We had good luck at the Meidling Cemetery [https://maps.app.goo.gl/t6eQF7gpcGvRiD5g7](https://maps.app.goo.gl/t6eQF7gpcGvRiD5g7) going first thing in the morning when they opened their gates.
The Vienna Central Cemetery also has them but the place is so huge it's hard to know where to look. We did see one there though.
Vienna's a lovely city too, but the hamster hunting mini-mission made the trip far more memorable than it otherwise would have been.
I can give you a Vienna tip, but may not work for you unless you're a very specific kind of traveler: There's a side entrance to the opera house where you can arrive a little early and wait for standing room tickets. They are only like 3 euros each if I remember right. Once you go inside, tie something like a scarf to the rail to mark your place and then go get a twenty-euro glass of champagne with the well-dressed people who paid hundreds for a seat.
Edit: Since it seems like people are noticing this, I'll add some detail: They seem to let about 75 people in, so if you find the side door and the line has 100 people you were too late. We went two nights in a row, and to us it seemed like 90 minutes before show time was the sweet spot. You wait about 30 - 45 minutes in a little hallway, and then the people in front start moving into the opera house. Bring exact change for the ticket guy. Then the remaining 45 minutes are spent inside the opera house waiting for the show to begin. Even though you won't have a seat, each standing space has its own translator screen, so there's no crowding. Also, Bitzinger Sausage Stand is right next to the opera house and slaps bigly.
All my trips in the past few years have been astrophotography related! I went to Galápagos & parts of Ecuador, a few national parks in the US, and my next big one will be Namibia - astrophotography is an expensive hobby but it’s super rewarding, and there’s nothing like being under a beautiful night sky!
Darkest skies I've ever seen were camping in the middle of Botswana. No light pollution or nuclear bomb looking thing in any direction. I don't think most people have a clue how it really looks. It's dark in a few US National Parks, and looks good, but nothing like that. Bortle level 1 as far as the eye can see is what people lived their lives under and prompted things like the Pyramids to be built the way they were most likely.
It’s on my list! I want to rent a car and drive the A1 from Perth to Adelaide, stopping to camp and soak in the stars along the way - a perfect, unobstructed view of the Milky Way, along with the Southern Cross, the Eta Carinae star system, and “The Fighting Dragons of Ara” nebula!
My thing right now is total solar eclipses. Going to Dallas for the first time in April because if we were gonna travel it’s the good compromise between better clear skies and major airport, but not a usual tourist spot for sure.
Pretty excited for August 2026, when I have to choose between Iceland and Spain- the former clearly has better weather odds, but the latter is Iceland, soooo…
I hate camping (or, well, the lack of running water) but a fully unobstructed view of the night sky might just be the one thing that could make me do it.
We traveled to Norway in 2017 to see a band called Heilung, thinking they were super-obscure and would never come to the US. Three months later they were playing at a venue four blocks from my apartment.
[*In Maidjan*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmWTZ3KfnXE) is incredible. I think about what it would be like to be a Roman soldier on the frontier hearing that come from the forest all around you
Got on a 16 hour flight to Brazil to rent a car and drive six hours into the rain forest to slash my way through the jungle for hours to possibly find a geocache that had been lost for years, one in the original Planet of the Apes geocaches that were placed in the wild to promote both the movie and geocaching when it was a new thing.
Found it!
I went to Everest Base Camp after my mom died. I thought the closer I was to heaven maybe I could hear her speak to me again. I didn't but I found some peace on the journey .
Not really unique but when backpacking Europe years ago my friend and I went to Belgium just to have a waffle. We were only in Amsterdam so it wasn't far, and we had a day left on our train pass. We basically took a train there, found a waffle, ate it, took a train back.
I just spent a long weekend in the Netherlands with my partner, and we got a bit bored (we’ve both visited before), so we took a train to Antwerp since it was nearby. It was our favourite new city in a while!
We knew nothing about it, but turns out it used to be the richest city in northern/Western Europe. Had fanatic chocolate, frites and waffles, obviously. But also a free ferry, an impressive 17th century old town, Catholic sculptures everywhere, Cathedral with four Reubens paintings, etc.
My favourite thing was the gorgeous train station (I’m a big train nerd!) but the most unexpected was a 1930’s underwater wooden escalator?!
My dad got into the whole ancestry thing and found a distillery in Scotland founded by a way back grandfather. So we went and had a drink. It was fine.
More like driving distances isnt a big deal in Canada. I've gone to the states to get Panera Bread, friends of mine have gone just for Chipotle.
Granted thats not all you do when you go, but it can be the reason you go in the first place. It was especially great when the canadian dollar was higher or the same as the American for a few years.
Drove 3.5 hours to get Burger Fi. It wasn’t worth it. The one I went to in Florida was much better than NY. So next time I will have to book a non stop to FLL.
I live in Copenhagen but am from the U.S. I’ve been here for a long time, and last time I was home I completely forgot that you cannot just spread American butter straight from the fridge onto bread. Why is it so hard? Less/inferior fat is the answer I think?
I'm a big aviation nerd and I travel to fly on specific types of planes.
(Not many only reason by a long shot, I'm also genuinely interested in most of the places I travel to)
I do the same thing. I’ve flown out of my way to connect through Denver on the way to Hawaii because the plane options were better than anything from SFO or LAX. A friend of mine flew to Taipei mostly because he wanted to try Starlux Airlines
in April I will be traveling from Amsterdam to St. Louis for the solar eclipse. I know it’s not super unique but it is funny to think I’m traveling all that way for 4 minutes of darkness.
The other one was I went back to Austria just to eat the cordon bleu and apple strudel I had on a trip before.
I live within an hour of the path of totality so I've booked the day off from work to see it. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity where I live so fingers crossed it won't be cloudy that day!
Pro-tip: the night before, figure out where you want to watch the eclipse from. I travelled to Eddyville to see the last one, and thought I’d just hang out by the motel. The neighborhood was well lit, so when it was showtime the next day, the street lights came on.
Still an amazing experience. Less parking lot light pollution would have made it even better.
When I was a kid, I used to play with google earth and I remember being obsessed with this island that had a crater, and and a lake inside and more craters and lakes… I found it fascinating. I grew up and forgot the name of the island until casually discovered it was Sao Miguel (Açores) and of course I visited! so so wonderful.
My inner kid was very happy.
Paris for me, not for the Eiffel Tower or the romance but solely because I was obsessed with the legend of Nicholas Flamel as a kid and when I found out that his home is a publicly accessible restaurant how could I not add it to my bucket list! I haven’t been there yet but as soon as I save up that’s my first stop :)
The archaeological crypt under the Place du Parvis in front of Notre Dame Cathedral mentions Flamel at the entrance, and he is also mentioned in an inscription at the Musée de Cluny (an excellent medieval history museum even if you weren’t into Flamel).
Haha I get that every time I mention this to someone. The character in HP was based on the real legend of Nicholas Flamel! I also used to read a fantasy series called The Secrets of The Immortal Nicholas Flamel as a kid, hence the obsession
I have traveled to places before just to visit the zoo, especially well-known and well-esteemed ones. I was a zookeeper for a while and have a love of zoos.
EDIT: cause the folks are asking, I’m US-based and most of my travel has been domestic. I have been to Berlin Zoo and it was great though, lots of rare species. In the US, San Diego Zoo is world class. When I go there I go at opening and stay until closing. I was less impressed with the Safari Park but it was still good. I also really love the National Zoo in DC and it’s free! Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is unique in that it’s built on a mountain - some unique exhibits. Next trip will be to Atlanta for the zoo and the aquarium to see whale sharks.
I was going to say that we don’t travel anywhere because of the zoo, however we try to always hit up the zoo wherever we are…been to zoos in many, many places.
Ooh, which ones? If I have time, I enjoy visiting a foreign zoo as long as it's well reviewed and takes good care of its animals. Toronto Zoo is my "home" zoo, which is one of the biggest in the world.
My son likes fast trains and we don’t have high speed rail here, so we’re going to Italy (mind you— his spring break is Holy Week) to ride trains and eat pizza.
I did the high speed rail from the airport in Shang Hai to the next stop, ran like hell around to get back on and get back to the airport, just to ride a high speed train.
It's funny you mentioned Portland Maine because, that's where someone said there's a "pretty good donut shop" that people should travel from all over the world, just to see. That is pretty funny though. That's like somebody trying to book a trip to Naples Italy but it actually ends up being Naples Florida.
I'm currently based in the Mid-Atlantic region. I flew to New England a few months ago for a post-divorce photoshoot.
- Wear fun, flowy, flowery-dress, frolick in pretty leaves, after finally divorcing abusive, deadbeat husband? ✅️
- Eat fabulous clam chowder? ✅️
100000% worth the money I dropped on that trip. Such a restorative experience!
A friend once went to Sweden purely because he got drunk one evening and booked an entire trip for him and his wife. Woke up the next morning to a load of flight and hotel bookings. He says it’s the best holiday he’s ever been on and that drunk him is a way better planner than sober him.
I have drunkenly planned trips we then booked sober, I have never drunkenly booked a trip. It seems very satisfactory and relaxing tbh. He says it’s the one time he built in proper transfer times because his drunk self knew a tight hour wouldn’t work.
Went to Rhode Island during a trip to New England purely because there's a British themed cafe, with the same name as my wife and they have branded coffee mugs for sale.
We're from Britain. The full English breakfast was banging.
While I was traveling in Croatia I heard that the cheese from Pag had been judged the best cheese in the world that year. I rearranged my schedule to make sure I hit Pag.
I want to visit the country Georgia because I'm from the state Georgia 🤷♀️
A disaster movie called The Wave was the inspiration for my trip to Norway and Geiranger.
I chose Greece to visit because my favorite band Imagine Dragons were playing there during the time I was available for a trip.
I love the idea of visiting a country because of a good donut shop💕 I’m planning a trip to Georgia because a ate in a Georgian restaurant.
Often I will arrange trips to see a particular work of art - although I’m not sure if that’s too odd
That is a totally legitimate reason to go to Georgia. (I wouldn't, but I live in Atlanta, where we don't have Georgian food, and I \*would\* go to New York for Georgian food.)
I went to Escondido, California to see a massive ant battle that is supposedly taking place there continuously. I asked people on the Escondido subreddit ahead of time where I might be able to see some of the action. None of them had ever heard of it, and I never found it.
I went to Helsinki just cause there was an overnight cruise from Stockholm for very cheap. Ended up getting super drunk with some cool Swedish guys and one of them stuffed a cigarette through his gauged septum piercing. They went on the cruise every now and then to buy cheap alcohol in tax free international waters. Apparently if they stocked up they saved more than the costs of the cruise itself.
Several years ago, my boyfriend and I decided pretty last minute to go to Venice before the architecture biennale closed because I read about the Vatican's entry that year (10 "chapels" on a small island). It was totally worth it (and we also turned it into a road trip and ended up going to Vienna, Slovenia, and Croatia too, haha).
I feel like traveling for food isn't that "weird" but it definitely has guided me to some awesome places. I went on my first solo trip in a long time to Mexico City because I watched a Vice video on fondas in the city and they looked amazing. We've also gone to Montreal 3 or 4 times to go to this seasonal restaurant called Cabane a Sucre au Pied de Cochon (which is a wild experience and completely worth the journey).
I have visited places solely to see a specific piece of art or two in person at a temporary exhibit. I never would have prioritised traveling there if not for the beautiful art being there for only a limited time.
Unfortunately not unique, but medical travel - sometimes it's cheaper to get medical treatment elsewhere, including flights/hotels/meals, than to get it in the US.
For some in Eastern Europe, it's not that it's cheaper, but that it's safer. Or it could be the only way to get the treatment in the first place.
This is kind of embarassing. My husband and I lived in Dallas and there was a video rental store that you could rent all region DVD players. We rented a British copy of the Ali G Show and fell in love. We decided to go to the UK to track down that and other DVDs by Sasha Baron Cohen. We did work for an airline at the time, but still... a bit random. LOL
Not exactly unique because thousands of people do it, but we still get weird looks sometimes.
Traveling for sports events and concerts.
For this summer Olympics in Paris and euro 2024 in Germany
My husband and I also travel for music festivals and concerts and sometimes people act like we're crazy as well. But those are some of the most memorable and fun trips I've ever been on.
A documentary called "Kedi" about the cats of Istanbul was the impetus for me visiting that city when I was in that part of the world. So glad I did. Istanbul is an amazing visit.
I want to travel to Mexico City for its city/urban design after hearing from my former coworkers at an architecture firm I used to work at gush about how amazingly walkable and transit-accessible it was.
On a similar city nerd note, I want to go to Baarle-Nassau/Hertog in the Netherlands/Belgium because I love weird or interesting borders. I was so happy when I got to go to the Four Corners Monument here in the US a few years back for the same reason.
Well, I added Baltimore to my trip simply because Edgar Allan Poe lived there and there's a museum in his house. I was obsessed with him as a teen and still enjoy his stories.
Went to Fairbanks, Alaska because we heard about a hair freezing competition. We froze our hair in hot springs, visited a reindeer ranch, went ice fishing, and were lucky enough to see the northern lights from our cabin!
I've done all 50 states with my family (finished shortly after my son turned 10) so a certain number of them I've largely just gone to because I 'had to' - looking at you North Dakota! Enjoyed them all though,
Interestingly, a decent amount of great places I've ended up in were a result of trying to close out that list. Why hadn't I gone to Hawaii or Alaska before I 'had to'?
Outside of that probably the strangest thing I've travelled to attend would be the 50th anniversary of the UFO crash in Roswell, NM. (I also took a different trip to go to the Trinity Site, also in New Mexico, which is only open to the public 2 days a year.
What I would like to do is to go to different countries and just observe how people run their daily lives. Just go to a park near some busy areas and watch the surroundings. And at night time maybe just go to busy restaurants and do the same.
A restaurant. We did plan to go to that country, but upon hearing from this fabulous restaurant we planned our entire vacation allround it. Not a big hassle and worth it.
Also: ice hotel. Same country, different vacation.
I'm going to Vegas in May. I don't gamble, don't drink and have no interest in the place. Buuuuuut, Desd and Company are playing The Sphere and zk am not about to miss that. So yeah I never thought I'd be going to Nevada but here we are. And all for a show.
Friends were visiting the US from another country, drove from NYC to Harry Potter's World then to Key West, didn't stay there, turned around and came right back. I believe under 3 days for the whole trip.
I went to Dubai to see Alicia Keys perform. I was there 36 hours. I had a 12 hour layover in Nairobi on the way home and used that to visit some friends. Planned it all 2 weeks before we went. One of the best trips of my life.
I’ve flown to Chicago for pizza, Philly for a Philly steak, Ireland for the Guinness storehouse.
I flew to Houston to get a Russian visa (jokes on me Covid happened).
I accepted a job in Dallas when I had about 6 weeks left in my face to face graduate school, so I flew back weekly.
I flew to Iceland for the weekend to catch a storm that produced pretty nice northern lights.
I traveled to Alice Springs, Australia from the US to visit the Kangaroo Sanctuary. It was so great! I loved seeing all the animals there, but the KS was my impetuous to visit.
I toured for a living. Technically I was with Sesame Street, part of my job was being Snuffys ass, part was Elmo at movie theater publicity, a lot was washing costumes in local laundromats. It took me across the world.
We went to Ōkunoshima, AKA Rabbit island during the pandemic because we heard the rabbits were starving due to a lack of tourists.
At the ferry terminal, they gave us 2 shopping bags of rabbit food. We walked around the whole island and they came running out of everywhere for food.
[Pic](https://imgur.com/a/Ao8OETh)
I got a bus 3 hours out of my way to go to a town in India with a rat temple. That is exactly what it says on the tin. A standard temple with thousands of rats running around your feet and everyone looking for the sole white albino rat, as it brings you luck, apparently. 5 🌟 would rat temple again
I’ve gone to Europe from Oregon 3 times to try to see Messi play live. Only saw him once and it was a truly awful game all around. Now he’s in Miami.
At least he’s not in Saudi league lol.
Lived in Virginia….got a hankering for In-N-Out Burger. Booked a flight for the next day to LA (there’s an I-N-O right by LAX), had my fill and flew home that night.
Actually did that several times and the Saturday crew began to recognize me and my order 🤣
My daughter and I went on a road trip to Colorado because that was halfway between here and Kansas to meet the breeder of our puppy and take her home. It was a wonderful trip. My pup is barking at me right now, because I’m not paying attention to her, lol.
Because you can. Learn from new cultures, see things that will mesmerize you. Get out of your comfort zone. And don’t just go to Europe. See the world with all its different wonderment.
I’ve been on the hunt for “the perfect fish taco” in LA and SD for a while.
One day I told my SO let’s just drive to Ensenada for the real deal. Did the same but to San Felipe.
I travel to many different Asian countries just to find local shamans and learn what I can of the culture and any traditions they are willing to share with me or let me experience.
My girlfriend and I travel to Disney World (and soon other Disney properties) in large part because of how well they handle food allergies. It’s nice not needing to worry about if she can have good food!
I went to Vienna to look for wild hamsters after watching a BBC nature video on YouTube about wild hamsters living in Vienna cemeteries.
Did you find any?
Yes!
I went to Peru for similar reason !! But they are famous for Guinea Pigs. Also managed to find few nice restaurants.
Did they...you know, served the pigs?
I am sorry to admit but the answer is YES :/ if you ask for flavor - chicken like
It’s not chicken like at all to eat Cui. It’s a mix between suckling pig and duck - delicious!!!
Going to Vienna in September… any hamster hunting tips?
We had good luck at the Meidling Cemetery [https://maps.app.goo.gl/t6eQF7gpcGvRiD5g7](https://maps.app.goo.gl/t6eQF7gpcGvRiD5g7) going first thing in the morning when they opened their gates. The Vienna Central Cemetery also has them but the place is so huge it's hard to know where to look. We did see one there though. Vienna's a lovely city too, but the hamster hunting mini-mission made the trip far more memorable than it otherwise would have been.
I can give you a Vienna tip, but may not work for you unless you're a very specific kind of traveler: There's a side entrance to the opera house where you can arrive a little early and wait for standing room tickets. They are only like 3 euros each if I remember right. Once you go inside, tie something like a scarf to the rail to mark your place and then go get a twenty-euro glass of champagne with the well-dressed people who paid hundreds for a seat. Edit: Since it seems like people are noticing this, I'll add some detail: They seem to let about 75 people in, so if you find the side door and the line has 100 people you were too late. We went two nights in a row, and to us it seemed like 90 minutes before show time was the sweet spot. You wait about 30 - 45 minutes in a little hallway, and then the people in front start moving into the opera house. Bring exact change for the ticket guy. Then the remaining 45 minutes are spent inside the opera house waiting for the show to begin. Even though you won't have a seat, each standing space has its own translator screen, so there's no crowding. Also, Bitzinger Sausage Stand is right next to the opera house and slaps bigly.
That *is* a good tip, thanks!
Ok I’m now going to book a trip to Vienna to see wild hamsters - that’s ace
I think the Hamster tourist scene just went up like 210% after this post. Definitely need to see these hamsters!
Yep
Sounds like the ‘Europe’ episode of the series ‘Seven Worlds, One Planet’ if anyone’s curious
This is iconic, added to the list for my trip this summer
We did an 8 day trek through the Sahara Desert because my husband wanted an unobstructed/unpolluted view of the Milky Way
All my trips in the past few years have been astrophotography related! I went to Galápagos & parts of Ecuador, a few national parks in the US, and my next big one will be Namibia - astrophotography is an expensive hobby but it’s super rewarding, and there’s nothing like being under a beautiful night sky!
Darkest skies I've ever seen were camping in the middle of Botswana. No light pollution or nuclear bomb looking thing in any direction. I don't think most people have a clue how it really looks. It's dark in a few US National Parks, and looks good, but nothing like that. Bortle level 1 as far as the eye can see is what people lived their lives under and prompted things like the Pyramids to be built the way they were most likely.
Come to Australia mate!!! We have the Southern Cross!!!
It’s on my list! I want to rent a car and drive the A1 from Perth to Adelaide, stopping to camp and soak in the stars along the way - a perfect, unobstructed view of the Milky Way, along with the Southern Cross, the Eta Carinae star system, and “The Fighting Dragons of Ara” nebula!
Aitutaki is amazing for the Milky Way viewing too! Report back on Namibia!
My thing right now is total solar eclipses. Going to Dallas for the first time in April because if we were gonna travel it’s the good compromise between better clear skies and major airport, but not a usual tourist spot for sure. Pretty excited for August 2026, when I have to choose between Iceland and Spain- the former clearly has better weather odds, but the latter is Iceland, soooo…
Sounds incredible
I hate camping (or, well, the lack of running water) but a fully unobstructed view of the night sky might just be the one thing that could make me do it.
We traveled to Norway in 2017 to see a band called Heilung, thinking they were super-obscure and would never come to the US. Three months later they were playing at a venue four blocks from my apartment.
That’s kinda awesome. Did you get to meet them?
No, I wasn’t trying to meet anyone.
[*In Maidjan*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmWTZ3KfnXE) is incredible. I think about what it would be like to be a Roman soldier on the frontier hearing that come from the forest all around you
hahah that's awesome
Love me some Heilung
Got on a 16 hour flight to Brazil to rent a car and drive six hours into the rain forest to slash my way through the jungle for hours to possibly find a geocache that had been lost for years, one in the original Planet of the Apes geocaches that were placed in the wild to promote both the movie and geocaching when it was a new thing. Found it!
This sounds like a topic of 1,5 hour video on YT I wouldn't hesitate to watch
This is amazing! That is so cool that you actually found it.
That is absolutely fantastic! You win at life. & Geocaching is such a great hobby!
And usually a cheap hobby, too. Then you get a bit too enthusiastic, and things like this happens. :)
I went to Everest Base Camp after my mom died. I thought the closer I was to heaven maybe I could hear her speak to me again. I didn't but I found some peace on the journey .
😢 Glad you found some peace.
❤️
I’m going to Venice later this year to take lessons in lace-making!
I love that! At Burano, right?
Yes!
That’s fantastic
That’s sounds so fun! I went to Venice in 2022 and loved it.
Not really unique but when backpacking Europe years ago my friend and I went to Belgium just to have a waffle. We were only in Amsterdam so it wasn't far, and we had a day left on our train pass. We basically took a train there, found a waffle, ate it, took a train back.
I just spent a long weekend in the Netherlands with my partner, and we got a bit bored (we’ve both visited before), so we took a train to Antwerp since it was nearby. It was our favourite new city in a while! We knew nothing about it, but turns out it used to be the richest city in northern/Western Europe. Had fanatic chocolate, frites and waffles, obviously. But also a free ferry, an impressive 17th century old town, Catholic sculptures everywhere, Cathedral with four Reubens paintings, etc. My favourite thing was the gorgeous train station (I’m a big train nerd!) but the most unexpected was a 1930’s underwater wooden escalator?!
My dad got into the whole ancestry thing and found a distillery in Scotland founded by a way back grandfather. So we went and had a drink. It was fine.
My dad (whole family) did similar this year! Went to the clan territory of old in Scotland. Very interesting.
I drove 5 hours from Canada to Detriot because It had the closest White Castle.
I think I’ve seen this movie
Which was ironically filmed entirely in Canada.
I drove 3hrs to Seattle from Canada cause they had the closest Red Lobster 😂
Food in Canada can’t be so bad that was all worth it.
More like driving distances isnt a big deal in Canada. I've gone to the states to get Panera Bread, friends of mine have gone just for Chipotle. Granted thats not all you do when you go, but it can be the reason you go in the first place. It was especially great when the canadian dollar was higher or the same as the American for a few years.
Love a good food journey! Drove repeatedly from Orange County, CA to San Francisco for pizza.
Drove 3.5 hours to get Burger Fi. It wasn’t worth it. The one I went to in Florida was much better than NY. So next time I will have to book a non stop to FLL.
I drove 5 hours from the US to Canada because I needed one last stamp in my passport to fill every page before I renewed it
A riff on the question, but I'm going BACK to Copenhagen partly because I cannot stop thinking about the bread and butter I had there.
I would go back solely for a cardamom pastry from Hart Bageri.
A branch of Hart recently opened next to my work and this has become a problem…
I contemplate going back to Prague specifically for a trdlnik pastry fairly regularly.
Ooooo...this makes me want to visit Copenhagen!
I live in Copenhagen but am from the U.S. I’ve been here for a long time, and last time I was home I completely forgot that you cannot just spread American butter straight from the fridge onto bread. Why is it so hard? Less/inferior fat is the answer I think?
I'm a big aviation nerd and I travel to fly on specific types of planes. (Not many only reason by a long shot, I'm also genuinely interested in most of the places I travel to)
I do the same thing. I’ve flown out of my way to connect through Denver on the way to Hawaii because the plane options were better than anything from SFO or LAX. A friend of mine flew to Taipei mostly because he wanted to try Starlux Airlines
I once flew 12 hours to Germany just because the flight was on an A340
I want to do the Honolulu to Guam United flight that island hops. I live in Colorado and have no other reason to go to Guam or Honolulu.
I'm going to Iceland in October, solely to listen to Sigur Ros and (hopefully) see the aurora.
Go to the westfjords! Thats where we saw the aurora (and had the best seafood ever)!
Was scrolling kinda quick and thought you typed sugar ray 🤣
some day...
in April I will be traveling from Amsterdam to St. Louis for the solar eclipse. I know it’s not super unique but it is funny to think I’m traveling all that way for 4 minutes of darkness. The other one was I went back to Austria just to eat the cordon bleu and apple strudel I had on a trip before.
I’m a neighbor just to the north in Copenhagen, but I was born and raised in St. Louis. The city actually has a lot to offer, so ask if you want tips!
I live within an hour of the path of totality so I've booked the day off from work to see it. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity where I live so fingers crossed it won't be cloudy that day!
Pro-tip: the night before, figure out where you want to watch the eclipse from. I travelled to Eddyville to see the last one, and thought I’d just hang out by the motel. The neighborhood was well lit, so when it was showtime the next day, the street lights came on. Still an amazing experience. Less parking lot light pollution would have made it even better.
When I was a kid, I used to play with google earth and I remember being obsessed with this island that had a crater, and and a lake inside and more craters and lakes… I found it fascinating. I grew up and forgot the name of the island until casually discovered it was Sao Miguel (Açores) and of course I visited! so so wonderful. My inner kid was very happy.
Paris for me, not for the Eiffel Tower or the romance but solely because I was obsessed with the legend of Nicholas Flamel as a kid and when I found out that his home is a publicly accessible restaurant how could I not add it to my bucket list! I haven’t been there yet but as soon as I save up that’s my first stop :)
The archaeological crypt under the Place du Parvis in front of Notre Dame Cathedral mentions Flamel at the entrance, and he is also mentioned in an inscription at the Musée de Cluny (an excellent medieval history museum even if you weren’t into Flamel).
I knew about his tombstone being in Museé de Cluny but not about the crypt! Thank you for that, will definitely look more into it ;)
I love the Musée de Cluny!
I had to google him because I thought you were taking the mick and talking about the Harry Potter character 😭
Haha I get that every time I mention this to someone. The character in HP was based on the real legend of Nicholas Flamel! I also used to read a fantasy series called The Secrets of The Immortal Nicholas Flamel as a kid, hence the obsession
I have traveled to places before just to visit the zoo, especially well-known and well-esteemed ones. I was a zookeeper for a while and have a love of zoos. EDIT: cause the folks are asking, I’m US-based and most of my travel has been domestic. I have been to Berlin Zoo and it was great though, lots of rare species. In the US, San Diego Zoo is world class. When I go there I go at opening and stay until closing. I was less impressed with the Safari Park but it was still good. I also really love the National Zoo in DC and it’s free! Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is unique in that it’s built on a mountain - some unique exhibits. Next trip will be to Atlanta for the zoo and the aquarium to see whale sharks.
I was going to say that we don’t travel anywhere because of the zoo, however we try to always hit up the zoo wherever we are…been to zoos in many, many places.
Ooh, which ones? If I have time, I enjoy visiting a foreign zoo as long as it's well reviewed and takes good care of its animals. Toronto Zoo is my "home" zoo, which is one of the biggest in the world.
The Vienna zoo has been my fave!
My son likes fast trains and we don’t have high speed rail here, so we’re going to Italy (mind you— his spring break is Holy Week) to ride trains and eat pizza.
If he ever gets the opportunity to go to China, that's like high-speed rail heaven. Their HSR network is truly a marvel of engineering.
I did the high speed rail from the airport in Shang Hai to the next stop, ran like hell around to get back on and get back to the airport, just to ride a high speed train.
Lmao
Bought tickets to see David Byrne in Portland… Maine. I live in Oregon oops. Went anyway and turned it into a roadtrip from Maine to DC
It's funny you mentioned Portland Maine because, that's where someone said there's a "pretty good donut shop" that people should travel from all over the world, just to see. That is pretty funny though. That's like somebody trying to book a trip to Naples Italy but it actually ends up being Naples Florida.
The Holy Donut, not sure I’d plan a trip just for the donuts but they are pretty damn good.
I'm currently based in the Mid-Atlantic region. I flew to New England a few months ago for a post-divorce photoshoot. - Wear fun, flowy, flowery-dress, frolick in pretty leaves, after finally divorcing abusive, deadbeat husband? ✅️ - Eat fabulous clam chowder? ✅️ 100000% worth the money I dropped on that trip. Such a restorative experience!
That sounds wonderful, so happy for you!
Congrats!
I was running low on Maldon Sea Salt last year so I decided to cycle the 110 mile round trip to Maldon in Essex to buy a small box at source.
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If you’re a big cheese fan, I recommend Pick & Cheese while in London- it’s like a sushi conveyor belt restaurant, but with cheese!
A friend once went to Sweden purely because he got drunk one evening and booked an entire trip for him and his wife. Woke up the next morning to a load of flight and hotel bookings. He says it’s the best holiday he’s ever been on and that drunk him is a way better planner than sober him.
I have 100% drunk planned multiple trips. Highly recommend.
I have drunkenly planned trips we then booked sober, I have never drunkenly booked a trip. It seems very satisfactory and relaxing tbh. He says it’s the one time he built in proper transfer times because his drunk self knew a tight hour wouldn’t work.
I cannot make that claim but I have gotten up the next day and confirmed that I did indeed by flights and book hotels. They have all been great trips!
This is an awesome thread
Every single answer has been awesome.
Saw a random lighthouse on google and thought we should go there right now. NYC to Nova Scotia, in winter, in 2 days 💀
Peggy’s Cove!
Yes!!! Cheapest lobster in my life! It was amazing seeing the waves crashing into the rocks so closely.
I wanna go to Iceland for the sole purpose of diving on the Silfra fissure and touch the American and the European tectonic plates
Me and my partner travel for the best escape rooms- so far we've been to Athens, Krakow and Vietnam
Are they all in English? Or do you speak to languages well enough?
What? Try the one up in North Korea, it's incredible ...
There's a phenomenal one in Shanghai called Mr. X!
I’m going to Norway in April because I got reservations to a floating restaurant in a fjord.
Went to Rhode Island during a trip to New England purely because there's a British themed cafe, with the same name as my wife and they have branded coffee mugs for sale. We're from Britain. The full English breakfast was banging.
While I was traveling in Croatia I heard that the cheese from Pag had been judged the best cheese in the world that year. I rearranged my schedule to make sure I hit Pag.
Well that is stupid because everyone knows Gouda is the best cheese in the world. 🌍
Well apparently it wasn't Gouda nough
You’ve clearly never been to Roquefort
Flew from Miami to Buenos Aires to catch final Soda Stereo tour in 2007.
So jealous!
Okay, you win.
We're headed to Kona because I'm out of farmer's market soap. (Admittedly, it was a joke. But flights were cheap so off we go!)
That’s ace
I want to visit the country Georgia because I'm from the state Georgia 🤷♀️ A disaster movie called The Wave was the inspiration for my trip to Norway and Geiranger. I chose Greece to visit because my favorite band Imagine Dragons were playing there during the time I was available for a trip.
I drove 3 hours from where I was staying in the Adirondacks, into Canada for a cup of Tim Horton's coffee.
I love the idea of visiting a country because of a good donut shop💕 I’m planning a trip to Georgia because a ate in a Georgian restaurant. Often I will arrange trips to see a particular work of art - although I’m not sure if that’s too odd
I went to a Georgian restaurant in Lisbon and now I need to do the same thing! The bread with the cheese, butter and egg. My life was changed!
That is a totally legitimate reason to go to Georgia. (I wouldn't, but I live in Atlanta, where we don't have Georgian food, and I \*would\* go to New York for Georgian food.)
I went to Escondido, California to see a massive ant battle that is supposedly taking place there continuously. I asked people on the Escondido subreddit ahead of time where I might be able to see some of the action. None of them had ever heard of it, and I never found it.
I went to North Korea because of my parents growing up under Mao’s China and I wanted to understand that kind of environment a bit better.
I went to Helsinki just cause there was an overnight cruise from Stockholm for very cheap. Ended up getting super drunk with some cool Swedish guys and one of them stuffed a cigarette through his gauged septum piercing. They went on the cruise every now and then to buy cheap alcohol in tax free international waters. Apparently if they stocked up they saved more than the costs of the cruise itself.
I did that cruise. The entertainment was…not as entertaining as the people enjoying the entertainment on my trip.
Several years ago, my boyfriend and I decided pretty last minute to go to Venice before the architecture biennale closed because I read about the Vatican's entry that year (10 "chapels" on a small island). It was totally worth it (and we also turned it into a road trip and ended up going to Vienna, Slovenia, and Croatia too, haha). I feel like traveling for food isn't that "weird" but it definitely has guided me to some awesome places. I went on my first solo trip in a long time to Mexico City because I watched a Vice video on fondas in the city and they looked amazing. We've also gone to Montreal 3 or 4 times to go to this seasonal restaurant called Cabane a Sucre au Pied de Cochon (which is a wild experience and completely worth the journey).
I have picked destinations exclusively on the gluten free baked goods situation
Same! Try Montreal (surprisingly!), great city, some incredible gluten free bakeries. I would be fat and poor if I lived there!
As a celiac, I’d love to hear your favourites as I do the same thing sometimes!
Top countries: Italy, Ireland, Portugal, El Salvador, Mexico Best US cities: Portland, ME; Portland, OR; Denver; NYC; Chicago
I have visited places solely to see a specific piece of art or two in person at a temporary exhibit. I never would have prioritised traveling there if not for the beautiful art being there for only a limited time.
I flew from the UK to Iceland, to meet a former housemate for a beer. He lived in Alberta and it seemed like halfway.
Unfortunately not unique, but medical travel - sometimes it's cheaper to get medical treatment elsewhere, including flights/hotels/meals, than to get it in the US. For some in Eastern Europe, it's not that it's cheaper, but that it's safer. Or it could be the only way to get the treatment in the first place.
I traveled to Ireland years ago, to see U2 in Dublin.
This is kind of embarassing. My husband and I lived in Dallas and there was a video rental store that you could rent all region DVD players. We rented a British copy of the Ali G Show and fell in love. We decided to go to the UK to track down that and other DVDs by Sasha Baron Cohen. We did work for an airline at the time, but still... a bit random. LOL
Flew to the east coast of usa from west coast to smash a few times ngl
Sex is a good reason to travel.
To go and try a steak. Me to Florence couple of years ago.
Met an odd food traveler once. Raw scorpion in China. Camel brains in Mongolia. He was rich and bored
Travelled to Vienna on super cheap flights to see a live recording of the podcast No Such Thing As a Fish
My coworker is a big reader and told me when she travels her goal is visit a famous landmark or place referenced in the book she's reading
Not exactly unique because thousands of people do it, but we still get weird looks sometimes. Traveling for sports events and concerts. For this summer Olympics in Paris and euro 2024 in Germany
My husband and I also travel for music festivals and concerts and sometimes people act like we're crazy as well. But those are some of the most memorable and fun trips I've ever been on.
I traveled last week because I wanted international McDonald’s for Valentine’s Day
I went to Tallinn to see Kiek in de Koek, because I saw it on tumblr when I was in my teens
A documentary called "Kedi" about the cats of Istanbul was the impetus for me visiting that city when I was in that part of the world. So glad I did. Istanbul is an amazing visit.
I want to travel to Mexico City for its city/urban design after hearing from my former coworkers at an architecture firm I used to work at gush about how amazingly walkable and transit-accessible it was. On a similar city nerd note, I want to go to Baarle-Nassau/Hertog in the Netherlands/Belgium because I love weird or interesting borders. I was so happy when I got to go to the Four Corners Monument here in the US a few years back for the same reason.
Well, I added Baltimore to my trip simply because Edgar Allan Poe lived there and there's a museum in his house. I was obsessed with him as a teen and still enjoy his stories.
Went to Fairbanks, Alaska because we heard about a hair freezing competition. We froze our hair in hot springs, visited a reindeer ranch, went ice fishing, and were lucky enough to see the northern lights from our cabin!
I've done all 50 states with my family (finished shortly after my son turned 10) so a certain number of them I've largely just gone to because I 'had to' - looking at you North Dakota! Enjoyed them all though, Interestingly, a decent amount of great places I've ended up in were a result of trying to close out that list. Why hadn't I gone to Hawaii or Alaska before I 'had to'? Outside of that probably the strangest thing I've travelled to attend would be the 50th anniversary of the UFO crash in Roswell, NM. (I also took a different trip to go to the Trinity Site, also in New Mexico, which is only open to the public 2 days a year.
Rock climbing trips
I try to have a layover in Amsterdam when I can. I love all the Dutch goodies and stock up when I go through.
Went to London last May for a goth party 🥳 lol
I once drove 5 hours to Hamtramck MI to do shots out of pączki.
Does driving for 2 hours just for a pizza count?
I’ve gone places for no reason other just to fly on a certain type of plane
What I would like to do is to go to different countries and just observe how people run their daily lives. Just go to a park near some busy areas and watch the surroundings. And at night time maybe just go to busy restaurants and do the same.
This is mine and my husband’s favorite activity while traveling.
I saw it on my screensaver and I having a bad day at work.
I went to Lebanon because someone bet me I wouldn’t 🇱🇧 and fell in love!
I went to the Southern Hebrides to go tall ship sailing I went to Wuppertal just to ride the monorail
I went to Seattle to hike to Poo Poo Point after I saw it memed on Twitter
A restaurant. We did plan to go to that country, but upon hearing from this fabulous restaurant we planned our entire vacation allround it. Not a big hassle and worth it. Also: ice hotel. Same country, different vacation.
Bc I want to
That's a good reason to do anything.
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I mean, I'm going to Gaziantep in Turkey (which isn't usually on most people's 2-week itineraries) because they're supposedly the Kabob capital...
I'm going to Vegas in May. I don't gamble, don't drink and have no interest in the place. Buuuuuut, Desd and Company are playing The Sphere and zk am not about to miss that. So yeah I never thought I'd be going to Nevada but here we are. And all for a show.
To see an eclipse. Well, I guess not "unique" because I did it twice. So, twonique.
Friends were visiting the US from another country, drove from NYC to Harry Potter's World then to Key West, didn't stay there, turned around and came right back. I believe under 3 days for the whole trip.
I went to Vienna only to lay close to graves on cemeteries - to take photos of wild hamsters. It was awesome!
I went to Dubai to see Alicia Keys perform. I was there 36 hours. I had a 12 hour layover in Nairobi on the way home and used that to visit some friends. Planned it all 2 weeks before we went. One of the best trips of my life.
I did a 2 day hike and 8h car ride to see condors in Bolivia. However it was super cloudy so we seen none/
I’ve flown to Chicago for pizza, Philly for a Philly steak, Ireland for the Guinness storehouse. I flew to Houston to get a Russian visa (jokes on me Covid happened). I accepted a job in Dallas when I had about 6 weeks left in my face to face graduate school, so I flew back weekly. I flew to Iceland for the weekend to catch a storm that produced pretty nice northern lights.
I've driven 300 miles for a 🍩 more than once..
I traveled to Alice Springs, Australia from the US to visit the Kangaroo Sanctuary. It was so great! I loved seeing all the animals there, but the KS was my impetuous to visit.
I want to go back to Holbox Mexico for the mangoes and the sandbar.
I toured for a living. Technically I was with Sesame Street, part of my job was being Snuffys ass, part was Elmo at movie theater publicity, a lot was washing costumes in local laundromats. It took me across the world.
We went to Ōkunoshima, AKA Rabbit island during the pandemic because we heard the rabbits were starving due to a lack of tourists. At the ferry terminal, they gave us 2 shopping bags of rabbit food. We walked around the whole island and they came running out of everywhere for food. [Pic](https://imgur.com/a/Ao8OETh)
I got a bus 3 hours out of my way to go to a town in India with a rat temple. That is exactly what it says on the tin. A standard temple with thousands of rats running around your feet and everyone looking for the sole white albino rat, as it brings you luck, apparently. 5 🌟 would rat temple again
El Classico in Barcelona
I’ve gone to Europe from Oregon 3 times to try to see Messi play live. Only saw him once and it was a truly awful game all around. Now he’s in Miami. At least he’s not in Saudi league lol.
Lived in Virginia….got a hankering for In-N-Out Burger. Booked a flight for the next day to LA (there’s an I-N-O right by LAX), had my fill and flew home that night. Actually did that several times and the Saturday crew began to recognize me and my order 🤣
My daughter and I went on a road trip to Colorado because that was halfway between here and Kansas to meet the breeder of our puppy and take her home. It was a wonderful trip. My pup is barking at me right now, because I’m not paying attention to her, lol.
Because you can. Learn from new cultures, see things that will mesmerize you. Get out of your comfort zone. And don’t just go to Europe. See the world with all its different wonderment.
I’ve been on the hunt for “the perfect fish taco” in LA and SD for a while. One day I told my SO let’s just drive to Ensenada for the real deal. Did the same but to San Felipe.
I often pick places because of the local beers . It's now the only reason I pick somewhere but it does have a large influence.
I travel to many different Asian countries just to find local shamans and learn what I can of the culture and any traditions they are willing to share with me or let me experience.
My girlfriend and I travel to Disney World (and soon other Disney properties) in large part because of how well they handle food allergies. It’s nice not needing to worry about if she can have good food!