Finding places to visit that will not bore you to tears
The best places to visit and how simply knowing what you want is far more important than where you go
Places to visit and dream places to travel are all well and good. But would they necessarily be a good fit for your personality or traveling style?
I have put together some of the best travel destinations I have visited. Hopefully, it will help you to get closer to that final decision for YOUR best travel options.
This world of ours is so vast and the choices are many. It would be difficult to say what the top destination is. I guess it really depends on you.
For me, this selection is some of my trips where I managed to get some of the most fun and best travel memories to take home.
Traveling the world has never been this easy
Our grandparents never had it as good as we do. Visiting places in the world was a mission. Back in the late 40’s and 50’s, air travel was an arduous affair in both lengths of time to travel and expenses.
If you had to do that same trip in the early late 40’s and early 50’s, you would be in the air for 55 hours, with 6 stopovers for refueling and the entire journey would last you 4 days! No movies, no distractions other than perhaps a newspaper or a book to keep you occupied.
Granted, back then it was a party in the air. Free alcohol, champagne, and roast beef from the carvery. Some services even made your seat into a bed in the evening.
Back then, airfares were, with inflation considered, about 5 times more expensive than today. All the destinations of the world were extremely far. A flight from Sydney to London today is considered a real long haul. Direct – 17 hours in the air. Basically a 1-day journey.
Around the world travel does not have to be done all at once. You have a lifetime to explore. Sure, for some, without too much responsibility, traveling around the world for a year or 5 may be possible. But, for most, family, job, financial commitments etc are not going to let you do that easily.
Amazing places to visit and things to experience
Flying might have been somewhat luxurious and stylish in those days but you would be in that aircraft for hours, breathing in the thick accumulation of smoke from pipes, cigars, and cigarettes. The noise of the engines would have been loud and, of course, flying was dangerous back then.
So, these days we can hop on a plane and go to any world destination within a day or so. We can travel at a fraction of the price and kill the hours with movies, internet (in some cases) games and documentaries.
The destinations we visit have an infrastructure and organized tourism. It is very little we actually have to do other than decide to go someplace in the world, buy the air tickets, pack and be sure to have accommodation on the other side. Frankly, world travel has never been so good.
So what’s stopping us? Sure, life gets in the way and it costs money to go places. But truly, there is so much to do and see and we can do it faster, cheaper and with more convenience than any time before. As a result, we have a virtual feast of destinations, cultures, landscapes, and civilizations to discover. Seems like the time is now to travel and visit places and make it happen.
Your travel bucket list is a guideline and not a covenant.
I found out, along the way, that planning for travel was not a simple choice of destination. I had my travel bucket list set however, my plans needed refinement. It required a skill set. It was actually something that I had to learn to do over time. Surely the joy of travel should not become some chore that requires analysis and the very thing you are probably trying to escape from : i.e. work!?
Well, it does require a lot of thought sometimes. After all, to travel is an investment – an investment in your precious downtime and your money. If you are paying a few thousand in hard earned cash, would you blindly invest in something you really don’t know about? No. So, I guess the term “due diligence’ comes into play here. I am all for spontaneous ‘joie de vivre’ but the result on the other end can be very undesirable.
Lesson learned: Someone’s idea of an interesting place to visit might not be yours
It is, or certainly should be, a highly subjective process choosing your vacation. However, a good starting place is to take a look at the various types of travel on offer and go from there. The actual definition of “places of interest” when talking about travel would be popular tourist places, an historical place, a place of heritage etc.
Would that be interesting to you? Perhaps, but chances are it would not necessarily be something that checks all the boxes and offers comprehensive satisfaction.
And so to my point. This is about what YOU want and what would be ideal for you or your family. Actually, in my experience life is very much a “time of the seasons” – there is a time when you need to relax and just chill. A time when you want adventure travel and a time for doing something crazy. It is mood dependent.
dream places to travel
I am often accused by my partner that I am too spontaneous. She says that I just don’t plan enough. Not entirely true. I do plan. But I love to just simply DO sometimes. Flexibility is important too. Of course, some dream places to travel require deep thought and arranging. If you planned travel for a cruise or some complex vacation down the line, it would be something on your bucket list and not a flippant resolve.
I’m talking about those hum-hah moments of what should we do for a great vacation destination…Where should we go? What places to visit are there? Those are the types of vacations I seek to be very flexible on.
What kind of Travel do you enjoy?
Going to a great beach is always a simple choice for most. Or perhaps an interesting place to visit would be a country in Europe or maybe heading off to Peru to visit Machu Picchu.
What I like to do is filter it down. For example, I want a beach holiday. I think about it and jot down some notes.The most effective method, I think, is to ask yourself questions. In the beach example, maybe a few questions like these (below) ..along with your answer
Q: Do I want to stay at a luxury resort?
A: Not really. I don’t want to be around too many tourists.
Immediately I already have filtered out a ton of well-known resorts and places. Now my search is moving in another direction…
Q: Do I want comfort or to live on the wild side?
A: Comfort
Again, the filter backs up to a point where I know that I want some place comfortable but not crowded.
Q: What do I want to do for the 7/10/14 days?
A: Definitely some fun stuff…not just lie on a beach.
Q: What kind of fun stuff?
A: Horse-riding (on the beach), kite-surfing, mountains to go exploring in. Maybe zip-lining.
And so the process goes. My places of interest are probably off track compared to others. And therein lies the point. It is entirely personal.
Okay. So I have now determined that the places to visit needs to have these kind of recreational aspects available or, at least, in the vicinity.That is the process that can quickly get you to a final destination. Sure, it seems simple enough, maybe overly simplistic, you may think. However, it is overlooked by many of us wishing to get away for a great vacation. We immediately decide we want a beach holiday, look for a resort on the search engines, find great reviews of resorts with a good prices, good looking beach and press RESERVE! End of. And we have a nice vacation….hopefully.
awesome places to visit
"Great things never came from comfort zones."
Destinations that interest you and ignite something within – those are the real places you should visit.By all means get ideas and inspiration from others but ultimately, my advice is to really consider where it is you want to go…. and, more importantly, why?
Developing a good travel mind set begins with a little self analysis. So, taking the time out to really think about that next vacation and what your goals are for it, uncovering the aspects that will juice you and excite you, that’s the kind of vacation that will live in the highlights of your memory banks.
most beautiful places in the world
Portugal travel tips and things to know
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New Zealand travel. A whole world of
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Australia. Worlds smallest continent and largest island
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Central America. Take a cautionary peek
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The colorful choices of South America travel
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Southeast Asia Travel Highlights
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Destinations of the world. Hotels and Places of interest
Places to visit in the World can be found everywhere.
Destinations that interest you and ignite something within – those are the real places of interest.By all means get ideas and inspiration from others but ultimately, my advice is to really consider where it is you want to go…. and, more importantly, why?
Developing a good travel mind set begins with a little self analysis. So, taking the time out to really think about that next vacation and what your goals are for it, uncovering the aspects that will juice you and excite you, that’s the kind of vacation that will live in the highlights of your memory banks. Consequently, that is a real vacation!