How to Choose an Unusual Travel Destination (Without Screwing Up)
Whether you want to see the Eiffel Tower or the Grand Canyon, there are tons of well-written travel guides to help you. If you want something a little more unusual, you are probably on your own. Fortunately, there are tons of resources to help you plan a more interesting and original trip without ultimately wanting to never go there.
After all, there are many places to visit, but it is not necessary to have your own tourism departments. Maybe you would like to see thegates of hell in the middle of the desert in Turkmenistan or Keswachaku, thelast existing Inca rope bridge . In this case, you have a great taste for unique destinations, but you will need to plan a little more before you hit the road. Here’s what you need to know.
Find a destination that’s unusual but accessible
Atlas Obscura is a great place to start if you are looking for unusual, interesting and little-known travel destinations. Some are more difficult to reach, while others are easy to reach. The site has tons of great options all over the world (and you can see many of them on their YouTube channel ). If you really want to see the Gates of Hell (video above), or maybe head to Tashirojima , the famous cat Island off the coast of Japan, they can help, or at least give you a preview of what your experience will be like when you get to your destination. If you are looking for something closer to home they will probably take care of you too and you can always check their events page or join the Atlas Obscura Society mailing list to take part in events in your area or go to the Atlas Obscura museums …
If you are more interested in car travel, roadside America is filled to the brim with quirky and quirky places throughout North America. You can check out the world’s largest ball of twine , the 22-foot-high Optimus Prime, or a host of other, often small, but very interesting sites across the country. The site allows you to search around the city to see what is nearby to visit, see what other people are talking about, plan a trip to a specific destination that you find in its database, or simply say where you are going to see what along the way. If you go in the car ride, our guide to planning the perfect can help, and Alongways or Roadtrippers can help with planning – and bring some of those areas that you find in Roadside America.
In any case, you need a place that is unusual and interesting, but accessible to you. How “affordable” is a personal choice – some people will need ample parking or public transport between their hotel and the curiosity they want to see, while others are willing to walk a few hours to see what is left of only one. peace. It all depends on you and what kind of vacation you want to plan. However, do it for the right reasons anyway. Don’t just visit an unusual place to look at the locals and see how “different” they are, go to experience something new, mind-opening and life-changing. Expand the boundaries of your comfort zone. Expanding those horizons isn’t too difficult, however, and it all starts with taking an unusual destination where you can have a more intimate and personal travel experience.
Contact the locals before heading out
Once you’ve chosen your destination, your next best option is to get in touch with the people who live there before you even leave. You can always choose a cultural exchange program or, if you are traveling abroad, contact the embassy or consulate of that country for advice and suggestions. If you are traveling to an unusual place in the US, visit the City Data forums , which are filled with helpful information, as well as the locals who live in the communities you are likely to visit. This will give you an idea of the culture of the country and perhaps more than a few tips and suggestions.
Beyond that, this is the beauty of the Internet : it allows us to communicate humanly with people around the world in a way that we have never been able to. Sites like With Locals and the previously mentioned Trip4Real let you plan times, tours, dinners, and other activities with people who live in the communities you want to visit before you hit the road.
Likewise, Vayable and Like a Local offer tips, tours, and suggestions written by locals for people interested in traveling to their communities. They are great for researching, and in many cases you can see someone’s suggestions and contact them directly to talk about your trip. In fact, we discuss this in a little more detail in our guide to “local experiences” when you travel .
Do your logistics homework
From here, you have to do the same logistics as everyone else. But the best part for you is that you have to make sure that you are as locked out as possible before you leave. As we said, some of the most unusual places are in places that are not necessarily tourist-friendly.
This is not always true, but you may need a little more housework in a hotel or hostel in a city to make sure it meets your standards. Maybe the only hotel in town is well booked or has a ton of bad reviews. Instead, consider booking something further from your destination and traveling there. Or book a room at a nearby family-run bed and breakfast rather than a hotel. Any traveler should make sure they find a safe place to stay, but it can be more difficult if there is only one place in the area.
Likewise, make sure you know how to get around when you are there. If you are traveling overseas, it never hurts to learn a little of the language, and the further you travel to big cities or popular tourist destinations, the less likely you are to run into someone who speaks your language. Learn enough to get along, communicate in emergencies and carry a phrasebook with you. Before you hit the road, try your hand at reading local news, or try an app like TripLingo that teaches you what you need to know. Translators for smartphones are great, but don’t rely on data availability or a healthy battery just for communication. If you’re traveling around the country, you may want to have a paper map (or offline maps on your phone) handy in case you get lost and don’t have a GPS.
Finally, if you are traveling abroad, make sure you have all your travel documents and papers in order well in advance of your departure. Depending on where you are going, you may need special tourist visas, entry documents, or submit special documents to the embassy of the country you are visiting. You don’t want to be rejected at customs because you thought you could just waltz into a country like Russia like you can cross the border into Canada.
Make a contingency game plan
Then get ready for the unexpected. If you ever have time to pack a little more things in case something happens to your clothes, stash some extra money in case something happens to your wallet, look for a backup hotel, or remember the address of the embassy or consulate, then this is when you’re traveling to an unusual, little-known destination. When you’re doing your homework, search sites like TripAdvisor, destination (it might be there even if it’s really unclear) and Google to find travel blogs or other people sharing their experiences at your destination. If there is a serial problem, you can find out from other people’s reports and plan a solution accordingly.
We are not saying that you should plan your entire second route in case something bad happens, but we are saying that you should be more careful than otherwise. Travel traps and main destinations almost always have tons of resources for visitors who get lost, get robbed, or just need help, even if they don’t speak the language. When you hit the road on your own, you need to be confident and make sure you can handle yourself no matter what happens.
If this is too much, work with a travel agent.
Finally, if all this seems too much of a problem for you, then you have a way out: work with a travel agent. Yes, part of the fun of going to some amazingly unusual place is actually planning the trip. It can be exciting and really helps to understand where you are going before you leave the house. However, in some areas it can be tricky. You may have trouble finding good and viable travel planning resources. This is when a travel agent can come in handy, especially one with unusual travel experiences.
In an age of online travel search and competitively priced booking sites, it may seem like travel agents are out of date, but if you find a good one, they can involve you in the planning process as much as you want. They can also make sure you have everything you need before you set off, get to the place and stay safe there, see what you want to see, and return home with great memories. They also act as a lifeline, if something goes wrong – to someone else, someone you can call when you arrive wherever you are going, and all will be bad, or you miss a flight or dock and you need to rebook. If you like the sound of this safety net, seriously consider hiring one.
Also, I wish you a successful trip! If you limit your travel to thoughts of “travel show locations”, you end up missing out on tons of great places to visit, amazing people, and world-changing experiences. You should definitely see these places, don’t get us wrong, just watch out for some of the other wonders of the world that don’t have signs that say “line starts here” a mile from the door.