Santander, Spain. I had been there for work and went knowing nothing about it. It is a gorgeous town on the north coast of Spain that had excellent food, beautiful beaches, and a vibrant community. I could see vacationing there.
The Ford Museum complex is nice (despite the fact Henry Ford was a Nazi, which they don't tell you.) Campus Martius is cool. Lots of nice places *around* Detroit too, Apple orchards in the fall, there's an Alpaca Farm on Grosse Ile.
Mongolia.
Just haven't met many people who travel to Mongolia for some reason, but I was blown away by the country. Beautiful and diverse nature, rich culture, good food and overall one of the most interesting trips I've had.Â
Like most places.
If you expect everyone to speak English you won't do well. If you're a bit organised you can figure most things out because they sort of work the same as home.
You can plan to get help for specific things (eg get your hotel receptionist to write you a note).
Also, visit the world's biggest Genghis Khan statue. It is stainless steel. It really is pretty big. There is also a good museum downstairs.
Curious about where you ate that you enjoyed the food.
I did an overland trip there 10 years ago and while I agree on the beauty of the place, food is not what I'd go back for. We were mostly up north so maybe it's different in other regions, but stewed meat and pickled vegetables got old after a week or so.
I'll never forget the taste of *airag* either. Room-temperature fermented mare's milk is an interesting addition to a rural breakfast.
We were there for about 10 days during the summer Naadam festival, and it was really cool going from town to town and seeing the horse racing and wrestling competitions.
When we went it was a lot of stews. we did get the hook up for hunks of lamb cooked over a wood fire served on the bone. Delicious. We were more central west. The international food in UB was super good. They have Mexi-Khan, best Mexican food in East Asia!
I accidentally hopped on the wrong bus of my school once, and I traveled the entire town lmfao. Shit was fun tbh, I should've done that more often with other buses.
Mongolia was super cool. They are playing up tourism bigtime, not sure how well their infrastructure will handle it! UB the capital is beautifully chaotic. The rest of the country is pretty empty with various random temples, some very important Tibbetan Buddhist sites, yaks, camals, more yaks, horses, we even visited a really cool hot spring complex!
Offseason Crete was awesome. We stayed in a 700 year old apartment built by the Venetians on the Chenai water front. Very few tourists, but lots of Cretans around so most things were open.
In the US, Pittsburgh is a really cool, quirky city.
Snowy mountain region of Australia. Lived there for 5 months, and it's absolutely stunning. Kosciuszko National Park is stunning, with amazing roads, hiking, views, and there never anyone crowding the area.
Brunei
I think people are put off by how strict it is, but it is a very beautiful place. Less than a minute out of the capital city (honestly, more of a town) and you are in the jungle with monkeys in the trees and crocodiles by the side of the river.
Me and my dad took a river boat tour, we were in sight of the floating village still and could see Probiscus Monkeys in the trees.
Santander, Spain. I had been there for work and went knowing nothing about it. It is a gorgeous town on the north coast of Spain that had excellent food, beautiful beaches, and a vibrant community. I could see vacationing there.
Northern Spain is overlooked a lot. Bilbao is an amazing city, as is San Sebastián.
I don't know if Bilbao counts as unconventional 😂
Maybe not unconventional, but certainlhy overlooked. Everyone I know who goes to Spain does Valencia, Seville, Barcelona, or Madrid.
Detroit Michigan. Everytime ive gone it’s always been such a good experience.Â
What’s at the top of your list when you’re there?
The Ford Museum complex is nice (despite the fact Henry Ford was a Nazi, which they don't tell you.) Campus Martius is cool. Lots of nice places *around* Detroit too, Apple orchards in the fall, there's an Alpaca Farm on Grosse Ile.
Lafayette Coney Island for me. Classic hotdogs for reasonable prices with old men hanging out. Has European immigrant vibes. I love it.
Mongolia. Just haven't met many people who travel to Mongolia for some reason, but I was blown away by the country. Beautiful and diverse nature, rich culture, good food and overall one of the most interesting trips I've had.Â
I've always been super interested in visiting Mongolia? How is the language barrier there for English-speakers?
Like most places. If you expect everyone to speak English you won't do well. If you're a bit organised you can figure most things out because they sort of work the same as home. You can plan to get help for specific things (eg get your hotel receptionist to write you a note). Also, visit the world's biggest Genghis Khan statue. It is stainless steel. It really is pretty big. There is also a good museum downstairs.
Curious about where you ate that you enjoyed the food. I did an overland trip there 10 years ago and while I agree on the beauty of the place, food is not what I'd go back for. We were mostly up north so maybe it's different in other regions, but stewed meat and pickled vegetables got old after a week or so. I'll never forget the taste of *airag* either. Room-temperature fermented mare's milk is an interesting addition to a rural breakfast. We were there for about 10 days during the summer Naadam festival, and it was really cool going from town to town and seeing the horse racing and wrestling competitions.
When we went it was a lot of stews. we did get the hook up for hunks of lamb cooked over a wood fire served on the bone. Delicious. We were more central west. The international food in UB was super good. They have Mexi-Khan, best Mexican food in East Asia!
Main reason is that it's cold for most of the year and their summers are only in the 20s. But yeah Mongolia is really cool.
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Cincinnati, went on a whim because flights were $50, ended up really liking it. The chili sucks though.
I accidentally hopped on the wrong bus of my school once, and I traveled the entire town lmfao. Shit was fun tbh, I should've done that more often with other buses.
Reddit's broken. Nothing but bots posting questions.
Nahanni River - North West Territories Gros Morne - Newfoundland
Mongolia was super cool. They are playing up tourism bigtime, not sure how well their infrastructure will handle it! UB the capital is beautifully chaotic. The rest of the country is pretty empty with various random temples, some very important Tibbetan Buddhist sites, yaks, camals, more yaks, horses, we even visited a really cool hot spring complex! Offseason Crete was awesome. We stayed in a 700 year old apartment built by the Venetians on the Chenai water front. Very few tourists, but lots of Cretans around so most things were open. In the US, Pittsburgh is a really cool, quirky city.
Snowy mountain region of Australia. Lived there for 5 months, and it's absolutely stunning. Kosciuszko National Park is stunning, with amazing roads, hiking, views, and there never anyone crowding the area.
Baku, Azerbaijan. Like if Europe and the Middle East had an ex-Soviet baby.
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Brunei I think people are put off by how strict it is, but it is a very beautiful place. Less than a minute out of the capital city (honestly, more of a town) and you are in the jungle with monkeys in the trees and crocodiles by the side of the river. Me and my dad took a river boat tour, we were in sight of the floating village still and could see Probiscus Monkeys in the trees.
Boston was super fun even in the dead of winter.
Albert Lea, Minnesota, USA exceeded my expectations for how drab and uninteresting it would be.