As a guy who wants to travel the world one day, what are your most interesting, best or strangest travel experiences that you had? Tell us where you went and what happened during your trip.
Never flown over any oceans, but I've been all over the US and into Mexico(been down there several times for "missions trips" )
My favorite memory isnt tied to one location. It's actually just the way we did it...
When I was younger our family would take cross country road trips in my dad's work van. He would clean out all the boxes that stored his tools and put in a couple of mattresses and coolers for food. His van had windows on every side and in the back , so as we drove we could watch the scenery go by from the comfort of a large bed basically. Each of us 5 kids would take turns sitting in the front with them, so there were always at least 4 of us chilling on a big cushion. I remember snapshots of these experiences, from when I was young to when I was older. Most of my positive feelings about traveling came from laying down on the mattress and playing cards or reading books. Maybe that's why now I can read in the car without getting sick
I Stood in a Rainbow, August 1976
At age 23 I was backpacking on Mt. Shuksan near Mt. Baker. We camped above the tree line at around 8,000' elevation. That evening we saw the sunset behind Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
The next day a massive storm blew in. Hail piled up like snowdrifts, washing ptarmigan birds downhill. ("PEEP! Peep... peep... pe...." ) Lightning struck around us. ("Here, you hold my ice axe." ) Pouring rain soaked us to the skin. The sun shone in a nearby valley.
And we stood in a rainbow. We could see the rainbow colors on each other's faces. I stuck out my arms and marveled at the colors on my arms. It only lasted a minute or two. We were not high. My hiking partner was a medical doctor.
Afterwards the sun steamed our backs as we slogged our way to the car.
This was a peak experience of my life.
Never thought of it as a pun. A peak experience, indeed.
Twice being in trouble with the police...in Italy in 1988 when our 18 year old nanny was homesick and phoned home alleging that we were keeping her in Italy against her will. Her father went to the police at home in Belfast and they contacted the police in Italy and they sent the Anti-kidnap Squad to investigate....at that time there had been a spate of kidnapping in Italy by the Red Brigade! Not amusing when they arrived wearing jeans, T-shirts and sub-machineguns! The second time was in Germany in around 1998 when my husband and I were stopped and arrested for smuggling and money laundering...held overnight, our stock of valuable stamps and philatelic items, and all our money confiscated, we were carrying quite a large sum in various currencies as this was before the Euro, and we were doing business in ten different countries and currencies. Both times we were completely innocent of any crimes or irregularities, the first time in Italy the nanny admitted to the police that she was there as our employee, and was being paid to look after the children...incredibly one of the Italian police officers actually asked her out on a date! The second time was much scarier and we had to hire a German lawyer, who by sheer good luck, not only spoke fluent English, but was also a Stamp Collector! He got us released and allowed to return home, but without our money or our stock. My husband returned a month later to a court hearing where a judge dismissed the case and he got everything back plus one month’s interest on the money, which our lawyer insisted on. We then paid the lawyer his fees in the rare stamps he needed for his collection...!
We had read that the village of Santana on the north coast of Madeira was one of the best places to see the traditional small thatched cottages which were once a major part of the local life. We were quite pleased by the handful of these picturesque structures that are exhibited in the main square for the benefit of the tourists, but I did wonder if any still remained which were as yet in use as they were first intended. So when my friend wandered off into the back streets, I happily followed.
Most of the privately owned cottages however seemed to be in a dilapidated state and in use mainly as garden sheds and store rooms, eventually however we came to one which seemed more cared for than most with a neat garden and a sharp painted finish. We had paused only for a second to take a photograph, when a elderly woman came hobbling a speed down the road towards us.
When she caught up to us, which she did quite easily after moving very rapidly for someone so mature. We tried to apologize for making the photographic intrusion without permission, but the lady would hear none of it, and insisted that we take more if we wished. Then she beckoned us into the garden with an invitation to please admire her potted plants. We had hardly glanced over the bright flowers in their deep pots, before she immediately asked us inside to show us around her cottage. We entered shyly but were delighted to see such a neat perfectly furnished, if small, two room building, we were then told to sit on the bed even though it was perfectly made with neatly folded sheets which matched the air of careful pride the whole cottage showed. Her family photographs were offered for admiration, then she asked us if we had ever been into a cottage of that sort before, and seizing my camera she immortalized the moment for us by taking our photograph, indeed she seemed very proficient with a camera needing none of the usual brief instructions most people ask for when using someone else's gadget.
Finally she told us the long and tragic story of the illnesses which age had visited upon her, and then she held out her hand. I had rather a lot of coins in my pocket, so I dropped about half into her palm, whereupon she twitched her fingers, so I dropped the rest of my coins in just keeping back enough for a parking space if needed. The fingers however twitched again, so I parted with that too. Then satisfied she had all she could get with many smiles and thanks she showed us out of her house.
However, we could not help however noticing as we left that the small cottage in fact stood in the garden of a large shiny modern bungalow. And then also there was I remember quite distinctly, the smell; that slight musty smell that you only get in houses when no one has lived there for very a long time. We had of course been firmly fleeced as tourists always are to some degree; but this time and not for the first time perhaps, we did not really mind, since it was done with charm and maybe the tourist industry does generates its own very real traditions.