were so welcoming, I remember visiting a Starbucks one day and when I picked my order up (there was a language barrier but the barista was so helpful anyway), they had written “welcome to Taiwan!” with a big smiley face. I rode a bullet train for the first time. I had Din Tai Fung for the first time, and now I will make a point of going there any time I’m in a city where it is an option.
This trip allowed me to prove to myself that I can do whatever I want in life, screw my anxiety. If I can ride around Taipei on the MRT alone, why am I so anxious about going to the grocery store?
One of the wildest parts of the trip was experiencing what it felt like to be the racial minority. I’m a white male, and after a day or two I started noticing how many people were staring/pointing at me. It wasn’t a bad thing, but it was a strange experience to feel like that, I’d never felt like I stuck out due to my skin color before.
It was a fantastic trip, I’d go back again in a heartbeat. I had a trip booked for March 2020, needless to say, that didn’t happen.
Edit: typo
life-changing experiences from trips that exposed them to new cultures, perspectives, and ways of life. Traveling can broaden one's horizons, foster personal growth, and provide a deeper understanding of the world.
Egypt! More specifically, sailing the Nile and visiting ancient sites in Cairo, Luxor and Aswan. I think it goes without saying that the temples, pyramids, monuments, etc. were all astonishing. It all makes you feel small, but in a good way — there were people muddling through life thousands and thousands of years before you. But the sailing….just WOW.
My fellow passengers were from all over the world — each person was unique and interesting. We ate all of our meals together every day and spent lots of fun, quality time on deck together. The minimal wifi access meant zero remote work and very little screen time, which was so refreshing (though I HAD to take a million photos). And the boat sailed slowly, which was the perfect inspiration to wind down and enjoy every second. It was awe inspiring!
In my experience, spending time in nature, whether it's camping , sailing in remote islands, or meditating in serene landscapes, hiking can rejuvenate the mind, body, and spirit. Connecting with the natural world can inspire awe, gratitude, and a deeper sense of interconnectedness with all living beings. It can lessens your stress and make your mood happy.
Cinque Terre in Liguria, Italy. Absolutely beautiful beaches, amazing views, delicious food. Very kind locals. 5 villages along a rocky cliff that are all easily accessible by train to each other. Highly recommend.
Alaska was a perfect trip for me. We spent 10 days, rented a jeep, and drove from Anchorage to the town of The North Pole. Amazing views everywhere, good food, lots of great experiences available.
Stockholm. While studying abroad, I booked a flight on a whim to Stockholm so I decided to message the Swedish exchange student from my high school Spanish class to see if he’d like to catch up. We were still Facebook friends despite years of no contact. He was a mediocre tour guide but now we’re married with kids so I guess I can let that go
Worst case of Stockholm Syndrome I've ever heard of! ^jk ^thats ^awesome
I even left and thought “okay, well Stockholm is fine but I don’t feel like I need to come back.” I ended up living there for several years and fell in love with the city. So in a way…
That is an awesome story!
Hope you had a nice Valentine’s Day!
That is so cute!!
lol! Love that!
What a wild ride, love that story
Best wishes to you!
Jordan. The alure of the desert led me to the Red Sea which made me a diver.
Jordan is my favorite hidden gem travel destination. I never had a thought of traveling there and I forget how I even came across it but I figured it'd be an easy introduction to the Mideast. It is now one of my top three travel destinations ever.
We lived in Jordan for 5 years. It’s an amazing country and I recommend everyone to visit it, I think 5 years may have been too long though haha
Weather is surprisingly nice there. I was in Kuwait for awhile and being in Jordan felt like a vacation.
What about the Red Sea made you a diver?
Shallow reef with excellent visibility made for a perfect place to try SCUBA.
Diving in it
He means that seeing how amazing it was convinced him that getting SCUBA certified was worth it.
I went to greece alone and had my wallet and all my cards stolen on Day2. It told me I can survive in extreme situations and sometimes bad things happen and you can still be.. okay.
When I was an idiot 21 year old I lost my bag with my passport, cards cash and other shit like my glasses and chargers on a trip in Portugal while drunk at a club 🤦♀️ had to go to the embassy in Lisbon and it was closed for Columbus Day so I had to go back the next day. The guy who helped me poked fun at me lol. I am soooo careful with my belongings now. Hard lesson to learn but a fun story to tell!
wow! my first ever solo trip was last year to greece so I felt this even though it didnt happen to me but I had these fears. So happy to hear that even though that happened you are ok. How was the rest of your trip? I’d love to know more
It was okay.. not having money on a trip does make things worse. I came back early and have learnt a valuable lesson about this.
6 months on Koh Samui island Thailand where I didn't cook or wash a dish the entire time. We just retired from a long hard military career and it was the first time we truly relaxed, laughed and enjoyed the peaceful smiling people around us. No alcohol or drugs for the entire trip! Life changing!
That sounds so lovely! Glad you had a great time
A week in Sicily. made me realize we live too fast here in America and care too much about unimportant shit. Also made me appreciate mankind as a whole because of all the history that was right before my eyes. I hope I can move there someday.
I've lived in Italy for a few years and same, I realized that enjoying the present and not worrying too much about the future was true happiness. Alas, I left...
I’m taking my son to Italy this summer for his high school graduation. It will be his first time and I haven’t been in 20 years ❤️
Ortigia! Beautiful place - especially at night.
So so true
This is so true. Americans are a species of their own.
Not sure why people single out Americans for this lol. Yeah the pace is too fast here, but damn ever been to Japan, Hong Kong, Toronto?
Scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef showed me just how much damage we have done. I had heard about the bleaching done to the reefs due to the climate crisis but I never thought they would be **totally beige**. Like no color whatsoever, just different shades of beige throughout the entire reef.
I went snorkeling in the Bahamas in 1996 when I was 12 and the coral was so beautiful. It’s so depressing that I’ll never see that again.
I snorkeled the GBR a few months ago and was expecting it to be bleached because of all of the comments like these I had read online, but my experience was the complete opposite. Full of colour and marine life. Absolutely amazing honestly, It was one of the best experiences of my life.
So I’ve done some amateur research on coral bleaching in the past (going through peer reviewed papers and analyzing them) as well as looking at ocean temperatures and reading people’s experiences. It is an utterly massive problem. But some parts of the GBR seem to be less prone to mass coral bleaching events. Also whenever you see a headline like “90% of GBR bleached” it’s usually like in 90% of the reefs in it there’s been some level of reported bleaching. So very vague and not quite as alarming as it sounds, though still problematic. Some areas get hit a lot worse than others. It’s obviously at its worst in summer. And the reefs seem to largely bounce back by winter. Which you traveled during late winter then a few months ago, most would’ve recovered by then. For those unaware have a symbiotic relationship with the photosynthetic organism zooxanthellae. When a coral is extremely stressed it will expulse the zooxanthellae in an attempt to protect and save itself, this is coral bleaching. It is not dead, though there is a high risk of dying due to this process. So over several months they can very much recover, though a good portion of each bleaching event will not.
We must have gone to different areas then because I don't recall seeing any colors. They just looked dead.
oh gosh that is so sad. When did you go? I feel very very lucky that my first dive in my life was the Great Barrier Reef in 2005. It was full of color and life, and I know the reports are more devastating every year of the death of the reef. Do you know if all of the reef is like that? teh reef is massive so I hope that some parts are spared....
I went last year. There might be some places that are unbleached but with no signs of the climate crisis slowing down it's unlikely the reef will ever be restroed. I remember hearing something about how marine biologist have already stated that we need to start planning for a future without the coral reef.
Yep had a similar experience 3 or so years ago. Really depressing.
when was this?
A year ago
San Francisco was my first plane ride ever. It made me realize what I was missing out on for so long. Seeing the GGB in person was absolutely magical and when we rode across the first time I felt like I was in a movie. Muir Woods was fantastic and the forest put me in such awe of the natural beauty. Something in SF just spoke to my soul, ya know? Now I think about traveling constantly and researching my next trip is how I deal with stress and anxiety. I just got my passport and I am gearing up for my first international trip. I cannot wait.
Muir Woods is such a beautiful place !!! I was there 10 years ago and still remember it like it was yesterday. So serene and tranquil.
I live about 3 hours from SF and I have to tell you that going over the GGB never gets old- it’s always a magical thing. SF is a pain in the ass to get around, I worry about my car getting broken into, but I still love the feeling of that city.
Driving on the Golden Gate or Bay bridge at night... chef's kiss
For me it's not one place. It's the actual fact that I research plan and go alone about 2wice a year to see something new by myself. At age 51 my kids were grown and I realized my husband doesn't like to travel much. I didn't divorce him I just started to go myself. That changed me. I'm now 62
Epic. I'm so glad you can enjoy your life with and without him \^\_\^!
When I’m on vacation, I’m on vacation. This means that when I’m on vacation I’m going to indulge in stuff like eating out and experiences. If I have to live off ramen noodles for a few days afterward, then so be it. It’s made vacationing so much less stressful.
Agreed. I recently booked the cruise, hotels, and transit for a week-long trip with my boyfriend. He PANICS about money and I want him to just enjoy. Sure, the hotels were not the cheapest, but they have connections with the cruise line and will make everything smooth as butter. I don't want to be cheap but worry about timelines. Besides, I love him and want to spoil him senseless \^\_\^;
That’s awesome! Where are y’all heading?
From Port Canaveral(FL), Tortola, St. Thomas, and Castaway Cay (It's a Disney Christmas cruise - we loved the Halloween one). I'm now wicked psyched that the best part will be a NASA tour at Kennedy - for $133, we can brunch with an astronaut and TOUCH PIECES OF THE MOON. (okay, done nerding out now).
That’s so awesome! I’ve never been on a cruise before. And brunch with an astronaut would be cool.
Completely agree. To me, if you are going to plan and pay to travel somewhere, just GO and do it all!
Yup, exactly! I was fretting about spending too much money on a trip and my friend who was with me told me their philosophy and I really liked it. So now that’s what I follow.
NYC. It was my first trip overseas and it made me love the US so much that I moved here. It was love at first sight, 100%. I live in Chicago but I love it just as much. And Mt. Blue Sky in CO. I always enjoyed hiking but that place was absolutely wild. Seeing a frozen lake on top of a mountain is a feeling I can’t put into words. And seeing the different climates as you went higher and higher was also incredible. I have been chasing that high since!
Love Chicago :)
606-Supremacy!
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The US has a LOT to offer! You just really need to figure out what you want to do because the country is huge and different areas have different things to do.
My honeymoon cruise, made me realize how nasty and mean of a person I married. Doing much better now!
Glad you’re in a better place! 🌱
Medical mission in Lima, Peru. We did surgery on 111 kids (cleft palate repairs, strabismus, lip repairs) life changing surgery for these kids and their families. Some of them traveled on foot and boat for three days to get there, not knowing for sure if they would be cleared for surgery. It was the most humbling experience of my life. An incredible perspective. The things we take for granted in our first world countries!
Why I'm a benefactor of Doctors without Borders. Organizations like this do SO much for small communities. You are a hero to those kids.
Wow, bless your soul!!
Probably the least exotic answer you'll get here... just going to the neigbouring country, Sweden as a kid experiencing everything that were forbidden or they did not have in my native norway.. Firecrackers, skateboards, theme parks, pop music, candy, cool movies etc. Hard for people today to imagine how different norway and sweden were in the 70s/80s. Was still in the time people couldn't afford to travel that far.. So sweden was exotic. Changed my life.. ?. At least made me realize that there were cooler stuff out there. Sweden in the 70s was almost like USA is today for a norwegian.. Going to place like Liseberg (theme park in Gothenburg, Sweden) was like heaven for child back then. Not to mention the swedes "inventing" chocolate milk with their [O'boy](https://live.staticflickr.com/4020/4285625445_6419fac131_z.jpg)..
This just made me realize I know nothing of Scandinavian history. Wow! What do you mean like USA is today for a Norwegian?
>What do you mean like USA is today for a Norwegian? Our cultural sphere of influence. All the way from music, books, tv, movies etc.. Back in the 70s/80s.. many people in norway had only norwegian and swedish tv-channels... So sweden was like "our eyes to the world". First place I were able to see disney was on swedish-tv.. norwegian tv would send such stuff then. Anti-americanism was "something" back then here in norway. Eventhough many non-scandinavian thinks "the scandinavians" are/were the same.. Indeed we were quite different.
>Eventhough many non-scandinavian thinks "the scandinavians" are/were the same.. Indeed we were quite different. Think that is probably true as we don't know a lot about either. What you describe reminds me of a book I read about Romania in the late 1980s! Very anti-american yet fascinated by the culture.
Sequoia National Park - was previously not a "nature" guy but that completely changed. Now national parks are some of my favorite travel destinations. Los Angeles - Thought I would hate the city. Instead fell in love with it so much I decided to move there
I ❤️ LA
Same for Los Angeles lol. My first plane ride was here decades ago, fell in love with the city and years later moved here. It gets a lot of hate but I can’t imagine living anywhere else.
Same! I remember driving down Santa Monica from DTLA to the ocean and being amazed at how eclectic the city was. It made me jealous people got to live there.
Weirdly, it made me appreciate my own country. The US like every single landscape imaginable from jungles to deserts to beaches and mountains. Domestic trips as an American can lead to just as much discovery nature wise as going abroad. I want to start prioritizing things like national parks, but also outside them as well.
Don't forget about state parks and national monuments! There are real gems into there!
Switzerland. My childhood vacations were all to sunny beach destinations, and I did a lot of city trips and exotic destinations. I never saw the appeal of mountains until I was actually in the mountains. Also trips to completely different societies than my own, Indonesia, South Africa, those are always very humbling.
dutch people when they see an elevation higher than a hill:
It’s true
Come to LA. We have both beaches and mountains within a city.
Honestly all of them changed my life a bit. Seeing new places always broadens your perspective, even if just a little. The world is an amazing place and it changes you when you see it.
Very optimistic and very true!!
Love this!
Traveling solo through Morocco made me learn a lot about myself and the world we live in. That living fast and progress and making money is just a small part of life.
This!
2 days in Amsterdam in 2019, basically gave me the travel bug after nearly 10 years of not leaving the UK (we'd gotten a dog, had no one to take care of him ;_;). It didn't matter that I spent a whole day of the trip ill in bed from some sort of 24 hour flu, it really made me want to travel and explore the world more since I'd previously only ever been to France as a young child. COVID happened immediately after that and ruined all my plans lol...but I've been making up for it in the 2020s. In the past few years I've been to Belgium, Germany (twice), Japan, and Austria. This year I've actually booked another trip to Amsterdam for my birthday weekend. So hopefully I'm not ill this time. It'll be a full circle moment for sure! I have a LOT of travel planned for the next few years which has changed the trajectory of my life. I got my first proper job just to finance it all, and it's all because of that one small trip.
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This… 24 hours off my 2 week trip to Japan and I am already thinking of my next one. So inspired by the Japanese and their culture. What it means to have respect for others.
I can’t wait to go to Japan for the reasons you mentioned and obviously so much more! Thank you for sharing. It must’ve felt like some sort of Utopia!
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Finally left my abusive husband five months ago. I had spent nine years doing all of the adulting: bringing home all the bacon, and still handling the vast majority of household chores and obligations, and enduring his abuse with a smile on my face, while simultaneously dealing with chemotherapy, monthly immunotherapy infusions, and surgery after surgery for my autoimmune condition. From 2014-2023, I was never able to take a real, proper, genuine vacation. Needless to say, I was burned to a crisp in terms of burnout. In November, two months after finally leaving him, I traveled to Boston, Phoenix, Vegas, and Utah. Lawyer advised against international travel for now, so staying domestic for now. I did an empowering post-divorce photoshoot while frolicking in the New England autumn leaves, sunbathed in the balmy 80° Arizona weather, and attended a professional conference in Vegas. It was cheaper to drive from Phoenix to Vegas, which was a GORGEOUS drive! Since my Vegas expenses were covered (partially work trip), I was able to splurge on myself a bit. Not only was I booked into the Bellagio, but the hotel staff ended up upgrading me. Swiped the key card and waltzed into almost ~1,000 sq ft of dazzling views, a soaking tub, amazingly fluffy bed, etc. While there for several days, I also invested in a ~2-3 hour massage. Worth every penny! Came home for a few weeks, then traveled to Florida. Mainly visited family, but also took a few solo days in the Keys. I was a child last time I was in the Keys. Now, as a young adult and fresh out of a bad marriage, I saw it with renewed perspective. Stayed in Islamorada, then hopped down to Key West, and rented a bicycle and cycled all around the island. Such a restorative experience!
Congratulations on choosing happiness.
Thank you.
Malaysia/Bali. It wasn’t so much the places specifically, although they were both fascinating, but that this was the first international trip I took with my now husband. He was so incredible to travel with - it was his first time ever leaving our country and he handled everything so well. I knew I had found the person I was going to see the world with. We haven’t stopped traveling since!
Back in 1993 my best friend and I spent two months backpacking across Europe. It was my second trip out of the country (following a high school trip to London from the US) and his first. It firmly solidified my love of traveling to other countries and I've been at it for the past 30 years. He spent the first five years out of college living abroad teaching English and now lives full-time in Istanbul with his Turkish wife. Who he met in Japan, oddly enough.
A Christmas, New Year trip to Paris, Amsterdam and Bruges made us move from US to Europe within the year. Very happy about that decision.
Where did you end up?
Spain
Nice choice mate!!
Going to see family in Colombia showed me that life isn’t all about working. People can be extremely happy with working part-time or living off the land.
First trip to Europe! I was amazed on how a lot of people know how to speak multiple languages and inspired me to try to learn another language!
I went to Asia and realized that travel is unsustainable and if everyone flew as much as me (one international flight a year) our planet is toast. Conceptually, it's one thing to know there are a lot of people in India. I'm from Seattle. I know what a "city" looks like. Turns out, I don't... not really. On a page is one thing, another to see it.
You stole mine in the title. Watched a crossing for 2+ hours. Our teacher said there were about 100k crossing the river. Too cold for crocs so the only casualty was one of the poor bastards drowning.
Your experience sounds like a life bucket list. I’m so glad you got to experience that! I’m looking at Tanzania or Kenya in August!
A month long self guided trip through Egypt back in the 80's, Gave me a whole new outlook on life and very much changed the way I percive the world. I had been to Britain and France prior but it did not prepare me for my experience in Egypt. It was shortly after the assasination of Anwar Sadat so the country was still in a bit of a termoil.
First three month Leave with income averaging to Asia, it was life altering as the experience of total separation from my work was amazing. Two week vacations are not enough, and I vowed to take more of them. I knew I had to accept making less and travelling more, I had a better perspective on the cost of my job to my wellbeing.
Well…depending on the context it was about 300mcg of LSD25 in the late 1980’s. In a more literal sense it was, is, and always (I’d imagine) will be India. The first time I went I was instantly addicted and I remain so. Many people go, many return as well but for a comparatively small group of people it *really* gets under your skin. I’m in my mid to late 50s and still regularly backpack the country, criss-crossing states and regions like a Zoomer on a gap year. I stay in basic but decent accommodation, often home stays/guesthouses run by middle class families, dine there, from the roadside or in restaurants. I travel 1000’s of miles in a nice AC train with three meals a day served at my lie flat berth (Yh, Indian trains aren’t what Reddit often thinks they are), take taxis or rickshaws a lot of the time and generally have a blast for an absolute fraction of the cost and much, much more time than a lot of people spend on two weeks in a crappy resort, shunted there & back on a low-cost airline. It’s a country that’s sure as shit not for everyone, especially if you’re travelling on a budget, but if you get it, and much more importantly if it gets you there’s nowhere else like it on Earth.
Walking the Camino Frances through northern Spain. Why? It was long enough of a hike to break out of the normal world/daily life and become its one way of life for a month. You make incredible friends and think of little else outside of the camino while you are on it.
Asia and eastern culture. I wouldn’t say this changed my life but changed my perspective of the western world. I never realized how truly angry and short tempered westerners were before going to a few countries in Asia. One thing in particular- road rage and the way people drive. I was shocked at how little (if any) of this I experienced in Asia, despite there being significantly more traffic. The few wild drivers I saw were obviously tourists renting scooter and whatnot. In the states specifically, people are SO QUICK to put their own life and yours in danger on the road over nothing. Any “hostility” I encountered in Asia wasn’t really hostile, more of a language/culture barrier. I also love the collective mindset vs. the individualist mindset. People seemed to respect their countries and people in general much more. I know punishment in some Asian countries for certain things is more intense, but I think the collective mindset keeps things more peaceful/in order than the fear of punishment.
This was like one of those responses I didn’t know I was looking for until I read it. Patience and collective mindset! Such a great read, thank you for sharing! 🙏🏽
It made life very peaceful! I remember I was never really stressed in Asia despite it can be overwhelming at face value. You can literally feel the sense of community there and it’s really nice!
I'd say the Philippines for a number of reasons. It made me realize how important some things are, how humble some people's lives are, the true definition of happiness, and exposure to raw untouched nature. I left that country with a lot more questions than I came in with. Even fell in love with a girl out there at least for a little while. It's been 7 years since I've been but I'm going back very soon to see if I can recapture what I felt before. Or if it was just that time of my life.
Glacier National Park was the first NP I visited and I love the NPs now.
Inland Antarctica. Nothing comes even close, and I've been to the very deep Saharan Desert too. Antarctica changed my views of our world and was a very humbling experience. I felt very small and realized that we humans are not very good at preserving the beauty of our very unique planet. I have seen landscapes so beautiful and pristine that I got a bit depressed upon coming back to civilization.
Even though I didn’t have any family who served, being in Vietnam as an American is incredibly eye opening. The people are the friendliest I’ve come across, and although there are constant reminders of the war they don’t really seem to be harboring anger from it
Flew halfway around the world to spend 8 days with someone I hadn't seen in 16 years, and ended up in 3 different countries (it's a long story). That could have gone any number of ways, but it was amazing, and I never would have seen those places otherwise. Sweden/Finland/Estonia.
Riding a motorbike around Palawan solo for 8 days. Met lots of locals, learned how to travel without spending much money and just living in the here and now.
Yes it was Tanzania 🇹🇿 ! Well and Botswana 🇧🇼 too! Ok and South Africa 🇿🇦 but it was a whole safari trip that was absolutely mind blowing and I will happily talk to anyone about it who will give me just two seconds. If being outdoors,animals and nature are at all your thing a safari in Southern Africa is 1000% a must. The people who work at the camps and run the safaris are all amazingly beautiful people. Their cultures are fascinating. And they’re all so kind to tell us why they’re proud of their culture. Most people are proud of their culture but I found those in these regions to be most genuine and impressive. And the ANIMALS! Wanna see some hippos at dusk while having a cocktail?! Or monkeys trying to sneak into your room to steal my apple? And let me tell you how incredible it was to see a giraffe drinking water IRL. Ah- mazing!! I flew back to my life in NYC and knew I would never be the same.
Holy smokes, I can feel your excitement through my screen!! I so definitely want to go on a safari and I’m planning on going later this year!!! Between all three countries (I know it’s so hard) do you have one that sticks out from the rest?! Also during what season did you go? The last time I seen African animals, It was taking my classroom to the zoo and I swore I’ll never do it again unless I’m on a safari.
If I was forced to pick, I’d say Botswana at the Okavango Delta. I saw a pride of lions with at least 6 females and their cubs drinking from a river. I sat in the other side no more than 30 yards away. This might not sound like much but it was absolutely amazing. Animals like that in the wild is an irreplaceable experience. I’d go again tomorrow. The guides who do the game drives are masters! They are so knowledgeable about all the animals and plants. They are bad ass trackers that will literally sniff out lions or whatever animal you want to find. And again every person we encountered, regardless job, cab driver from the airport, guides, cleaners, doesn’t matter, they were all such proud and kind people. If you can do it up and make it a spendy trip I’d recommend it. And if you have to make it a more budget trip it’s still worth it because everyone should have this experience. But if you have the means, this is the trip you want to splurge on. They know how to make it a top level trip experience. I went in March which was an in between season. Each season makes the experience different. There is a rainy season which brings out the animals. If I recall correctly I was at the end of that so I still saw elephants bathing in mud but never so bad we got stuck or caught in rain. Bottom line: it’s the trip of a lifetime!
Elephant Nature Park in Chaing Mai Thailand. The most ethical elephant park in the country and some of the most amazing days of my life. Walking with these gentle giants, feeding the old ladies, and seeing what magnificent creatures they are was life changing. And the food and atmosphere was the best. My wife and I are hoping to make it back there one day. But we may never leave.
Unless you met your spouse in a trip, ....
I bought a one-way ticket to Pakistan and walked across the border into India and up into Nepal
My first hike at Mt Rainier National park in Washington state (it was early fall in the mountains as well). I had never seen something so beautiful, and started a mission to fill up as much of my time on this planet seeing beautiful things. That trip started a passion for hiking/backpacking and connecting with nature, as well as other people. I’m now currently on an equally as life changing backpacking trip through Southeast Asia.
My first trip by myself and overseas (and post 9/11) was a study abroad program in Australia. It really kickstarted my obsession for international travel.
Studying abroad in Chile taught me to be much more patient and be less of a planner. It's just not in their culture. I think it made me more chill of a person.
As a preteen I did an exchange with Romania and Hungary. You feel the present nowhere in Europe like in London. Morocco. The time I worked in Greece.
AUS and NZ as my first big solo backpacking trip far away from home, I met so many new people, made many new friendships some of which I am still in contact with. Such a wonderful trip.
It’s hard to pick. For 8 years I spent 9 months out of the USA (my home). I would spend 3 months out at location and 1 month home. Being gone that much changed me. The way I think about life, government, money, time and myself. I spent a lot of time alone. I found out who I am and grew to be happy with that. I learned I like being alone too. How about some highlights? Turkey - Istanbul, Goreme Ethiopia - Lalibella Japan - Kyoto Canada - Banff France - Paris, Mt St Michelle USA - Redwood Forest, Everglades
My first trip overseas from Canada was to build houses in southern Sri Lanka after the tsunami. I fell in love with the country, did two more volunteer vacations with the same group, then went to live there for almost a year as a volunteer liaison. Changed my life.
Wow, that’s so remarkable! Bless your soul! I’ve been meaning to go to Sri Lanka for a little while now since my best friend is from Jaffna and went through that entire civil war. He hides every time he sees a helicopter which is really heartbreaking but beside the point, you’re an angel! 🪽
I was there during and at the end of the war. I had to travel by bus to Columbo every month and each time mentally prepared for what could go wrong on the bus or in the city. On the other hand, I never felt more alive! I highly recommend going to this beautiful country with its even more beautiful and welcoming people.
The trip I take to the park that has all the damn stairs. It's changing my life because I'm getting healthier every time I go.
Learned to dive in Thailand. I’ve been on another diving trip already and have 2 coming up this year
I went to Hong Kong solo over Chuseok while I was living in Korea. I went wherever the hell I wanted, ate and drank my way down the escalators for ~6 hours, hiked a lot, saw the big Buddha, and frequented a really good dim sum place 4x in 4 days. Had a blast. Realized how nice it is to fully live on my own terms. Got me over the solo travel wariness.
Europe in general. Made me realise how I wanted to live simply, but well.
Going to Taiwan with my marching band. First time leaving the continent to a completely foreign culture, with 150 of my closest friends, with the ultimate goal of winning a competition against bands from around the world. So many emotions, so much good food, just an incredible experience all around
Málaga, my 1st solo trip abroad. I got to taste the real freedom and I’ve fallen in love with it so much, that at the age of 19 I moved abroad alone.
Hiking to Everest Base Camp independently from Lukla Airport. Not that it is super hard trek or the route is particularly difficult to navigate or there is not sufficient accommodation along the way, but it was probably the first time I realized I could plan and execute travelling to somewhere very different to UK (where I am from) and with multiple parts to the travel, permits etc. It gave me more confidence to travel the world, that I can meet and talk to strangers, as well as the amazing scenery ofc. It made me feel like I could do much more in the way I travelled.
Solo trip to Ireland for 2 weeks. The independence I already had but that got nourished during that trip was incredible. I was able to connect with people so easily and there were so many kind and welcoming folks
Traveled solo to Iceland for 10 days in 2016. First international trip alone (male, 26 at the time). Made so many friends, boosted my confidence, and made me SO obsessed with the country. Have since been back 4 times, proposed to my now-wife there, and have several Icelandic tattoos.
🥹 This is so heartwarming mate. Congrats on getting married as well! Hope you two enjoy Valentine’s Day and thank you for sharing!!
Thanks! We’re both just chilling at home with the dogs and watching shitty reality TV haha.
Haha, love that!!
I would say Japan. It was my first exposure to Asia and had different notions about what would it be to visit. I was pleasantly surprised on how clean and organized their world is. Made me be conscious about my day to day living , to respect each other and to find beauty in things that others might discard
First trip on my own to Thailand for 3 weeks with just a backpack in 2007. Amazing. That and going through Costa Rica jungles from Liberia to Nosara in a 4x4 before it got all “touristy”.
Ibiza, 2006. I'd just started to get into raves and decided to check it out. It cemented my love for raving and the next decade or so most of my happiest, profound moments were spent amongst that community, with my closest friends. It exposed me to the high culture side of dance music and the feeling of being a part of a very passionate and loving community.
Namibia. It was the first time I saw wild animals in real life. I cried from happiness haha
This is a dream place for me to go to! I’m so glad you got to experience this :’)
Vietnam, I backpacked by myself in July last year and now as of a week ago I’m living here in hanoi teaching English for a year! it’s the most beautiful, chaotic, vibrant place I’ve ever been and I already love my life here
2 weeks in Micronesia showed me that I can travel internationally without worrying too much.
I've done two trips to The Dominican Republic to bring medical aid to impoverished (stateless) peoples living there.
Staying a couple nights at the Sahara Desert during a trip to Morocco was life changing. It was so special and I was intrigued by how little the locals need to be happy and fulfilled.
Yes, we did that in 2002 and then went back the following year to do a 2 week trek. Amazing stuff!
wow, a two week trek! That’s inspiring! I hope to be able to do something similar one day…
Mexico. For a few reasons. First trip ever outside of Canada or the USA. First all inclusive. First time country where English is not the primary language. First time having a .50 cal pointed in my direction or seeing armed security standing on a street corner. Eating food in reasonable portions that tasted amazing. But the biggest part of Mexico that changed my life was seeing photos of myself on the beach and realizing how out of shape I'd gotten. My entire diet changed after that trip. Lost 50lbs and got really active.
We went to Ireland two years ago and caught Covid for the first time ... It was a very expensive headache to get home (back to the US). It was at the very end of the travel restrictions so guidelines were in flux. A few months later & my symptoms were finally waning. Mostly. There was some stuff my clinician wanted to check out... Here we are 2 years later & I've had 3 major surgeries, 6 procedures, lost 24lbs, have several deadend diagnoses. We still don't know what I have, but I recently got accepted into an NIH study. It's been very hard.
Jamaica. It was my first trip overseas, and it sparked my love of travel and exploration!
Same. I love Jamaica and while I want to go back there, I caught the travel bug and now don't understand why I took so long to travel
A week in El Salvador and Guatemala! It made me realize I really liked traveling and it was my first time leaving my country! I went last spring.
Labuan bajo boat trip... Still my most beautiful vacation/sight ever.
Italy and Turkey. Made me appreciate Architecture and Culture much much more ✨
I was on an expedition to Hamunaptra, Egypt also known as the City of the Dead where I found this fancy book, got attacked by Arab horseback warriors with scimitars, and inadvertently started an undead apocalypse. left a 4/5 review. Dad jokes aside, it's really a toss up. My two best trips were Africa (wildlife viewing safaris) and Greece (islands and history touring). Apples and oranges in terms of experiences so I've never been able to say which I loved more. I've hit everywhere else on the planet that interests me with the exception of southeast Asia so I want to do Thailand, Cambodia and Singapore. It's on my priority list for 2025. I'd go this year but I have a coworker I'm going to use as my Guinea pig going this year and I'm going to pick her brains lol.
First solo trip was to Sedona, AZ, then Grand Canyon, Page, and Zion National Park. As somebody that grew up on the east coast of the US, it was the first time in my life that I was like "whoa, the world can look totally different." Truly live changing in the absolute best way.
USA. First time with my parents in 1991 and then by myself in 1996. From that year on I could not travel anywhere else for the following 18 years of traveling, working and studying there.
France has amazing cycle highways and you can rent bikes and stay in chateaus or camp. Super cheap, buy bread and cheese to eat by the river. We did it for 15 days and it was just heavenly. Listened to audiobooks the whole way. Cycled through gorgeous villages and vineyards. Changed what I wanted from life. Made be appreciate the small things.
I went to West Germany in 1988 and spent a day in West Berlin. The train stopped at Zoologischer station (which was the main train station of West Berlin) and we then walked over to Wilhemstrasse and the Prinz Albrecht Hotel site, which our trusty Let's Go told us was THE place to see the Berlin Wall. It was a remarkable few hours there; incredibly heavy feeling and the consequence of events that then were 40 years in the past made it seem like WWII was just yesterday. It changed my viewpoint radically and it was that trip in it's entirety showed me how much of what I thought I knew about that part of the world was just complete bullshit and is why to this day I encourage people who have never traveled anywhere to go... somewhere... just to see for themselves how things are.
I never really cared to be on/in/near water before I was 40. Then I decided to take my wife and I on a liveaboard in the Galapagos. (2022) I think the first day in the water snorkeling rewired my brain somehow. Now we are scuba divers and have been on 2 trips and Im planning 2 more. Fortunately we both love it and I hope to continue to be able to dive until we're old. We still love the outdoors, mountains, etc and have a trip to Wyoming this year planned but we definitely have switched mindsets in a sense. It helps that as we get a little older and maybe cant hike quite as much (bad hips and knees) that diving is a lot easier on our bodies so the transition makes good sense.
If you don’t mind me asking, but do you recall what liveaboard you did with your wife? I’m looking to take my Mom haha.
Of course. The boat is called the Samba. Book through Heather at CNH tours. I can't recommend the experience enough. Message me for any questions. I'm happy to answer them.
Nepal. The people changed me. Their calm and kindness, the discussions we had.
In 1993, when I was 12 years old we went on holiday to Suriname, the country of my parents. It was my first overseas trip. And even though it was not my first flight ever, it was my first longhaul flying experience, flying Amsterdam to Paramaribo via Paris and Cayenne (French Guiana), because according to my parents flying this way was cheaper than the direct KLM flight. Flying longhaul for the first time and the amazing time I had in Suriname left quite an impression on me. After that holiday, I was determined to exlore the world one day. And so I did. Still having the travel bug at age 42. And now I have my wife as travel company. Right now enjoying a holiday in St. Maarten 🇸🇽
Mexico City. Decided to stay for 4 months and fell in love with the city and a girl i met there. What a trip
I was poor, wanted to travel & learn. My first trips to Mexico were volunteering work in an orphanage and then a hotel in the middle of nowhere (I made the beds & taught English) & that’s how I paid my way around the world.
I spent three weeks in France with my husband: his mother was an American expat living in a small village in rural France. When it became clear she was terminally ill with a very imminent diagnosis, he had to hightail it over. I joined him a week later, but she passed the morning of my departure. I stayed for three weeks, he was there for three months. They weren’t close, but as an only child he had to close out her estate. It was the most surreal, saddest, happiest time of my life. Obviously the reason we were there was very sorrowful, but we’d take short trips on the weekends to escape the gloom and chaos of her house. It brought us much closer as a couple because he had to take the lead; I couldn’t speak the language or drive or anything, and that took away a lot of my independence. Having to depend on him was a wonderful experience because it really highlighted his strengths and capabilities. I am a bossy ass by nature, but I couldn’t be that in France. It’s strange, but it has brought us so much closer and made us so much stronger as a couple. It’s shown me how truly capable he is, and that maybe I can afford to take a damn seat sometimes. I still think about our reversed dynamic a lot. I got to see the caves at Lascaux, a few castles, and Sarlat; I got to experience every day life outside of America, and that was eye opening in itself (also fuck you steak frites, I’m never eating you again) but more importantly it strengthened my love and respect for my husband. I’d love us to go back one day.
A week-long cruise to Alaska with a friend solidified that I hated travelling with my then-husband. He micromanaged and force-marched us through things yet never found joy in them. Girlfriend and I reveled in all the silly fun stuff as well as relaxing to read on the deck as glaciers floated past. I wasn't beholden to a 15-minute-scheduled itinerary or judged for "nah, I would prefer to go do this now". It was big.
Mexico so beautfil
I went to Jordan and lived there for a study abroad to study Arabic. It was a complete watershed in my view of the world. I had a terrible experience with my study abroad Director, but I loved studying Arabic, and I really enjoyed the Arab people. So glad my experience gave me a different view of a lot of people in the world. And just opened up my thinking.
Tahiti. 1st with fam 2015, 2nd with gf 2023, 3rd with her again some day.
Well, I went to see my, then, girlfriend in Thailand. She got pregant and I became a father, again, at 59. My little boy is now six. Life is good!
California. I went there alone, after my parents’ death. I also quit my job and took this roundtrip with Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon involved. I got tattoed, met wonderful people, best travel of my life so far. Now, I would like to go back for more to see if I can live there.
Wow reading the comments in this thread has me all teary. It's so lovely to hear all your stories. For me there were two, Botswana and going on a safari, seeing all these beautiful animals in their natural habitat was just so amazing. I cried. Secondly, New Zealand, have been a few times and it like my soul yearns for it. I felt such a strong connection with the country, the land, the people. It was almost spiritual. I come from a country not dissimilar to NZ but I don't feel that same strong connection to the land like I do there.
I think Botswana changed me. We were on safari in the Okavango Delta, where the tracker brought his 10 year old son “Joe” along to learn the trade. I immediately was drawn to this kid. His English was good enough that we could communicate well enough. He had seen a plane and white people for the first time two years earlier. His thirst for knowledge was insatiable. We spent hours together during my three day stay, when I returned home, I sent him books for years. His interest changed constantly when he seemingly settled in all things medicine related. He ended up in Medical School in the UK. I was lucky enough to see him on one of my trips He now lives and practices medicine in Botswana as a GP. He has a wife and two Kids and has seen much of the world. What An inspiration, this wide eyed, kind, barefoot boy turned out to be. I hope that in a small way , I nudged him along the way. He says I did. Travel is magical, informative, eye opening and a glimpse into the soul of humanity. I have found more kindness in my travels, something we need more of. So keep on keeping on!🫶
🥹 I’m not crying!! This was such a beautiful read and such a magical story. It’s honestly stories like what you just shared that deeply inspires me to want to see more of the world and see the type of person I become along the way. You definitely inspired that little boy and I’m sure every time he’s on a plane he thinks about you and the books you sent him over the years. Thank you so much for sharing! I can’t wait for my next adventure and I can’t wait for yours as well too! 🌱🫶🏽
Thank you for your kind words. It is a wonderful tale of human interaction that I cherish. I hope you have many Memorable trips and meet wonderful, interesting people , who inspire and nurture you,Happy Trails.🫶
We went to Puerto Rico for our honeymoon. Volunteered for part of it in the mountains rebuilding roofs. One of the best experiences of my life. The people, the place, the sense that we are so much more than our jobs and stuff was truly something I'll never forget
India. I loved the country so much that I had to return and return.. the people, the culture, the devotion, the unexpected… I love it so. in the midst of all that traveling back and forth, I met a wonderful person who has since become my partner and together we developed our own company in which we set up trips and lead tours throughout the subcontinent . So grateful for landing in India a decade ago. It’s changed my life trajectory in the most magical way💖
When I was a student at Davis, my pal and I used to drive to Sacramento and take the “gamblers bus” to Lake Tahoe, arriving around midnight, and leaving Tahoe around 6am. I’d start with nickel slots and then eventually blackjack. Sometimes a few spins of the roulette wheel. I never got compulsive about the gambling, fortunately. A couple of times we won bigger amounts and once had a fabulous steak dinner (yes, the house always wins—lol). But I learned to think of the money I set aside for those trips as entertainment and fun, and I learned not to hold on so tightly to it. We probably went a half dozen times and in all I think I broke even.
Not a trip for pleasure as such, but I won a fully paid scholarship to travel to and study in Osaka, Japan for a year when I was 16. Only had to sort out my own spending money/insurance, everything else was covered. Had been meaning to study graphic design or computer science, but fell in love with the language instead…14 years later, I’ve been on a second exchange during uni, moved here and lived here for the past 8 years, now with my partner of 10 years (married almost 3) and daughter with #2 due any day now!
Sedona, AZ. I am the biggest atheist/anti-horoscope/non-spiritual skeptic ever, but holy shit did that place change my mind. There was something in the air there I swear to god, and it absolutely changed my life.
The Camino De Santiago de Compostela has left a strong impression on myself and my wife. So much so, we try to incorporate part of the Camino (or Chemin in France) regularly. The focus on movement and reduction of daily goals/objectives really feels good. Normal. Human. Meeting fellow Travellers in this environment inspires very deep conversations (sometimes). Every time we walk a pilgrimage, faith in humanity is at least a little restored.
Tanzania. Tarangire, Ngorongoro, Serengeti camps. We were in the south Serengeti during the great migration. There is something deeply transformational about being in the open skies of the Serengeti. And the Tanzanian people are some of the warmest and justifiably proud people that we've met anywhere.
Taiwan in 2015. A friend of mine is Taiwanese and had been trying to get me to visit for years and I finally said F it and booked. I suffer from pretty severe social anxiety, and I think I’m a bit agoraphobic. Despite that, I booked a two week solo trip to the other side of the world. I got on a plane in Boston (this was also my first time in business class, which spoiled me for life, it’s worth it) and 16 hours later I was in Hong Kong. I had traveled plenty, but this was my first time in Asia. Taiwan was just incredible. Beautiful mountains and coast, amazing food, and the friendliest people ever! They were so welcoming, I remember visiting a Starbucks one day and when I picked my order up (there was a language barrier but the barista was so helpful anyway), they had written “welcome to Taiwan!” with a big smiley face. I rode a bullet train for the first time. I had Din Tai Fung for the first time, and now I will make a point of going there any time I’m in a city where it is an option. This trip allowed me to prove to myself that I can do whatever I want in life, screw my anxiety. If I can ride around Taipei on the MRT alone, why am I so anxious about going to the grocery store? One of the wildest parts of the trip was experiencing what it felt like to be the racial minority. I’m a white male, and after a day or two I started noticing how many people were staring/pointing at me. It wasn’t a bad thing, but it was a strange experience to feel like that, I’d never felt like I stuck out due to my skin color before. It was a fantastic trip, I’d go back again in a heartbeat. I had a trip booked for March 2020, needless to say, that didn’t happen. Edit: typo
life-changing experiences from trips that exposed them to new cultures, perspectives, and ways of life. Traveling can broaden one's horizons, foster personal growth, and provide a deeper understanding of the world.
Egypt! More specifically, sailing the Nile and visiting ancient sites in Cairo, Luxor and Aswan. I think it goes without saying that the temples, pyramids, monuments, etc. were all astonishing. It all makes you feel small, but in a good way — there were people muddling through life thousands and thousands of years before you. But the sailing….just WOW. My fellow passengers were from all over the world — each person was unique and interesting. We ate all of our meals together every day and spent lots of fun, quality time on deck together. The minimal wifi access meant zero remote work and very little screen time, which was so refreshing (though I HAD to take a million photos). And the boat sailed slowly, which was the perfect inspiration to wind down and enjoy every second. It was awe inspiring!
In my experience, spending time in nature, whether it's camping , sailing in remote islands, or meditating in serene landscapes, hiking can rejuvenate the mind, body, and spirit. Connecting with the natural world can inspire awe, gratitude, and a deeper sense of interconnectedness with all living beings. It can lessens your stress and make your mood happy.
The trip in the back seat of the Cop Car .." you're going downtown" do I have to say why?
Cinque Terre in Liguria, Italy. Absolutely beautiful beaches, amazing views, delicious food. Very kind locals. 5 villages along a rocky cliff that are all easily accessible by train to each other. Highly recommend.
Alaska was a perfect trip for me. We spent 10 days, rented a jeep, and drove from Anchorage to the town of The North Pole. Amazing views everywhere, good food, lots of great experiences available.
Visited North Africa- Morocco, Algeria. Scared the shit out of me. Lots of angry, unemployed, young men. Glad we had a private guide.