Seeing the Tarim mummies in China long, long ago. It was so surreal looking at the bodies that looked like they fell asleep yesterday still clad in vivid fabrics, while they had actually been dead for thousands of years. Obviously would not recommend travel there now.

I got to dive with the hammerheads under Darwin’s Arch weeks before it collapsed. Amazing, so glad I got there when I did.

Random experiences that top my list:

Istanbul is great but getting into more central Turkey and seeing incredible ruins and places like Kappadokia felt like stepping into realm.

Camping in the Jordan desert.

Anywhere in East Africa. Add Zanzibar to that, too.

Cape Town is a fun place for culture/food/wine plus water, hiking, etc.

Hiking in the Amazon on the Peruvian side.

The Romanian Carpathians in Transylvania.

Annapurna hike in Nepal, transcendant

This may seem strange, but Ottawa. Maybe because my expectations were not very high, but I was surprised by what an interesting city it is. Great museums. Friendly people. Walkable. I had a better time there than in Montreal or Quebec City.

Lake District of Southern Chile. Not somewhere that had even been on my radar, but a friend wanted me to join her on a trip there, and it was great. Think German Alpine villages on beautiful lakes next to volcanos in the Andes.

Denali National Park. There is something about the vastness of inhabited areas of Alaska that just blows you away.

Bioluminescent bays in Puerto Rico. Kayaked them at night, and it was magical.

Anonymous wrote:Dubai, but in a bad way

I loved my trip to Dubai. We loved visiting the old section of the city with its souks, gold market, textiles, taking an old traditional boat on Dubai creek (I think it’s called a dhow), delicious food, visiting old castles and forts, museums, beaches, riding camels, dune bashing, desert safaris, etc…. It’s an amazing place.

I guess PP must have stayed in their luxury high-rise hotel the entire time instead of going out and exploring.

Anonymous wrote:Ok, we have the places you hated thread.. what are some places that just blew you away?

Wellington, Chicago and Antarctica were all pretty windy. It’s windy in Los Angeles now, but also there are fires so I would not recommend.

As far as something man made, I was completely blown away by Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg Germany.

The scale and scope of the incredibly detailed panoramas are incredible. You could spend hours here marvelling over how many man-hours it took to construct all the miniature scenes.

Antarctica

Kiawah is gorgeous

The mountains and beaches in St. Kitts are gorgeous.

Labadee, Haiti: the deep, rich foliage covering the mountains as you sail in are gorgeous.

Antigua has gorgeous beaches.

Captiva was magical in 90s/very early 2000s. Sharky, but magical.

Tortola, BVI (between the sailboats, coral reefs, mountainous landscape for a Caribbean island all really impressed me)

All of Ireland (specifically Cliffs of Moher, The Burren, Donegal and Sligo's coast, Rock of Cashel, Giant's Causeway, Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, Kylemore Abbey)

Costa de Brava Coast (Tossa de Mar, Lloret de Mar, Girona Cathederal)

Antigua (the beaches and clear water were nothing like I've seen before)

Sagrada de Familia (was under construction when I went in 2017 but would love to go back now)

London's big sights (so cool to see Big Ben, London Tower Bridge, London Eye all in person, but found Buckingham Palace underwhelming)

White House (to see it in person was cool)

Captiva Island, FL, pre-hurricane& covid in 2020 (we stayed on Sanibel Island but was nice to drive over the bridge and those houses on Captiva blew me away as well as the sunset)

Block Island, RI (unspoiled beaches, breathtaking cliff views; we went summer of 2020 so was nice to have it to ourselves in a way)

Montauk (love the lighthouse view, the cliffs, although would avoid it in the summer with the overrun of tourists and NYC transplants)

Saratoga Springs, NY (just the most charming town, great restaurants, shops, old-school vibe with a modern twist not far from the Adirondacks)

Terre d’haute in iles des saintes in the FWI