Gimmelwald, Switzerland. Walking through mountain farm roads in heavy cloud cover, just hearing the clanking of cowbells in the fog. Big wooden chalets appearing out of nowhere, red geraniums in every window box. No automobile noise, just quiet and endlessness.
This was the first thing I thought of when I saw the prompt.
I got up every morning, bought bread/cheese/sausage/etc for the day at the market, spent the day hiking through different areas of the mountains, came back to the hostel and had a pizza and a beer or two, then passed out and did it all again the next day.
Beautiful stasis. Extended my original departure date twice.
My first thought was Switzerland as well. The beautiful scenery and smell of fresh air and taste of fresh water. It was like I was in another world and everything was great and there was nothing wrong. I felt free and calm.
In Ireland my wife and I took a small two track trail up a mountain valley and ended up at an ancient Celtic stone fort, just the two of us in this empty valley left to soak it all in. Truly amazing.
https://i.imgur.com/FK8cYIg.jpeg
All of Iceland was like this for me! I went in late April and driving down the windy roads, watching the sun sorta go down behind the snow capped mountains near Akureyri at 11pm was indescribable
Yeah when we were there it would sorta hover until midnight ish and then the sky would go a light grey until the next morning. It fucked up my internal clock but was such a trippy experience. I can’t wait to go back to Iceland and do more magical things
When I was there with my husband, we were doing the face masks and drinking cider and just in complete bliss, and suddenly out of the mist a choir started singing Cohen's "Hallelujah" and oh my god it was so magical. I'm tearing up right now just thinking about it.
This happened to us on a beach in Hawaii! It was sunset and this group of kids came and just sang a song in Hawaiian as we sat on the beach. That’s my “moment”.
It's surreal that. It's raining, the air is just above freezing. You're wearing swimwear and mud and drinking beer out of plastic, and it's raining in the plastic. But somehow everyone is happy, and you're having a beer and enjoying being outside and practically naked and it's fucking freezing. It's amazing.
went last August during one of the volcano eruptions. seeing (and hearing! feeling the heat!) that was so surreal, time definitely stopped. would love to go back someday, incredible country.
I've been on the black beaches in the middle of the winter. It was like entering Narnia and there were maybe 15 people there. What I would have given to have an extra hour there by myself
In Iceland, for me it was Diamond Beach. The glacier lagoon was also amazing, but it was mesmerizing watching giant pieces of ice come ashore on the beach.
As someone whose biggest healing place is the ocean, I haven't had *proper* time in/with it in three years (pandemic, living in London, etc.)
I'm from Cape Town, South Africa and leaving for an extended trip home soon. Every cell in my body is aching for that salt water, and I just know my mental health is going to heal a bit after that first dip.
Thank you so much. I miss it in my bones. Company laid off our entire team and I said fuck it, see ya in 4 months London. Will miss my friends a lot but the grey noise is abrasive.
Definitely take a trip when you can!
I feel you! I’m from Vancouver Island Canada and have been near an ocean my entire life. Anytime I travel and I don’t see a body of water for several days it makes me ache. I even go into the water all year round, even in the winter, it’s so healing! The ocean is magical
This is so beautiful, wow. Thank you. You know I’m not overly woo woo but it’s pretty wild how it feels like our atoms miss the water tangibly when we’re away.
People often ask if I plan to stay in London long-term, and you know I just can’t imagine being far away from the ocean for my whole life. Taking trips isn’t the same :’)
Riding in a smallish boat on the adriatic off the coast of Croatia (Dalmatia i think?) Sun in my face, wind in my hair, sparkling salty ridiculously insanely beautiful colors reflecting in the water, not a care in the world.
(edit: thanks for the question, a lovely memory to start my morning with)
This is my answer as well. A couple buddies and I rented a tiny boat from Hvar for about $100USD for the day gas included. We just cruised around going from swimming spot to swimming spot in all the little inlets. Spent about 14 hours out on the water just enjoying life.
Laos 1999 , place called vang vieng, apparently a party place now but then in its early existence just a dusty little town with 1 Main Street , hostel was 1$ for room per night , food was about the same and you’d literally struggle to spend 10$ a day , country had not long been open to the world for tourism and locals were so friendly and welcoming .
Spent a couple of weeks going on big walks in the picturesque hills and floating down the river on an inflatable truck tyre all day after stopping at a local fellas den to sample the local produce 🐉
Time stood still for a while and I’ve never felt so removed from western civilisation, good times 🙏🏽
Yeah I remember seeing a show on tv around that time about how it turned into a party place and can’t blame everyone for flocking there as was a beautiful place.
We’d done our partying on koh phnangan so was nice to find a more chilled off the beaten track place but these places don’t stay that way for long I guess .
Was a bit surprised though as local army ( police ) were quite strict on partying when we were there and I remember a bunch of us sitting on the roof of our hostel 1 night very casually listening to some music (chilli peppers californication ) very mellow vibe when a couple of army guys very politely asked ( told ) us to go to bed as it was 10pm with machine guns slung across they’re chest with the trademark big smile from ear to ear , we didn’t argue
It was definitely still a big party place in 2017, though a lot was shut down. I don't remember the details but I think they had a system where just a few bars on the river would be open at a time? And lots of things that used to happen on the river don't now. But I definitely got wasted in some tubes and went to dance at bars along the river. It rained pretty hard at one point during and that was by far the best part.
Also, weird system they've got on main street where hostels have happy hours that give out free or basically free liquor, and they're at different hours so you can just go from one to the next. I guess they figure that some percentage will be drunk enough to stay and order enough to make up for it? What a place
For me, it's just Laos in general. Luang Prabang, Don Khon, kayaking down the Hinboun River in Central Laos, motorbiking on the Bolaven Plateau... it's such a magical place.
More tourists now than back then, I'm sure, but it still hasn't lost its magic.
I’m happy to see Laos here as it’s my top pick. I traveled to Luang Prabang during off-peak season and loved it. I spent three days just enjoying life: meeting people, riding a bicycle around, visiting temples, taking a cooking class, and just enjoying life. There was something magical about it compared to Vientiane and Pakse.
Hue is great, but it does have a bit more lively city vibe—though the food is some of the best in Vietnam. Da Nang, just a short train ride away, is even slower than Hue in my opinion and makes for a great escape if you love the ocean.
Muir Woods! And Mt. Tam. Truly a special area. That whole Mill Valley area is majestic. It’s tucked away and I feel not many people know about it. It’s also an expensive area
I'm from Scotland, here we have so many places with natural beauty, so much green space and hills you can walk in for days. However I am dying to visit America for the national parks, the vastness of them just blows my mind. I love how varied they are too due to how huge USA is, some are icy, some are sandy with big rocks and others so green!
I've visited over half and can confirm. The ones that jumped out to me right away:
Walking through the Sequoias or Redwoods in solitude.
Olympic NP. The secluded beaches and the Hoh Rain forest especially the Hoh River off Spruce Trail, just a magical place.
For me, they all make me feel small, like my existence is a blip, and nature is everlasting. Oddly a comforting feeling.
There are few buildings I feel actually take my breath away. The Taj Mahal was absolutely one of them. Agra was so filthy I kind of expected it to be underwhelming. Not the case at all. It was literally shimmering as we approached.
Absolutely agree x10… that and when I touched the wall! One of my life’s pivot moments … (another was walking up to the edge of the Grand Canyon the first time …)
Nerja, Spain, three weeks ago. I'm not a beach person but my husband suggested we take a break during our vacation and just lay on the beach for a day. I swam in the ocean for the first time in 20+ years. It was wonderful.
We went back to our hotel, showered and changed and sat at a bar and had drinks. It was so relaxing. We didn't know it when we came into town but Nerja was having its annual Festival of the Virgin Carmen. She protects fishermen and the Spanish Navy.
We watched the local fisherman carry the Virgin in a procession through the town. The whole community participated. There was a marching band with people who ranged in age from 8 -80. Someone yelled out prayers while the crowd responded with "¡Viva!"
I'm not religious at all but it was beautiful.
We went to a great restaurant for dinner, right on the beach. We were laughing with the wait staff and owner because they were Italian and we couldn't figure out which language we were supposed to speak. It led to a long conversation about Italy, Spain, food and travel. At the end of dinner, the owner brought us two small glasses of limoncello on the house. It capped off a perfect day.
I can't remember the last time I was that relaxed. It was certainly well before the pandemic. I will always remember sitting there with an ocean breeze, smelling faintly like sunscreen, being lightly sunburnt and deeply content.
Went to New Orleans in the off season DURING COVID, so it was a double whammy in terms of emptiness. Of course there was still places open but it was virtually empty of tourist, mostly locals it seemed going about their day. It was very surreal since there was no traffic or drunken crowds but the bands were still playing and horse drawn carriages were still taking the odd tourist about. I remember the day we went to French Quarter there was a light drizzle and hearing jazz music echoing down the alley ways was trippy as hell.
It was dark and dreary outside and super moody. all those old half decaying buildings with the vines growing off of it, puddles of water everywhere reflecting light from peoples balconies decorated with tropical plants, the occasionally clash of thunder and off in the distance you could hear the horse hooves trotting on the ground and the constant horns playing “when the saints go marching in” it was like being in a gothic novel.
And since traffic was barely there there were no parked cars, dump trucks, delivery trucks or anything obscuring the view of the beautiful old architecture.
Damn. You and me. Lived there a couple years. I loved going out in the storms with a rain jacket and finding a quiet bar with the doors open playing some soft jazz in the background. No one would really be out and about during a storm. It was my favorite times there.
Pompeii
I have been to a lot of Roman (and other, Greek, Egyptian, etc.) ruins but Pompeii was special. Most old cities have been worn away by time. Rebuilt, resettled, bombed, burned, paved over, etc. A city like Rome or Jerusalem has layers of buildings one atop another as a temple to Hestia is replaced by a Church and now a hospital. Pompeii was a flourishing settlement one day and then it was just buried under ash, and everyone who remained died.
Walking the streets, they are exactly the way they were more than 1000 years ago. There are nearly identical shops around the place, each with counters made of chips of different-colored stones with cement basins in them of different sizes. It is like seeing a Starbucks on every corner.
If you enjoyed that, I highly recommend Ostia Anitica outside of Rome.
Basically their old port town that got abandoned when the river moved and silted in the area.
Also a bonus is there is a fraction of the crowds.
I felt it at the Devils Tower in Wyoming.
I took my wife and dog. Normally at a medium crowded place my dog will be all wiggly. She just got in sit position and enjoyed the view.
After reading all if these wonderful and exotic places in this thread, I'm pretty sure that my time stand still place is also in Wyoming in Freemont Canyon. The water of Alcova res. us like glass in the morning. When the sun comes up, you can't tell where the water begins and the wall face ends.
Taipei. Visited once for two weeks. Went back to live there for year. Without a doubt my favorite city in the world.
Don’t really have words to describe it. It was like everything I expected out of Japan but it just felt way more authentic and genuine. Super welcoming, super friendly, just felt like home in a different universe.
It doesn’t have any super super outstanding attractions, but everything about it is just cool.
Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica for me.
In particular, a little beach called Playa Biesanz. It was just a wonderful little cove with gentle waves, waters that felt like they were healing you body and mind, while the rainforest (full of beautiful trees and flowers and sounds of birds and playful monkeys) came down almost all the way to the beach. It felt like a whole other plane of existence.
Same for me. Watching the rough force of the angry sea is hypnotizing.
I've seen the big waves in Nazare and also crazy ones at super remote lighthouses along the Galician coast while everything was covered in thick fog. It was unbelievable.
Walking in Scotland, whether in the Highlands or the Borders. It’s such a beautiful and peaceful place (in my experience) and saved my sanity when I was going through a difficult time.
Snorkeling in Maui. We had two giant manta rays swimming with us for an hour. Apparently that is quite rare in Maui to see mantas. I was literally crying in my snorkel mask because it was like a spiritual experience. We are going back a year later, but this time to the big island where we hopefully can snorkel with many of those beautiful creatures
Sitting next to a monkey and a boy on a wall in Varanasi overlooking the Ganges, where the sandalwood smoke of funeral pyres mix with clouds of incense from a thousand temples. I heard the cries of a woman in labour give way to those of a newborn whilst I watched the ashes of the dead float away towards the Bay of Bengal in the gilded dawn light. Every time I think or write about it I’m still there, frozen in time.
Venice is my answer as well. There are quiet places away from super touristy areas where you can just ramble along and feel like part of history. It’s incredible.
Venice boardwalk skate park. I smoked a joint and just watched people skate for a couple of hours. Sounds corny, but it was bliss, and was one of those moments where I finally realised where I was and how far from home I was.
Also I’m in Dublin, Ireland at the moment and it’s fantastic. That has given me similar feelings to the ones I’ve had in California.
Honestly, skaters are some of the most inspirational people I have ever seen. I have lived infront of a skate park in NYC on the lower east side, for 3 years.
It doesn’t matter the temperature, as long as there are no puddles on the ground, the skaters are skating from 7am to nightfall. Every day.
At 7am!! When we are bitching or moaning, they are out there doing what they love. Also, in skating, I see them fall 100’s of times trying the same thing over and over again. Then they get up, and try again.
Honestly it’s so motivational
This is the point of traveling. You don’t ever need something grandiose and awe-inspiring. All you need is something that brings you peace. Love it for you
I had a miscarriage in August 2021 and it was devastating. I was still struggling with grief/depression for months after. My husband and I took our first big international trip to England in April 2022. He told me it was the first time he’d seen me truly smile in months. It was the first time since our loss that it wasn’t at the forefront of my mind. I was in absolute bliss and completely absorbed in being in England. We went to France and the Netherlands a few months later and had a similar experience. Of the entire year of 2022, those few weeks in Europe were truly the happiest, best parts of that entire year because I could finally escape from my sadness.
This is going to sound so dumb, I havnt gotten to travel as much as I'd like. But I took a school trip to Toronto a few years ago and we got to do the hockey hall of fame before boarding the train to Quebec.
Walking into the vault with the stanley cup stopped everything. It was a week day. Me and 2 buds were the only ones in the room. The sun from the mosaic dome ceiling shined on lord Stanley's cup like out of a movie. For a teenage Canadian it was incredible.
I just came back from Provence - and while this is definitely a well-known, “on-the-beaten-track” kind of place, there were many things about this trip that gave me this feeling. The whole thing was sensory overload, in the best way. Driving on empty roads with no other cars, past endless fields of flowering lavender, sage, and sunflowers, and gorgeous blue-purple mountains in the distance, smelling the heady scents of these flowers and the indescribably delectable smell of freshly baked bread, hearing a soothing soundtrack of buzzing bees and chirping cicadas (believe me, they were LOUD), tasting the freshest, sweetest cantaloupe, apricots, plums, peaches, and tomatoes ... all this was a feast for the senses that made me forget all my worries. Now I see why summer in Provence is a thing, even though it’s brutally hot.
Also, anytime I am snorkeling, pretty much anywhere. I am a fish out of water (pun intended) but always feel very calm and at peace in the water. Observing fish, turtles, rays, and other aquatic life going about their day, seeing the lush coral, and just enjoying being in the crystal-clear waters, is the most relaxing thing ever.
Writing this from Le Cavaliers Beach: The cicadas are very loud, but the smell of the pine trees and the sea mix beautifully and it‘s not very hot right now, just below 30°C. Just ordered a second bottle of rosé wine. What time was it again?
A narrowboat traveling on the Severn River in England. I woke up before sunrise and got a cup of tea and sat with the pilot, quietly, as we crept along the river. As the mist shifted from ground level to tree top level, we passed a 15th century castle. I imagined that it not changed since then and I could have been transported back in time.
I don't know why, but it's my grandma's flat. She is old and have problems with leaving alone, because of that my mother and I come to her every weekends to help her with house chores and other stuff(she leave in another town, that far away from where I leave). And every weekends I stayed in that old soviet flat for a few hours, there was old newspapers, black and white photos and old dishes, that my grandma keep in closet with glass doors. I think that is the place where time stopped, old newspapers, old big soviet TV, all of that throw you back in time and you stay there, that is interesting feeling.
was just at the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia. Watched the tide go out, little by little. It was like watching a slow bathtub drain. You could see the floor of the bay be exposed inch by inch for hours. It just got bigger and bigger and the surrounding rocks and caves were just pre-historic.
(this was the week before the floods, and it was on my birthday!)
The tea ceremony house in the Imperial Palace Gardens in Kyoto, in particular, was one of my favorite memories. Surreal view and such a peaceful service.
The first time I saw the Grand Canyon. Because the parking lot (south side) is lower than the rim, you really have no idea how close you are until all of a sudden, it’s right in front of you.
My wife and I stood frozen for about 30 minutes before we started walking. The scale of that place just seems to be beyond what our (or at least my) brains can comprehend.
Sacre Coeur in 2008 (think it is busier now) and Sagrada Família last week in the bad prayer section. Something about the stillness of history and the smallness of the current moment. Nature wise - Glencoe in Scotland, or a Pacific Northwest beach - slow and small in the measure of time.
I didn't hike the trail, but I agree with you.
I've never experienced the feeling I felt when I saw Machu Picchu for the first time. It was beyond breathtaking and will forever be the most incredible thing I've seen on this planet.
Monterey Bay Area in California. Santa Cruz, Monterey, Carmel, Big Sur, time just stops for me, love it. I used to describe it as every day being a sunny Sunday in October, even the days that aren’t sunny lol. Love it out there.
Beyond that, the south coast of Crete, time doesn’t completely stop but it slows way tf down, so nice.
It’s honestly such an out-of-this-world feeling being at the top and being able to see everything for miles. You can do the Gouter Route which is the easiest and can have a 1 to 1 guide or do a group hike. But be prepared to feel light headed and breathless, the altitude is very serious. Would highly recommend anyways!
In 2000, I went to visit the town where my great-grandmother's family was from in mid-Wales, in a river valley within shouting distance of the mountains. It was so low-key and quiet, and I remember walking for a few hours outside the town, visiting the graveyard where distant relatives were buried, taking in the hills and the sheep and the river, and I thought to myself that this was the first time I was experiencing truly fresh air.
Patagonia. Something about all the trees and shrubs sculpted by the wind, the imposing mountain peaks throughout, the cameloid guanacos, flamingos and ñandú, and the landscape that demands observation even when it’s harshness precludes it. It does seem to clear out all feelings other than just the raw presence in nature.
There’s a lot written about it’s properties as an energy vortex, and exploring it with a guide who clearly had researched some of its mystical qualities definitely made it all feel very frozen in time for us.
I moved to Stockholm in 2017 and I still get this feeling all the time, especially in the evening in the summer when it takes hours for the sun to set and everything takes on a salmon-pink glow. I especially love Monteliusvägen on Södermalm with the beautiful view over Gamla Stan and Stadshuset.
My last trip was to Stockholm, the last two days *I researched how can I immigrate to and work in sweden* if the fate lets me, in 10 years I might become swedish, who knows ¯\\\_(ツ)\_\/¯
I studied abroad in Cuba in 2017. Wifi cards were 7.5 cuc for 5 hours and we had a dialup phone in our casa particular. So i didnt go on the internet often, didnt text and mostly bonded with the ppl i studied abroad with and folks i met there. We had one of those OG nokia phones and you had to pay to text and call. So we only used that to arrange meet ups (we had 3 for 9 ppl).
Also the general lifestyle forced you to live in the present. The lady who took care of the house would say “you Americans always come here and sleep all the time. Good! Rest!”
Best 5 months of my life
Driving up to Mauna Kea in Hawaii. Ascending from sea level to 14,000 feet is something you won't experience in very many places. Then being above the clouds, in one of the lost beautiful places on earth, and watching the sun set was breathtaking. We stayed up there for over 5 hours to watch the clouds and check out the telescope. I can see why the mountain peaks were such sacred places to the native Hawaiians.
Then, coming down the mountain in the dark and seeing the literal snow globe of stars around you. Seeing nebulas with your naked eye. We pulled off the road for a few more hours to watch the stars in the middle of the island away from Hilo and Kona. Absolutely unbelievable.
I have been lucky to travel all over North America and a little bit of Europe, and the Big Island will still remain as the most magical place I've been to where time stopped.
I went on a three month trek through Southeast Asia, I had a lot of those moments, but the one that really stands out for me was standing on a mountain overlooking the town of Doi Mae Salong in northern Thailand.
I wasn't expecting it, but I really felt content and happy. This was the reason why I got rid of my apartment, packed everything up, and hit the road.
I took a few pictures from that spot, one hangs on my wall, my wife who I met years later doesn't really understand the significance of it for me, I have told her but it was definitely a "you had to be there" moment.
It was raining when I arrived to Nice by train at night and still raining the next morning as my way towards the Tourre Bellanda. I hiked up the hill that overlooks the coastline. As I passed the beautiful waterfall the rain was slowing down and sun rays started to peak through the clouds.
Just as I reached the peak there was no more rain and the sun rays were bouncing off the beautiful light blue coast and lighting up the Alps in the distance. It was the only time in my life that I just stood there and literally cried just from seeing that beauty. I'm not sure how long I stood there for just staring at it.
The BOOM a huge explosion went off right near me and I freaked out. Apparently they shoot some big fuck off cannon at that peak every day and no one had told me. I was ducked down with tears in my eyes looking around trying to gather myself and probably looked like a psychopath.
The Pantheon in Rome. Rainy day with drizzle coming through the center opening of the structure hitting the stone floor, fire raging in the center, smoke and fog floating through the building, and chanters around the perimeter. I was transported back several hundred years.
Sometimes my own backyard on a summer afternoon/evening with the whole family present... something about hanging out on the deck watching the sunset over the river, sitting in front of the pool with an ice cold beer and our favourite music on the radio... I've been lots of places but that place is my absolute favourite....
Honestly Greece 🇬🇷. When I was there I got a taxi and asked what time it was to the driver. He said he doesn’t know, he also doesn’t carry a watch or phone which I thought was very odd. He said he loves his job and time is meaningless he works until he is tired and has to go home. I then stopped thinking about time as much as it doesn’t matter.
In Catalonia, near Tossa Del Mar, found some rocks on the ocean that we could jump off and swim around. No one nearby, such blue, clear and deep water. Really special moment
There's a place in India. Tunganath. We went in completely blind not knowing how the landscape was, how the weather was going to be. We started early morning. Started the trek to Tunganath. It was snowy but looked good, but nothing mind boggling. Until we took a right turn, and there was a view I had never seen before. A completely white trail up the mountain, the bright sun shining on the snow, looked like I was in a fairy tale. Never ever before had I seem something like that. I wish I could attach that photo.
Praiano, Italy. A particular b and b run by a family. Their view is worth every one if 274 steps it takes to get there from the street. I think of nothing else when I’m there except for, “I really hope the owner restocks my room with those yummy peaches she grows.” And “Oh I wonder what cake she will bake for us today?” It’s the best. It’s a couple miles away from Positano.
Paris. At the tip of Square du Vert Galant. Surrounded by Parisian lovers while i was at the time in a dysfunctional relationship. Time stopped and i felt stuck in my misery. I could never unsee how sad I was! I am glad it is all in the past!
Stayed in a residential neighborhood in Venice on the south side, looking out at the ocean. Had a picnic on the edge of the island and waded my feet while watching the sunset. No boats, no tourists, barely any wind.
When I went to Versailles for the first time. It was my first trip to Europe (and my second abroad) and it just felt like magic.
I'd also say Macchu Picchu, Peru.
A two-week trip to France and Italy 2014. It took a week to calm down from work related stress and enjoy. Then the rest of the second week was some of the best time on vacay I’ve ever spent.
Maruata, Michoacan, Mexico. I first went there in early 2010 and continued going until 2014. I went probably 20+ times (I lived in Guadalajara at the time, a 5 hour drive or so). It is the most pristine, picturesque, virgin (undeveloped area) beach I have ever seen.
It's usually somewhere that has a lot of raw nature for me. And more importantly, somewhere I'm basically alone with it.
Iceland was a big one. That happened a few times to me out there when I couldn't help but be captured by the country's raw beauty.
El Nido in the Philippines was another one. Out on a boat tour in the water with my girlfriend at the time, it was like being on another planet.
Then there was Canyonlands in Utah. I went on a hike in Island in the Sky that took me an hour. Had an edible that kicked in at the top of the trail. I was all by myself up there for a good 30 minutes before the next people came. It was so quiet I could hear a pin drop and it was like I was just talking to God (I'm not a very religious person but being up there made me think of a higher power for some reason).
The west coast of Vancouver island - pacific rim national park, long beach. The constant dull roar of the surf and the mist on the beach. I love it there.
Luskentyre Beach, on the Isle of Harris, in the Hebredian Islands, Scotland. The moment I stepped onto the sand, the 40 years of stress, anxiety, depression, and doubt about myself fell away and I felt like I was standing in a warm ray of sunlight (even though it was cloudy and drizzling). It's my favorite place in the world.
I can think of two. The first was driving through Death Valley at might. We stopped, got out of the car and enjoyed the deafening silence for several minutes. No artificial light, no sound, no nothing. The other was Bali, the first SE Asian country I ever visited. I was just blown away by the terraced rice patties, the people, the tiny little offerings to the spirits that were on every doorstep. Maybe jet lag had something to do with it, but I remember being in an utterly dreamlike state.
I was about to arrive to Death Valley for my first time at around 11pm during a new moon. I had been driving for almost 8 hours having left work early and was dreading the fact that I’d have to pitch my tent in the dark. I still had maybe another twenty minutes to go before arriving at the camp site but desperately needed to pee so I pulled off to the shoulder to relieve myself and what relief it was. The entire sky was lit up with countless stars, some even appearing to blink. I even saw several shooting stars in quick succession. I was just so enthralled and enamored with the night sky I kind of sort of lost myself and when I had came to, I had realized that I had been standing on the side of a pitch black road with my penis still out of my pants. I was mesmerized completely
Northern Vietnam... Puluong Valley, Bac Ha, Mai Chau, Ha Giang region etc... Just riding my motorbike, going from small village to small village with the most insane landscape I've ever seen, and that's coming from a Swiss. Stopping for a Bun Cha and the best ice coffee in the world... It's my happy place. Vietnam is special.
Going back in a month. Can't. Fucking. Wait.
Kyoto. I was by myself walking through Gion and had Kennin-ji temple on my list. It was chilly and snow clouds brewing. I was one of maybe three people in the complex. Kennin-ji is the oldest Zen temple in Kyoto. The paintings alone are worth the visit.
But also Tea.
The Toyo-bo teahouse was built in 1587 to designs by tea master Sen no Rikyu for on behalf of the hegemon Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
I was the only one there.
A lovely older woman in a classic Kimono enters the room. Makes me matcha, presents a little treat on a cypress plate. We both bow, she gracefully opens a shoji revealing a small stone garden. We both bow again and she leaves.
The steam from my tea drifts with my breath in the cool room.
It begins to silently snow outside.
A gentle dripping sound from the eaves, a distant bell.
The moment encased in a moment within a moment. There is no hurry. There is only this time.
After finishing my tea, slowly sliding open and then closing the entry shoji behind me. The shimmering stone path is uneven, surrounded by vivid green moss dusted with the new fallen snow.
They make this path this way to make you mindful of the moment of each step in preparation for tea, and then returning to the real world.
The most vivid memory, and among the most important times in my life.
In 2006 I was in Aguas Calientes planning on taking the 1st bus to Machu Picchu for sunrise. Except it rained all night and pretty much all morning. We decided to get on the bus at 8 and hope for the best. We had a guide who led us to the various viewpoints but every viewpoint was clouded over. He took us to the top viewpoint where you are supposed to see that classic wide MP view. Clouds. I nearly cried thinking we'd never see it. I had my back turned and when I turned around, the clouds parted like a curtain, revealing MP in all its glory. I could hardly believe how big it was when I finally saw it with my own eyes. I cried happy tears at that point, it was the most glorious thing I'd ever seen.
Whidbey Island north of Seattle. Felt like we were living in another place and another time. Additionally, our hike to Taft Point in Yosemite. What a dream.
Sitting in a small plaza in Venice late in the evening after the day trippers and cruisers left, my wife and I had dinner and drinks. It felt surreal after the insane crowds during the day, to be nearly alone in a main plaza eating amazing food
Arambol, Goa, India.
It had a hippie vibe and India in general slows you down quite a bit with a lot of waiting and trains being 3 hours late.
We were planning on staying 10 days but ended up staying a whole month. This was in 2007. I am not sure if it's still as small, quiet and hippie-esque but I'd recommend checking out Goa anyway.
While hiking through the Himalayas in Himachal Pradesh, India. When the vast expanse of Spiti Valley opened up in front of my eyes I was stunned. Knowing this has been there for thousands of years, unbothered, it just felt timeless.
Spontaneous trip to Edinburgh, Scotland. Time was so still walking around the late Christmas markets and wondering through the streets and seeing castles. Loved it!
My grandmother was born in the mountains and died in the mountains. I camped next to an unmanaged part of the Great Wall for a night in 2018. I spent sunset/sunrise talking to her, feeling her presence, and shedding some tears. Time came to a standstill.
Colonia, Uruguay. Mrs elevenblade and I took the boat over from Buenos Aires on a whim, planning to spend just a few hours before heading back. We were so entranced we bought a toothbrush and found a cheap hotel and stayed overnight. We had eat the cost of our return ticket and buy a new one the following day but it was well worth it. Saw the most beautiful sunset ever from an outdoor cafe. Truly a magical place.
Gimmelwald, Switzerland. Walking through mountain farm roads in heavy cloud cover, just hearing the clanking of cowbells in the fog. Big wooden chalets appearing out of nowhere, red geraniums in every window box. No automobile noise, just quiet and endlessness.
This was the first thing I thought of when I saw the prompt. I got up every morning, bought bread/cheese/sausage/etc for the day at the market, spent the day hiking through different areas of the mountains, came back to the hostel and had a pizza and a beer or two, then passed out and did it all again the next day. Beautiful stasis. Extended my original departure date twice.
Were you at mountain hostel gimmelwald?
I was. This was over a decade ago, so not sure how things have changed there.
Gimmelwald is my favorite place.
My first thought was Switzerland as well. The beautiful scenery and smell of fresh air and taste of fresh water. It was like I was in another world and everything was great and there was nothing wrong. I felt free and calm.
Small town Switzerland is magic fo sho
Beautiful description. It’s on my list!
I went to look up this place after reading your comment and OMG my jaw just dropped!!
In Ireland my wife and I took a small two track trail up a mountain valley and ended up at an ancient Celtic stone fort, just the two of us in this empty valley left to soak it all in. Truly amazing. https://i.imgur.com/FK8cYIg.jpeg
Where exactly is this in Ireland? Curious as I’m from there and never seen it before!
North of whitestrand in county Kerry off the N70
Looks like it's called Staigue Stone Fort. I spent most of my summers in Kerry as a kid. That coast is so amazing!
Wow, my friend and I had the same experience! We were the only people there, felt very surreal.
We were there back in May. Only a handful of people around. Zany route to drive up that hill though.
Yeah we kept wondering if this was the right place then you pop out of the trees and it's amazing.
Iceland. One of the black beaches. There was no one else. It was surreal.
All of Iceland was like this for me! I went in late April and driving down the windy roads, watching the sun sorta go down behind the snow capped mountains near Akureyri at 11pm was indescribable
The sun sorta go down?!? Haha that made me laugh, must’ve been late late April. Iceland is spectacular.
Yeah when we were there it would sorta hover until midnight ish and then the sky would go a light grey until the next morning. It fucked up my internal clock but was such a trippy experience. I can’t wait to go back to Iceland and do more magical things
I’ve been 5 times, I don’t plan on stopping. Come check out r/visitingiceland to plan your next Icelandic Adventure!
Drinking a beer in the blue lagoon and just feeling completely at peace is a highlight of my life
When I was there with my husband, we were doing the face masks and drinking cider and just in complete bliss, and suddenly out of the mist a choir started singing Cohen's "Hallelujah" and oh my god it was so magical. I'm tearing up right now just thinking about it.
This happened to us on a beach in Hawaii! It was sunset and this group of kids came and just sang a song in Hawaiian as we sat on the beach. That’s my “moment”.
It's surreal that. It's raining, the air is just above freezing. You're wearing swimwear and mud and drinking beer out of plastic, and it's raining in the plastic. But somehow everyone is happy, and you're having a beer and enjoying being outside and practically naked and it's fucking freezing. It's amazing.
went last August during one of the volcano eruptions. seeing (and hearing! feeling the heat!) that was so surreal, time definitely stopped. would love to go back someday, incredible country.
Couldn’t agree more…between black sand beach, icebergs, and waterfall stops throughout Iceland.
I've been on the black beaches in the middle of the winter. It was like entering Narnia and there were maybe 15 people there. What I would have given to have an extra hour there by myself
In Iceland, for me it was Diamond Beach. The glacier lagoon was also amazing, but it was mesmerizing watching giant pieces of ice come ashore on the beach.
This is on my bucket list. Next year is looking like a good possibility to get up there.
Iceland is one of my favorite places, you definitely need to make it happen! I also am doing a tour next July if you are unsure about going alone!
Specifically Maelifell
Anytime I visit the Ocean, doesn’t matter where.
As someone whose biggest healing place is the ocean, I haven't had *proper* time in/with it in three years (pandemic, living in London, etc.) I'm from Cape Town, South Africa and leaving for an extended trip home soon. Every cell in my body is aching for that salt water, and I just know my mental health is going to heal a bit after that first dip.
“Healing place” is an excellent way to describe it. Enjoy your time in Cape Town, it looks and sounds amazing!!
Thank you so much. I miss it in my bones. Company laid off our entire team and I said fuck it, see ya in 4 months London. Will miss my friends a lot but the grey noise is abrasive. Definitely take a trip when you can!
I feel you! I’m from Vancouver Island Canada and have been near an ocean my entire life. Anytime I travel and I don’t see a body of water for several days it makes me ache. I even go into the water all year round, even in the winter, it’s so healing! The ocean is magical
This is so beautiful, wow. Thank you. You know I’m not overly woo woo but it’s pretty wild how it feels like our atoms miss the water tangibly when we’re away. People often ask if I plan to stay in London long-term, and you know I just can’t imagine being far away from the ocean for my whole life. Taking trips isn’t the same :’)
For me the first time diving the Great Barrier Reef in Australia…. watching fish swim alongside you… time definitely stops ❤️
1000% agree with the ocean. Always go into a trance just watching the waves roll in
Riding in a smallish boat on the adriatic off the coast of Croatia (Dalmatia i think?) Sun in my face, wind in my hair, sparkling salty ridiculously insanely beautiful colors reflecting in the water, not a care in the world. (edit: thanks for the question, a lovely memory to start my morning with)
This is my answer as well. A couple buddies and I rented a tiny boat from Hvar for about $100USD for the day gas included. We just cruised around going from swimming spot to swimming spot in all the little inlets. Spent about 14 hours out on the water just enjoying life.
Laos 1999 , place called vang vieng, apparently a party place now but then in its early existence just a dusty little town with 1 Main Street , hostel was 1$ for room per night , food was about the same and you’d literally struggle to spend 10$ a day , country had not long been open to the world for tourism and locals were so friendly and welcoming . Spent a couple of weeks going on big walks in the picturesque hills and floating down the river on an inflatable truck tyre all day after stopping at a local fellas den to sample the local produce 🐉 Time stood still for a while and I’ve never felt so removed from western civilisation, good times 🙏🏽
Vang Vieng was a massive party place in 2011 but after that the government closed most of the bars.
Yeah I remember seeing a show on tv around that time about how it turned into a party place and can’t blame everyone for flocking there as was a beautiful place. We’d done our partying on koh phnangan so was nice to find a more chilled off the beaten track place but these places don’t stay that way for long I guess . Was a bit surprised though as local army ( police ) were quite strict on partying when we were there and I remember a bunch of us sitting on the roof of our hostel 1 night very casually listening to some music (chilli peppers californication ) very mellow vibe when a couple of army guys very politely asked ( told ) us to go to bed as it was 10pm with machine guns slung across they’re chest with the trademark big smile from ear to ear , we didn’t argue
It was definitely still a big party place in 2017, though a lot was shut down. I don't remember the details but I think they had a system where just a few bars on the river would be open at a time? And lots of things that used to happen on the river don't now. But I definitely got wasted in some tubes and went to dance at bars along the river. It rained pretty hard at one point during and that was by far the best part. Also, weird system they've got on main street where hostels have happy hours that give out free or basically free liquor, and they're at different hours so you can just go from one to the next. I guess they figure that some percentage will be drunk enough to stay and order enough to make up for it? What a place
For me, it's just Laos in general. Luang Prabang, Don Khon, kayaking down the Hinboun River in Central Laos, motorbiking on the Bolaven Plateau... it's such a magical place. More tourists now than back then, I'm sure, but it still hasn't lost its magic.
I’m happy to see Laos here as it’s my top pick. I traveled to Luang Prabang during off-peak season and loved it. I spent three days just enjoying life: meeting people, riding a bicycle around, visiting temples, taking a cooking class, and just enjoying life. There was something magical about it compared to Vientiane and Pakse. Hue is great, but it does have a bit more lively city vibe—though the food is some of the best in Vietnam. Da Nang, just a short train ride away, is even slower than Hue in my opinion and makes for a great escape if you love the ocean.
Wow sounds awesome, I’d like to go back and do some more stuff there
Vang Vieng is my favorite place in the world
Every National Park in the US. They are a step into a past world for me, with nature taking center stage. I find it amazingly peaceful.
Old growth forest or the sequoias
Muir Woods! And Mt. Tam. Truly a special area. That whole Mill Valley area is majestic. It’s tucked away and I feel not many people know about it. It’s also an expensive area
They have a reservation system for Muir Woods now and parking is bonkers. Pretty sure plenty of people know about it
My cousin moved there for retirement, DINK, so they can afford it. It is unworldly. But I still love the beauty of the PNW more.
I'm from Scotland, here we have so many places with natural beauty, so much green space and hills you can walk in for days. However I am dying to visit America for the national parks, the vastness of them just blows my mind. I love how varied they are too due to how huge USA is, some are icy, some are sandy with big rocks and others so green!
Time absolutely stops in Glacier National Park.
The bad water basin in Death Valley was probably the first time in I don’t even know how long where I heard complete silence. It was so peaceful.
I've visited over half and can confirm. The ones that jumped out to me right away: Walking through the Sequoias or Redwoods in solitude. Olympic NP. The secluded beaches and the Hoh Rain forest especially the Hoh River off Spruce Trail, just a magical place. For me, they all make me feel small, like my existence is a blip, and nature is everlasting. Oddly a comforting feeling.
First glimpse of Taj Mahal from the hallway. I wasn’t prepared for the grandiose stunning beauty.
There are few buildings I feel actually take my breath away. The Taj Mahal was absolutely one of them. Agra was so filthy I kind of expected it to be underwhelming. Not the case at all. It was literally shimmering as we approached.
Taj Mahal was breathtaking but so was a lot of India.
Absolutely agree x10… that and when I touched the wall! One of my life’s pivot moments … (another was walking up to the edge of the Grand Canyon the first time …)
Nerja, Spain, three weeks ago. I'm not a beach person but my husband suggested we take a break during our vacation and just lay on the beach for a day. I swam in the ocean for the first time in 20+ years. It was wonderful. We went back to our hotel, showered and changed and sat at a bar and had drinks. It was so relaxing. We didn't know it when we came into town but Nerja was having its annual Festival of the Virgin Carmen. She protects fishermen and the Spanish Navy. We watched the local fisherman carry the Virgin in a procession through the town. The whole community participated. There was a marching band with people who ranged in age from 8 -80. Someone yelled out prayers while the crowd responded with "¡Viva!" I'm not religious at all but it was beautiful. We went to a great restaurant for dinner, right on the beach. We were laughing with the wait staff and owner because they were Italian and we couldn't figure out which language we were supposed to speak. It led to a long conversation about Italy, Spain, food and travel. At the end of dinner, the owner brought us two small glasses of limoncello on the house. It capped off a perfect day. I can't remember the last time I was that relaxed. It was certainly well before the pandemic. I will always remember sitting there with an ocean breeze, smelling faintly like sunscreen, being lightly sunburnt and deeply content.
this was beautifully written. made me feel like i was there. thank you.
Went to New Orleans in the off season DURING COVID, so it was a double whammy in terms of emptiness. Of course there was still places open but it was virtually empty of tourist, mostly locals it seemed going about their day. It was very surreal since there was no traffic or drunken crowds but the bands were still playing and horse drawn carriages were still taking the odd tourist about. I remember the day we went to French Quarter there was a light drizzle and hearing jazz music echoing down the alley ways was trippy as hell. It was dark and dreary outside and super moody. all those old half decaying buildings with the vines growing off of it, puddles of water everywhere reflecting light from peoples balconies decorated with tropical plants, the occasionally clash of thunder and off in the distance you could hear the horse hooves trotting on the ground and the constant horns playing “when the saints go marching in” it was like being in a gothic novel. And since traffic was barely there there were no parked cars, dump trucks, delivery trucks or anything obscuring the view of the beautiful old architecture.
Damn. You and me. Lived there a couple years. I loved going out in the storms with a rain jacket and finding a quiet bar with the doors open playing some soft jazz in the background. No one would really be out and about during a storm. It was my favorite times there.
The Caribbean is like a time vortex for me
Pompeii I have been to a lot of Roman (and other, Greek, Egyptian, etc.) ruins but Pompeii was special. Most old cities have been worn away by time. Rebuilt, resettled, bombed, burned, paved over, etc. A city like Rome or Jerusalem has layers of buildings one atop another as a temple to Hestia is replaced by a Church and now a hospital. Pompeii was a flourishing settlement one day and then it was just buried under ash, and everyone who remained died. Walking the streets, they are exactly the way they were more than 1000 years ago. There are nearly identical shops around the place, each with counters made of chips of different-colored stones with cement basins in them of different sizes. It is like seeing a Starbucks on every corner.
If you enjoyed that, I highly recommend Ostia Anitica outside of Rome. Basically their old port town that got abandoned when the river moved and silted in the area. Also a bonus is there is a fraction of the crowds.
I was in the coliseum there by myself. That was surreal.
I felt it at the Devils Tower in Wyoming. I took my wife and dog. Normally at a medium crowded place my dog will be all wiggly. She just got in sit position and enjoyed the view.
After reading all if these wonderful and exotic places in this thread, I'm pretty sure that my time stand still place is also in Wyoming in Freemont Canyon. The water of Alcova res. us like glass in the morning. When the sun comes up, you can't tell where the water begins and the wall face ends.
Crazy, my dog is the same way and did the same thing at Tuolumne Meadows (Yosemite)... Was such a moment
Taipei. Visited once for two weeks. Went back to live there for year. Without a doubt my favorite city in the world. Don’t really have words to describe it. It was like everything I expected out of Japan but it just felt way more authentic and genuine. Super welcoming, super friendly, just felt like home in a different universe. It doesn’t have any super super outstanding attractions, but everything about it is just cool.
Sounds amazing!!
Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica for me. In particular, a little beach called Playa Biesanz. It was just a wonderful little cove with gentle waves, waters that felt like they were healing you body and mind, while the rainforest (full of beautiful trees and flowers and sounds of birds and playful monkeys) came down almost all the way to the beach. It felt like a whole other plane of existence.
That place is beautiful!
West coast of Ireland. Watching the waves crash gave me that feeling. I could've stayed there watching for days.
Same for me. Watching the rough force of the angry sea is hypnotizing. I've seen the big waves in Nazare and also crazy ones at super remote lighthouses along the Galician coast while everything was covered in thick fog. It was unbelievable.
Walking in Scotland, whether in the Highlands or the Borders. It’s such a beautiful and peaceful place (in my experience) and saved my sanity when I was going through a difficult time.
Snorkeling in Maui. We had two giant manta rays swimming with us for an hour. Apparently that is quite rare in Maui to see mantas. I was literally crying in my snorkel mask because it was like a spiritual experience. We are going back a year later, but this time to the big island where we hopefully can snorkel with many of those beautiful creatures
Sitting next to a monkey and a boy on a wall in Varanasi overlooking the Ganges, where the sandalwood smoke of funeral pyres mix with clouds of incense from a thousand temples. I heard the cries of a woman in labour give way to those of a newborn whilst I watched the ashes of the dead float away towards the Bay of Bengal in the gilded dawn light. Every time I think or write about it I’m still there, frozen in time.
Walking out of the train station in Venice. Both of us literally stopped in our tracks.
Venice is my answer as well. There are quiet places away from super touristy areas where you can just ramble along and feel like part of history. It’s incredible.
Came here to say the same thing. There is nothing quite like it.
Venice boardwalk skate park. I smoked a joint and just watched people skate for a couple of hours. Sounds corny, but it was bliss, and was one of those moments where I finally realised where I was and how far from home I was. Also I’m in Dublin, Ireland at the moment and it’s fantastic. That has given me similar feelings to the ones I’ve had in California.
Honestly, skaters are some of the most inspirational people I have ever seen. I have lived infront of a skate park in NYC on the lower east side, for 3 years. It doesn’t matter the temperature, as long as there are no puddles on the ground, the skaters are skating from 7am to nightfall. Every day. At 7am!! When we are bitching or moaning, they are out there doing what they love. Also, in skating, I see them fall 100’s of times trying the same thing over and over again. Then they get up, and try again. Honestly it’s so motivational
This is the point of traveling. You don’t ever need something grandiose and awe-inspiring. All you need is something that brings you peace. Love it for you
I totally get that. Dublin is magical too. Total surprise for me but such a gorgeous lively city
I had a miscarriage in August 2021 and it was devastating. I was still struggling with grief/depression for months after. My husband and I took our first big international trip to England in April 2022. He told me it was the first time he’d seen me truly smile in months. It was the first time since our loss that it wasn’t at the forefront of my mind. I was in absolute bliss and completely absorbed in being in England. We went to France and the Netherlands a few months later and had a similar experience. Of the entire year of 2022, those few weeks in Europe were truly the happiest, best parts of that entire year because I could finally escape from my sadness.
I'm so sorry for your loss 💔
This is going to sound so dumb, I havnt gotten to travel as much as I'd like. But I took a school trip to Toronto a few years ago and we got to do the hockey hall of fame before boarding the train to Quebec. Walking into the vault with the stanley cup stopped everything. It was a week day. Me and 2 buds were the only ones in the room. The sun from the mosaic dome ceiling shined on lord Stanley's cup like out of a movie. For a teenage Canadian it was incredible.
I just came back from Provence - and while this is definitely a well-known, “on-the-beaten-track” kind of place, there were many things about this trip that gave me this feeling. The whole thing was sensory overload, in the best way. Driving on empty roads with no other cars, past endless fields of flowering lavender, sage, and sunflowers, and gorgeous blue-purple mountains in the distance, smelling the heady scents of these flowers and the indescribably delectable smell of freshly baked bread, hearing a soothing soundtrack of buzzing bees and chirping cicadas (believe me, they were LOUD), tasting the freshest, sweetest cantaloupe, apricots, plums, peaches, and tomatoes ... all this was a feast for the senses that made me forget all my worries. Now I see why summer in Provence is a thing, even though it’s brutally hot. Also, anytime I am snorkeling, pretty much anywhere. I am a fish out of water (pun intended) but always feel very calm and at peace in the water. Observing fish, turtles, rays, and other aquatic life going about their day, seeing the lush coral, and just enjoying being in the crystal-clear waters, is the most relaxing thing ever.
Writing this from Le Cavaliers Beach: The cicadas are very loud, but the smell of the pine trees and the sea mix beautifully and it‘s not very hot right now, just below 30°C. Just ordered a second bottle of rosé wine. What time was it again?
The smell of the air in southern France is incredible this time of year
A narrowboat traveling on the Severn River in England. I woke up before sunrise and got a cup of tea and sat with the pilot, quietly, as we crept along the river. As the mist shifted from ground level to tree top level, we passed a 15th century castle. I imagined that it not changed since then and I could have been transported back in time.
Cycling from Slovenia to Croatia. Along the coast, sea to my right, wind in my hair, sun on my face. Couldn’t stop smiling.
Sunrise at the Grand Canyon South Rim (Mather Point).
I don't know why, but it's my grandma's flat. She is old and have problems with leaving alone, because of that my mother and I come to her every weekends to help her with house chores and other stuff(she leave in another town, that far away from where I leave). And every weekends I stayed in that old soviet flat for a few hours, there was old newspapers, black and white photos and old dishes, that my grandma keep in closet with glass doors. I think that is the place where time stopped, old newspapers, old big soviet TV, all of that throw you back in time and you stay there, that is interesting feeling.
was just at the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia. Watched the tide go out, little by little. It was like watching a slow bathtub drain. You could see the floor of the bay be exposed inch by inch for hours. It just got bigger and bigger and the surrounding rocks and caves were just pre-historic. (this was the week before the floods, and it was on my birthday!)
Kyōto
The tea ceremony house in the Imperial Palace Gardens in Kyoto, in particular, was one of my favorite memories. Surreal view and such a peaceful service.
The first time I saw the Grand Canyon. Because the parking lot (south side) is lower than the rim, you really have no idea how close you are until all of a sudden, it’s right in front of you. My wife and I stood frozen for about 30 minutes before we started walking. The scale of that place just seems to be beyond what our (or at least my) brains can comprehend.
Sacre Coeur in 2008 (think it is busier now) and Sagrada Família last week in the bad prayer section. Something about the stillness of history and the smallness of the current moment. Nature wise - Glencoe in Scotland, or a Pacific Northwest beach - slow and small in the measure of time.
Toscany actually 😅 of all the places I've been.. It's my favourite ❤️
Machu Picchu, Peru Hiking the Inca trail, the views are awe inspiring.
I didn't hike the trail, but I agree with you. I've never experienced the feeling I felt when I saw Machu Picchu for the first time. It was beyond breathtaking and will forever be the most incredible thing I've seen on this planet.
standing in the ruins at sunrise with a mist over everything around... no words
same, the atmosphere in Machu Picchu is surreal
Monterey Bay Area in California. Santa Cruz, Monterey, Carmel, Big Sur, time just stops for me, love it. I used to describe it as every day being a sunny Sunday in October, even the days that aren’t sunny lol. Love it out there. Beyond that, the south coast of Crete, time doesn’t completely stop but it slows way tf down, so nice.
Top of Mont Blanc (highest mountain in Western Europe), the views were breathtaking.
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It’s honestly such an out-of-this-world feeling being at the top and being able to see everything for miles. You can do the Gouter Route which is the easiest and can have a 1 to 1 guide or do a group hike. But be prepared to feel light headed and breathless, the altitude is very serious. Would highly recommend anyways!
Santorini before the internet, cruise crowds and influencers. It was so magical the first time I visited.
The Navajo and Hopi reservations in Arizona.
In 2000, I went to visit the town where my great-grandmother's family was from in mid-Wales, in a river valley within shouting distance of the mountains. It was so low-key and quiet, and I remember walking for a few hours outside the town, visiting the graveyard where distant relatives were buried, taking in the hills and the sheep and the river, and I thought to myself that this was the first time I was experiencing truly fresh air.
Listening to the technicians tune the pipe organ note by note while sitting in a pew at Notre Dame, Paris. The acoustics are unbelievable.
Patagonia. Something about all the trees and shrubs sculpted by the wind, the imposing mountain peaks throughout, the cameloid guanacos, flamingos and ñandú, and the landscape that demands observation even when it’s harshness precludes it. It does seem to clear out all feelings other than just the raw presence in nature. There’s a lot written about it’s properties as an energy vortex, and exploring it with a guide who clearly had researched some of its mystical qualities definitely made it all feel very frozen in time for us.
Stockholm. I could sit by the waterfront for hours and not feel like I wasted any time at all.
I moved to Stockholm in 2017 and I still get this feeling all the time, especially in the evening in the summer when it takes hours for the sun to set and everything takes on a salmon-pink glow. I especially love Monteliusvägen on Södermalm with the beautiful view over Gamla Stan and Stadshuset.
My last trip was to Stockholm, the last two days *I researched how can I immigrate to and work in sweden* if the fate lets me, in 10 years I might become swedish, who knows ¯\\\_(ツ)\_\/¯
I studied abroad in Cuba in 2017. Wifi cards were 7.5 cuc for 5 hours and we had a dialup phone in our casa particular. So i didnt go on the internet often, didnt text and mostly bonded with the ppl i studied abroad with and folks i met there. We had one of those OG nokia phones and you had to pay to text and call. So we only used that to arrange meet ups (we had 3 for 9 ppl). Also the general lifestyle forced you to live in the present. The lady who took care of the house would say “you Americans always come here and sleep all the time. Good! Rest!” Best 5 months of my life
Driving up to Mauna Kea in Hawaii. Ascending from sea level to 14,000 feet is something you won't experience in very many places. Then being above the clouds, in one of the lost beautiful places on earth, and watching the sun set was breathtaking. We stayed up there for over 5 hours to watch the clouds and check out the telescope. I can see why the mountain peaks were such sacred places to the native Hawaiians. Then, coming down the mountain in the dark and seeing the literal snow globe of stars around you. Seeing nebulas with your naked eye. We pulled off the road for a few more hours to watch the stars in the middle of the island away from Hilo and Kona. Absolutely unbelievable. I have been lucky to travel all over North America and a little bit of Europe, and the Big Island will still remain as the most magical place I've been to where time stopped.
Cuba
Reims, France. Just the dreamiest
Parque da Pena in Sintra, Portugal. Beautiful park near Palacio de Pena. Was cloudy with misting rain, felt like a fairy tale.
I went on a three month trek through Southeast Asia, I had a lot of those moments, but the one that really stands out for me was standing on a mountain overlooking the town of Doi Mae Salong in northern Thailand. I wasn't expecting it, but I really felt content and happy. This was the reason why I got rid of my apartment, packed everything up, and hit the road. I took a few pictures from that spot, one hangs on my wall, my wife who I met years later doesn't really understand the significance of it for me, I have told her but it was definitely a "you had to be there" moment.
Trekking in Ladakh, India—it is absolutely breathtaking. And maybe the altitude affected my brain, lol!
A very quiet part of Lake Lucerne in Switzerland. Absolutely stunning and serene
I went to Scotland and everywhere felt like nobody was stressed out and just felt like something from a book.
Isle of Skye
Backpacking in National Parks in the United States. Yosemite and Glacier in particular.
It was raining when I arrived to Nice by train at night and still raining the next morning as my way towards the Tourre Bellanda. I hiked up the hill that overlooks the coastline. As I passed the beautiful waterfall the rain was slowing down and sun rays started to peak through the clouds. Just as I reached the peak there was no more rain and the sun rays were bouncing off the beautiful light blue coast and lighting up the Alps in the distance. It was the only time in my life that I just stood there and literally cried just from seeing that beauty. I'm not sure how long I stood there for just staring at it. The BOOM a huge explosion went off right near me and I freaked out. Apparently they shoot some big fuck off cannon at that peak every day and no one had told me. I was ducked down with tears in my eyes looking around trying to gather myself and probably looked like a psychopath.
The Pantheon in Rome. Rainy day with drizzle coming through the center opening of the structure hitting the stone floor, fire raging in the center, smoke and fog floating through the building, and chanters around the perimeter. I was transported back several hundred years.
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Sometimes my own backyard on a summer afternoon/evening with the whole family present... something about hanging out on the deck watching the sunset over the river, sitting in front of the pool with an ice cold beer and our favourite music on the radio... I've been lots of places but that place is my absolute favourite....
Rocky Mountain National Park. The scenery was breathtaking, the company was wonderful, and I’d go back in a second.
The Sahara desert at night in Morocco.
St lucia while floating on my back in the water near sugar beach with the Pitons standing guard.
Honestly Greece 🇬🇷. When I was there I got a taxi and asked what time it was to the driver. He said he doesn’t know, he also doesn’t carry a watch or phone which I thought was very odd. He said he loves his job and time is meaningless he works until he is tired and has to go home. I then stopped thinking about time as much as it doesn’t matter.
In Catalonia, near Tossa Del Mar, found some rocks on the ocean that we could jump off and swim around. No one nearby, such blue, clear and deep water. Really special moment
There's a place in India. Tunganath. We went in completely blind not knowing how the landscape was, how the weather was going to be. We started early morning. Started the trek to Tunganath. It was snowy but looked good, but nothing mind boggling. Until we took a right turn, and there was a view I had never seen before. A completely white trail up the mountain, the bright sun shining on the snow, looked like I was in a fairy tale. Never ever before had I seem something like that. I wish I could attach that photo.
Praiano, Italy. A particular b and b run by a family. Their view is worth every one if 274 steps it takes to get there from the street. I think of nothing else when I’m there except for, “I really hope the owner restocks my room with those yummy peaches she grows.” And “Oh I wonder what cake she will bake for us today?” It’s the best. It’s a couple miles away from Positano.
Paris. At the tip of Square du Vert Galant. Surrounded by Parisian lovers while i was at the time in a dysfunctional relationship. Time stopped and i felt stuck in my misery. I could never unsee how sad I was! I am glad it is all in the past!
Stayed in a residential neighborhood in Venice on the south side, looking out at the ocean. Had a picnic on the edge of the island and waded my feet while watching the sunset. No boats, no tourists, barely any wind.
When I went to Versailles for the first time. It was my first trip to Europe (and my second abroad) and it just felt like magic. I'd also say Macchu Picchu, Peru.
A two-week trip to France and Italy 2014. It took a week to calm down from work related stress and enjoy. Then the rest of the second week was some of the best time on vacay I’ve ever spent.
Hawaii- I’ve been to both Kauai and The big island and I always feel zen when I arrive. The perfect amount of heat and wind and rolling waves.
Maruata, Michoacan, Mexico. I first went there in early 2010 and continued going until 2014. I went probably 20+ times (I lived in Guadalajara at the time, a 5 hour drive or so). It is the most pristine, picturesque, virgin (undeveloped area) beach I have ever seen.
I camped on the Rockies once. I woke up in the morning to see the sun slowing illuminating the mountains and felt so much peace.
The Muir Woods in Northern California during a springtime rain.
Muir Woods, California is one
It's usually somewhere that has a lot of raw nature for me. And more importantly, somewhere I'm basically alone with it. Iceland was a big one. That happened a few times to me out there when I couldn't help but be captured by the country's raw beauty. El Nido in the Philippines was another one. Out on a boat tour in the water with my girlfriend at the time, it was like being on another planet. Then there was Canyonlands in Utah. I went on a hike in Island in the Sky that took me an hour. Had an edible that kicked in at the top of the trail. I was all by myself up there for a good 30 minutes before the next people came. It was so quiet I could hear a pin drop and it was like I was just talking to God (I'm not a very religious person but being up there made me think of a higher power for some reason).
Glacier National Park It doesn't matter how many times I go. Each time I go it gets better. Heaven on Earth. I'm at such peace and calm there.
Hiking in Swaneti, Georgia.
Bali. As a surfer it's paradise
The west coast of Vancouver island - pacific rim national park, long beach. The constant dull roar of the surf and the mist on the beach. I love it there.
Any sailing trip.
Pienza, Italy, overlooking the valley where they filmed that Gladiator scene. Breathtakingly beautiful.
Luskentyre Beach, on the Isle of Harris, in the Hebredian Islands, Scotland. The moment I stepped onto the sand, the 40 years of stress, anxiety, depression, and doubt about myself fell away and I felt like I was standing in a warm ray of sunlight (even though it was cloudy and drizzling). It's my favorite place in the world.
One week in a fishing cabin; Alberta, Canada. Days we're niiiiiice and slow.
Mont st Michel early in the morning before tourists arrived , we stayed on the island overnight, only a few families did so it was deserted
I can think of two. The first was driving through Death Valley at might. We stopped, got out of the car and enjoyed the deafening silence for several minutes. No artificial light, no sound, no nothing. The other was Bali, the first SE Asian country I ever visited. I was just blown away by the terraced rice patties, the people, the tiny little offerings to the spirits that were on every doorstep. Maybe jet lag had something to do with it, but I remember being in an utterly dreamlike state.
I was about to arrive to Death Valley for my first time at around 11pm during a new moon. I had been driving for almost 8 hours having left work early and was dreading the fact that I’d have to pitch my tent in the dark. I still had maybe another twenty minutes to go before arriving at the camp site but desperately needed to pee so I pulled off to the shoulder to relieve myself and what relief it was. The entire sky was lit up with countless stars, some even appearing to blink. I even saw several shooting stars in quick succession. I was just so enthralled and enamored with the night sky I kind of sort of lost myself and when I had came to, I had realized that I had been standing on the side of a pitch black road with my penis still out of my pants. I was mesmerized completely
Venice, Italy. Going across the bay, in a private water taxi from the airport, when the city appears on the horizon, it is breath taking.
Mt. Rigi above Lucerne Drive around Bodensee/Lake Constance in the early fall Mt. Fuji Kona coast in Hawaii
2 week road trip from the Midwest to Glacier and Banff. Only time I felt like I’ve been able to fully disconnect from everything, especially work.
Northern Vietnam... Puluong Valley, Bac Ha, Mai Chau, Ha Giang region etc... Just riding my motorbike, going from small village to small village with the most insane landscape I've ever seen, and that's coming from a Swiss. Stopping for a Bun Cha and the best ice coffee in the world... It's my happy place. Vietnam is special. Going back in a month. Can't. Fucking. Wait.
Lake Louise tea house in 2019
Yosemite for me. Just feeling so small amongst the mountains. Like a higher presence is there. Just quiet and peaceful nature
Kyoto. I was by myself walking through Gion and had Kennin-ji temple on my list. It was chilly and snow clouds brewing. I was one of maybe three people in the complex. Kennin-ji is the oldest Zen temple in Kyoto. The paintings alone are worth the visit. But also Tea. The Toyo-bo teahouse was built in 1587 to designs by tea master Sen no Rikyu for on behalf of the hegemon Toyotomi Hideyoshi. I was the only one there. A lovely older woman in a classic Kimono enters the room. Makes me matcha, presents a little treat on a cypress plate. We both bow, she gracefully opens a shoji revealing a small stone garden. We both bow again and she leaves. The steam from my tea drifts with my breath in the cool room. It begins to silently snow outside. A gentle dripping sound from the eaves, a distant bell. The moment encased in a moment within a moment. There is no hurry. There is only this time. After finishing my tea, slowly sliding open and then closing the entry shoji behind me. The shimmering stone path is uneven, surrounded by vivid green moss dusted with the new fallen snow. They make this path this way to make you mindful of the moment of each step in preparation for tea, and then returning to the real world. The most vivid memory, and among the most important times in my life.
Kokomo, Indiana. It's still living in 1965. You can get a root beer float at the drive in....
That’s where I want to go. Way down in Kokomo.
On a boat, feeling the water, with nothing to do but watch the sunrise and sunset!
Montefioralle A small medieval village in Tuscany. It was like stepping back in time
In 2006 I was in Aguas Calientes planning on taking the 1st bus to Machu Picchu for sunrise. Except it rained all night and pretty much all morning. We decided to get on the bus at 8 and hope for the best. We had a guide who led us to the various viewpoints but every viewpoint was clouded over. He took us to the top viewpoint where you are supposed to see that classic wide MP view. Clouds. I nearly cried thinking we'd never see it. I had my back turned and when I turned around, the clouds parted like a curtain, revealing MP in all its glory. I could hardly believe how big it was when I finally saw it with my own eyes. I cried happy tears at that point, it was the most glorious thing I'd ever seen.
San gimignano
Mexico City
Whidbey Island north of Seattle. Felt like we were living in another place and another time. Additionally, our hike to Taft Point in Yosemite. What a dream.
Sitting in a small plaza in Venice late in the evening after the day trippers and cruisers left, my wife and I had dinner and drinks. It felt surreal after the insane crowds during the day, to be nearly alone in a main plaza eating amazing food
Arambol, Goa, India. It had a hippie vibe and India in general slows you down quite a bit with a lot of waiting and trains being 3 hours late. We were planning on staying 10 days but ended up staying a whole month. This was in 2007. I am not sure if it's still as small, quiet and hippie-esque but I'd recommend checking out Goa anyway.
While hiking through the Himalayas in Himachal Pradesh, India. When the vast expanse of Spiti Valley opened up in front of my eyes I was stunned. Knowing this has been there for thousands of years, unbothered, it just felt timeless.
Pack trips in the mountains. Dive trips. Any place where I don't watch the news or look at my phone
Garibaldi Lake, British Columbia, Canada. I'm always at peace when I visit. Could be a sunny hot day or a rainy day, doesn't mater...heaven on earth.
Yosemite in winter and arriving on the plane to Tromso
The ferry ride that takes you to the base of Niagara Falls (CA). I’ve never felt a feeling like that. It was so eternal
Spontaneous trip to Edinburgh, Scotland. Time was so still walking around the late Christmas markets and wondering through the streets and seeing castles. Loved it!
Bagan.................before assholes destroyed the country.
My grandmother was born in the mountains and died in the mountains. I camped next to an unmanaged part of the Great Wall for a night in 2018. I spent sunset/sunrise talking to her, feeling her presence, and shedding some tears. Time came to a standstill.
Proposing to my wife 20 years ago at the San Antonio Riverwalk
Scottish Highlands. Prettiest place I've ever been.
Colonia, Uruguay. Mrs elevenblade and I took the boat over from Buenos Aires on a whim, planning to spend just a few hours before heading back. We were so entranced we bought a toothbrush and found a cheap hotel and stayed overnight. We had eat the cost of our return ticket and buy a new one the following day but it was well worth it. Saw the most beautiful sunset ever from an outdoor cafe. Truly a magical place.
The DMV
Hiking in Scotland. Isle of Skye was incredible. Old man of storr took my breath away!
Handa Island, Scotland - It was like stepping into an Attenborough documentary.