Most amazing/memorable places in the world you have been to in your life?

Behold the majestic waters of the famed and wild Hue Stun land

 

Can we go ahead and get the "your mom" joke out of the way?

 

Buck's mom..

Been to a lot of places, Machu Picchu, Grand Canyon, Milford Sound in New Zealand are among the top places that live up to billing. As an architect the most memorable place I've been to is the Hypostyle hall of Karnak Temple in Egypt. The sense of space the giant columns and the lintels create is sublime. The coolness too of the hall from the blazing heat of the Egyptian sun also adds to the experience. You can really feel the sense of mystery that the builders wanted to capture.

 

I haven't traveled many places, but the few that stick out in my mind:

The Maldives: We went here for our honeymoon. The experience was a lot more interesting than the location itself (we had stops in Sri Lanka and Dubai, which are both kind of insane places). It's beautiful and serene, don't get me wrong (except for the monsoons, which are intensely entertaining) but I felt like we could have replicated the trip in the Caribbean for half the cost. If you're a scuba fanatic it's probably worth it though, as the sea life is pretty unique.

Iceland: For a 5 hour trip (East Coast) it felt more exotic than most places for us. Lots of raw natural beauty. The black coast, waterfalls galore, hot springs, etc. I remember very vividly sitting in an ancient hot spring at the foot of a mountain feeling like I was on the set of Lord of the Rings or something. Just insane geographic features. As you navigate the island you bump into a lot of really quirky things that just stick out in your mind. A lot of very interesting food. Ate whale and caribou and puffin. Best lobster and cod I'd ever eaten, too.

Places I want to travel: Galapagos (my wife is a wildlife nerd so places with a unique biome are big), St. Lucia, Barcelona/Valencia (have friends here), Greek isles, Japan

 

1. Hoh Rainforest, Olympic NP, Washington

2. Mt. Rainier, Mt. Rainier NP, Washington

3. Carlsbad Caverns, Carlsbad Caverns NP, New Mexico

4. Chisos Mountains & Santa Elena Canyon, Big Bend NP, Texas

5. Pikes Peak, Barr Trail, Colorado

6. Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon NP, Arizona

7. Roatan, Honduras

 

A few years ago I was working a fire in Mesa Verde National Park. My job was to go around the ruins and see if there was any fire damage. The park was closed, the fire crews were far away, there were no rangers, no visitors. Just me walking around the ruins. I definitely felt a connection to the place.

 

I have travelled a good deal in Concord

 

I've been to over 40 countries, and nothing was as breathtaking on a whole as New Zealand. The whole place is beautiful. I personally love mountains (spend a couple of weeks backpacking a year) and most of the Rockies(especially Canadian rockies) and the Sierra mountains are also breath taking.

 

My last night in Tokyo at the sky bar of the Prince Park hotel having an old fashioned and seeing the whole city. Made me feel big and small at the same time.

 

Our problem was we simply ran out of stuff to do because the island we were staying at was quite small.

It was beyond gorgeous, but we felt kinda trapped and ended up blowing tons of money out of sheer boredom.

One weird thing we encountered were Instagram clout chasing Chinese tourists. These people would legit just show up to the island, spend 3 or 4 hours taking a crap ton of photos to share on social media as if they had taken some massive exotic vacation, when in reality they barely set foot there. I assume they maybe had a one night reservation, but I'm pretty sure almost all of them left the same day they arrived.

The staff of the resort said they were an extremely common occurrence and had complaints about them often because they would do obnoxious things like blare music and fly very loud drones (probably for footage of their 'awesome vacation').

So weird.

 

That is one of the weirdest things I've ever heard. Blows my ****ing mind.

If I had 3-4 hours to spend in the Maldives, I'd spend damn near every second in harmony with nature.

Yet another example of social media ruining everything.

 

Also, curious what kinds of things you ended up blowing tons of money on out of boredom. Pls share.

 

Went to Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, which is often called the most beautiful lake in the world. Sat on the porch looking at the looming volcanoes over the water and thought, "eh, it's nice, I guess." I mean, it is beautiful but somehow places seem to be more beautiful in photographs.

 

probably premium blow and gourmet jellybeans.

 

Once, I went south to Galveston.

 

wow…..I’m very “blessed”….. or “fortunate” I guess….depending on your perspective. But……uh…….I’m never really happy (my bad…..nobody’s fault but mine)…..::but………..yeah……..I can’t imagine ever thinking some place is more beautiful in photos. I’m so sorry.

 

Excursions and alcohol. The food/drink were particularly expensive because everything has to be flown/sailed out to the islands.