Going back this winter. Maui again and also Kauai. Big Island will have to wait.
What one place have you been that you would tell others to see before you die?
- Thread starter noleclone2
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For me both. Its breathtaking. To get there you go thru amazing poverty.
In that vein... the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam was sobering.
Just not the way I'm wired. My grandkids being born were life changing. Places that something happened at are still just place that something happened at to me.
I think "different" is a big thing, but also what you take away from being somewhere different.
I grew up with too many people who've rarely ever left the state, nevertheless the country, and their worldview is extremely limited. A lot of the people who are not just "USA #1" but more like "USA ONLY!" are the people who've never been anywhere, seen anything different, or really interacted with other cultures. Maybe they've gone to Cancun or even Jamaica, and spent their time at the resort being drunk around other Americans - they went somewhere different and took nothing new away from the experience.
The first time I went out of country (not counting the Mexico border towns) was to England. My friend's family took me to Windsor Castle. The big thing I recognized is that everything in that castle was older than anything to do with our country (a simplification that ignores indigenous artifacts - I get it). How can we be expected to understand the world around us if we never really get to learn about, or experience, anything prior to the 1770s?
You can go to all these different, foreign things, and still not leave with any greater appreciation. Or, you can go to these places, and have these experiences, and allow that increased understanding to become a part of who you are, and how you see things.
my top two are Glacier NP and Iceland. Glacier was amazing, been twice and looking forward to the next trip. Highline Trail gives amazing views, especially if you do the death march up to Grinell glacier overlook. Iceland had a feel like Glacier but yet different and amazing in its own aspect. We loved going in the summer with all the flowing waterfalls and abundance of greens. The people are so nice and it’s not so full of tourists. We also went back in winter to see the northern lights. It’s still beautiful in the winter with snow covered mountains and frozen waterfalls. Looking forward to taking the kids on our next visit
I am kicking myself because I forgot to apply for tickets for 2025. I missed the email reminder from them.
Did you happen to do the tour of Tower of London? That was pretty damn cool, at least to young Franklin 35 years ago.
My wife and I spent 11 days on the Island of Crete in 2016. I would go there every year if I could afford it. We want to Matala because of the Joni Mitchell song Carey and it was special. But the entire Island is incredible. 110 miles long, maybe 45 miles wide with an 8000-foot mountain in the center. History, beauty, hospitality - it has it all. If you are going to Greece, get out of Athens, take the overnight ferry to Heraklion, and explore.
Can you tell me more about the northern lights? We went to Iceland in June and did a tour of the southern coastline. Started in Reykjavik and ended back there. We are 100% going back to hit Northern coastline. I think we should go in winter to see the northern lights, but we also hate cold weather lol.
I’ve been to Tortola, nice mountains. I liked Dominica better though. Most mountainous island in the Caribbean. Beautiful waterfalls coming down from the Calderas.
9/11 Monument. Do the timeline walk. It's been a while since that day, but the emotions it brought up were right there below the surface.
It was one of the most impressive things we saw in Italy (yeah, the the Vatican is technically not Italy) and I can only imagine what it is like full of people. Also, I am not religious and sure as hell am not catholic.
The north route is the same but higher.
Think golf cart path at 2000 feet with no rails.
You might stay in your car, I just spent a week there and was out of my car 10-12 hours a day.
To have the best chance of seeing them you have to go in winter. We went December 26-31. Should have stayed one more night because their new years celebration is supposed awesome. We saw them every night except one. We stayed on the southern coast near selfoss both times. Our next time we want to explore the northern part. During the summer months it’s just too much daylight. Even when the sun sets it just stays like dusk not actually dark
Edit to add: be very careful driving there in the winter. The roads were very sketchy but they have a very good website that shows the status of all major roads and conditions. Definitely a lot less to do because of the weather but it was still really cool in its own way. Comparing summer to winter is very tough because of all the waterfalls and what not vs the northern lights. We wanted to do one of the natural hot springs but the one we wanted to do was a couple mile hike to get to and the weather was too bad to risk it
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Machu Picchu
Ang Thong Marine Park, Gulf of Thailand
Im gonna 1 up you. Macchu Picchu is amazing. But going above to Huayna Picchu and looking back DOWN on Macchu is incredible. It gives you an even better eagle's eye view of the area. Truly amazing effort to build in a breath taking environment. It was definitely on my bucket list and saddened that I never got to visit it with my father. We were discussing a hike across the trail to get to Macchu.
Wasn't the thread title instructional?
"What one place have you been that you would tell others to see before you die?"
Haha. Very true. I did that in June when I was there. I went last minute so I couldn’t get onto the Inca Trail 4 day hike that brings you in from the top on the other side, so I did the 3rd circuit and climbed HP. Spectacular view. I hiked up from the town back to back days and really thought it was a breathtaking setting.Im gonna 1 up you. Macchu Picchu is amazing. But going above to Huayna Picchu and looking back DOWN on Macchu is incredible. It gives you an even better eagle's eye view of the area. Truly amazing effort to build in a breath taking environment. It was definitely on my bucket list and saddened that I never got to visit it with my father. We were discussing a hike across the trail to get to Macchu.
How difficult was this trip? How many days in the mountains and how hard of a hike?Im gonna 1 up you. Macchu Picchu is amazing. But going above to Huayna Picchu and looking back DOWN on Macchu is incredible. It gives you an even better eagle's eye view of the area. Truly amazing effort to build in a breath taking environment. It was definitely on my bucket list and saddened that I never got to visit it with my father. We were discussing a hike across the trail to get to Macchu.
So for my first and only trip, my no pics and I took the train to the area and then bussed up. Then the hike from Macchu to Huanya was short, easy, but very much on ledges with 1000 ft drop. We joked about how it would never be allowed in the US.
Based on that, my father and I started discussions, about how his knees were and if he felt like he could do a hike across the trail. Plans stopped when he passed. In general, we looked at the 4 day versions, the ones with support crew to carry the supplies. So I cannot speak to how hard the hike is, but I can guess. Elevation would be very hard for some folks. Getting to altitude a couple days before would be critical. 4 days straight of hiking (somewhat loaded with weight), over trails, but with lots of elevation changes. That is prolly a 6 out of 10, 10 being the hardest. Just a guess. I'd go back for the hike, no pics doesn't care to.
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