I kind of have some places I would like to visit, but they are all typically remote from where I am and the cost and time to get there is pretty steep and I can't bring myself to work on it. Part of the reason is that I don't like the 'traveling' part of traveling, unless its by car. I am a control freak and I really don't like flying since I am not the one flying if that makes sense. Nor do I like being dependent on a mechanic making sure a 10-cent washer was screwed in properly or some important fuse doesn't blow. I know I have to get over it. As well as stop watching airline disaster shows.
That being said, I have been to some 30-odd countries. I traveled a lot as a kid. Even though I am from the US, I spent much of my childhood in South East Asia during the 1980s. I lived in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Indonesia. I didn't realize it till recently, but I believe I lived in that area of the world when it was still exotic, but starting its exotic decline. I went to India, Nepal, Sir Lanka, Maldives, Australia, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea as well. And as kid I appreciated little of it, although now I fully grasp how awesome it was. I say that, because for example, when I lived in Indonesia at the time, there was nothing. I mean, like an hour of TV each day, and few imports from our home countries. There was so little to do, and I hate the culture, my friends and I used to jump the fence to the school we went to (Jakarta International School) on the weekends to find things to do. Imagine that. I lived there for three years, and couldn't wait to leave. Now they have McDonalds and cable TV with 400 channels like everyone else.
However, I went to an international school. Just about everywhere we lived had one, so I had friends from everywhere from Denmark to Brazil to Australia. I grew up around a lot of different people and it was awesome. I also saw part of the world untouched by man. I mean, we visited islands you only see in magazines where I was sure the fish were seeing a human for the first time. I caught an octopus with my hands 10 feet from the shore, played with him for half and hour, and let him go. Try finding that anywhere in the coastal US. And now, unfortunately, a lot of those places I went are probably polluted or built up by now. I could go on and on about some of these places and what I saw.
Within the last few years, I got the opportunity to go back to India (Mumbai) for work, and also back to China (Hong Kong) for vacation. The changes over the years didn't escape me. The two things that floored me where the amount of people in both places (and therefore lack of space), and how much everyone wants what the west has. I was surprised walking around the financial district in Hong Kong, how all the ads and billboards feature western (white) models showcasing Rolex to Tiffany's, almost saying, if you want to appear successful, you have to look western and buy western products. What was gone was many of the older buildings with asian architecture, handmade arts and crafts, and everything else that made it exotic. The only thing that made Hong Kong different from any other city was the racial make up of the population. Granted, I spent a lot of time walking around Mong Kok and that certainly has an older Hong Kong feel, but give it time. McDonalds, Nike, Columbia, all over the strip in Kowloon, you would have thought I was walking in a US mall. And in the case of India, right outside our offices there was a Dominoes Pizza, Chili's Bar and Grill, and something else I can't remember. The point is, this part of the world no longer felt exotic. I even picked up a magazine showcasing interior design in Hong Kong, and everything looked like it was bought from Ikea. And the handmade arts and crafts are long gone, replaced by cheap cellphone covers and other cheap plastic crap mass produced in the Chinese mainland. They have lost their 'art' if that makes sense. The guy who made figures our of clay in his fishing village has a son who doesn't want to make clay figures, he wants a job at the iPhone factory. That kind of thing.
The world is getting small. I have seen the future, and its pretty overpopulated with people. Sci-fi writers of the 1960s nailed it. And where humans go, poverty follows. Poverty that is impossible to describe. Children growing up in trash who don't know any better. Entire slums manufacturing whatever they can from the crap thrown aside by the upper classes. And this is everywhere. I don't care how hard you have it in the US, you don't know poverty. The fact you can turn on your tap and out comes potable water is a luxury BILLIONS on this planet will never have. We really live in another dimension here. Its no wonder so many want to come here.
I have been to Europe, Central America, the Caribbean as well, although I haven't been to Greece or Italy, which I probably would love. I have been all around the US too. I traveled around parts of the US just in my SUV by myself, sometimes with a girlfriend, and it was some of the best times of my life. I have owned three Mustangs, but my Ford Explorer is my favorite car of all time:
I would typically stick to campgrounds, but if I couldn't make it to one, my backup plan was:
Breakfast in Utah:
Breakfast in the Smokeys:
My problem with arriving somewhere is that I don't want to see tourists. I don't want to rush through tour bus stops. My ideas of travel is to rent an SUV and drive around on my own like I did in the US. Eat where the locals eat, drink where the locals drink. But that isn't always safe either. I don't really want to go to countries that don't speak English either or have a corrupt legal system, so that rules out a lot.
I guess I am drawn to places where I could rent an SUV for three weeks, and bounce around staying at small hotels or campgrounds and taking in the country and landscape. I would love to drive around New Zealand, Australia, and Scotland if I could, and visit the more-remote places in those countries.
And I think bouncing around the islands in the South Pacific would be cool too. What more would you need besides a backpack?
And Cuba before Starbucks and McDonalds moves in.
I guess I have come to realize that the last exotic places on earth are the ones not built up by man. And with all the pollution, trash, climate change going on, I don't know how much longer these places will remain as they are, and those are the ones I seek out the most. And so much of it is fenced off private property.
If you think like me, I can make a few recommendations... one of which is Grand Teton. I love this place. Its right outside of Jackson, WY, and even has Jackson Hole Airport pretty much in the park. Lots of campgrounds there. It gets overshadowed because Yellowstone is just north of it. The best part is most of the visitors don't hike deep into the park, so once you get away from the crowds its an amazing place. Here is a pic of me in Cascade Canyon on the way to Solitude lake:
Grand Teton is worth googling. And since I mentioned Yellowstone. . . let me say this. Yellowstone is a unique place. You will see some crazy things there, from the Geysers to literally boiling mud. I came across boiling mud on a trail and it freaked me out. I learned later a wolf fell in some, and eventually died a painful death a week later. It can be a dangerous place. But that is what makes Yellowstone great. Its getting off the figure 8 and the morons stopping traffic because they see a wolf 2 miles away. Its not a zoo but people treat it like one. Def spend some time at places like Old Faithful and so one, but set time aside for lesser known trails, and that is where the magic is at. And that is the problem with Yellowstone, its just too big. You could spend a month there and only scrape the surface. And if you just stick to the road, you'll miss 99% of it.
