Oh dear, I usually travel to big well known cities, so I'm afraid I don't have any unusual or exciting adventures to relate.

On the other hand, I probably live in an out-of-the-way end-of-the-world place! LOL Here I am on a map:

Not really out-of-the-way or end-of the-world - I think more an offbeat destination at a time in history that can't be replicated. I went to the Soviet Union in 1975 (the same time as the end of the Vietnam War for those of you who remember ancient history). Didn't know that a person had to stay on the sidewalk so, as I was stepping back (yes, off the sidewalk) trying to take a picture of the Tsar Bell at the Kremlin, a Soviet soldier had a large gun in my back expressing his extreme displeasure. I think we were one of the first tour groups after détente, and they didn't know how to react to 17-year-old American kids wearing Levi's and singing rock music tunes. We might as well have been Martians from another planet. Best trip ever. Lots of other fun stories from that trip.

Spent one Christmas holiday in the Australian bush. And the wild koala in the eucalyptus tree peed on my head. And I petted a wallaby (I still want a pet wallaby - they are the cutest things ever). And kangaroos are taller than me.

Most places were closed on Christmas, so the owners of the pub (they're always open) invited us to stay in their house, fed us dinner and breakfast and copious amounts of XXXX beer (really, that's the name), and I unsuccessfully attempted to learn darts. I still don't understand cricket. I learned what Boxing Day is. And got to eat Moreton Bay Bugs and barramundi on the coast. Vegemite is an acquired taste. Really, really close to the best trip ever.

Got to go back to Eastern Europe where my parents were born (before the Berlin Wall fell, so again Soviet territory but I had already experienced it once, so I was ready!) Met lots of relatives. Most of my relatives didn't emigrate, so it was REALLY weird to fly thousands of miles and meet someone who looked and sounded just like my grandmother (it was her youngest sister). Really, really, really close to the best trip ever.

Now I just stay home :-)

See my profile pic? That's a blue ringed octopus. Here's the story behind the pic. DD and I swam in a rock pool inundated with them, all around us. We didn't know what they were until later.We were very fortunate that we weren't bitten. The outcome is usually death since their bite is painless and you don't know until your heart stops.

I have adventures wherever I go. Doesn't have to be an exotic or faraway place. Living life to it's fullest and sometimes doing the things that scare you most is an adventure. It's a successful trip when I come home with a good story for my grands someday that will leave them shaking their heads wondering if grandma is a liar or needs to be committed.

In January 2011 I took a cruise to Antarctica. I went all by myself and flew to Ushuaia, the southern most city of Argentina a boarded the ship there. It was an ice breaker with a Polish captain and crew. The first night and two days were spent crossing the Drake Passage which is one of the roughest seas in the world and set foot on the continent early in the morning of the third day. Altogether we made five landings where we were taken to shore by Zodiac. I saw three different kinds of penguins, three types of seals, incredible icebergs, whales, and many sea birds that are not common in the northern hemisphere. After the 11 day cruise ended, I flew to Buenos Aires where I met my two daughters; we toured the city for five days and then I flew home. I arrived at JFK in a heavy snow storm only to find that my flight to Boston was cancelled along with every other flight. I burst into tears out of sheer exhaustion and frustration. With the kindness of a some very nice ladies in the baggage claim department, I was able to find a shuttle bus to NYC where I was able to catch an AMtrak train to Providence. This was the most amazing trip and I would do it again in a heartbeat if I thought I could justify the expense.

Wow, Fran. Amazing.

I found it quite eye opening to travel as a student to Communist bloc cities like Prague and Budapest in the 1970s. I'm glad I had that experience.

As a kid I went (no cell phone no camera) to Antigua. OMG. I remember sitting on top of a hill and watching farmers with fruit on their heads walking. I said to myself, "Suzi, pay attention. Remember the wind, the smells, the color, the feeling. Better than any photo anyone could ever take! It's in my head and I have done that everywhere I ever went. Lose the camera. Let your senses bring back the moment.

You are so right about that. Sometimes it is better to lose the camera.

One sort-of end-of-the-world place I visited was Berlin, Germany in 1990, where communism was falling. My brother and I rented a hammer and chisel from some local entrepreneur, and chiseled pieces off of the Berlin Wall. So while it wasn't a geographic end-of-the-world, it was the end of East Germany and East Berlin, and the end of an era.

For a more geographic end-of-the-world I'd have to pick either the island of Madeira, in the Atlantic, off the coast of Morocco or perhaps Iguassu Falls in southern Brazil. Neither are really that out-of-the-way, but they aren't on that many people's lists of places visited, and they are both so stunning that they should be.

OK, I thought of a place. It wasn't a vacation, but a university term that I spent in St. Pierre & Miquelon, small French islands off the coast of Newfoundland. Who knew you could go further than Newfoundland in North America? LOL

I spent 13 weeks there, living with a French family, attending university with about 40 other students. You had to live with a family, there were no dorms or apartments for students.

St. Pierre is/was very small, about 4000 people. Much like a Newfoundland fishing village but of course all French speaking. It was a great time, a chance to travel "abroad" without going far. I learned a lot of French which was the whole purpose of the semester.

Weeeeell.....Bonaire was an island with a LOT of cactus, very little else.

Been to islands in Fiji with only a palm tree in the center....nothing else.

Been to St.Croix a few times, Frederiksted pier, totally deserted. They built a mile long pier, opened a beach walk full of cute and/or expensive tourist shops then charged cruise liners HUGE amounts to dock....so they stopped docking. The shops ALL closed, the place is a ghost town.

We dove the dock piers, which underwater are covered in marine life. Best we've ever seen!

Have a funny story...we arrived in St Maarten and when the taxi driver asked where to take us, we gave him the hotel name...he said the hotel had burned down...the week before...and it had! :0)

Wakatobi...middle of no where....but posh...got there in a private chartered plane. We stayed 11 days....it's touted as one of the world's most remote resorts.

http://www.wakatobi.com/home.php

Wow, please don't ask me to pick a favorite story! They are all fantastic! Thank you so much for sharing. However, Casey does win the prize for living in an end-of-the-world location! As she knows, we all love the wonderful photos she shares.

I agree with you, Suzi and Fran. Keep the memories in your heart and in your mind.

OK, here are my two stories:

With friends we traveled by "bush taxi" from Niamey, Niger up the Niger River to a point where we were met by local people with a canoe (pirogue). They poled us across the water to the island where they lived. We were their guests for the afternoon and overnight. In the evening we were entertained by a large fire, drums and dancing on the beach. We slept on mats in the adobe-style homes they use. Next morning we returned to Niamey. (1960's)

Next adventure was snorkeling on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. I felt no fear, just loved seeing the sea life, including the giant clam. Apparently "ignorance was bliss" because Steve Irwin was killed there a matter of less than 2 months after our trip! Hmmm.....

I went to Tibet when I was in college. It was an unbelievable experience that will always be special to me.

socks....we were also in Australia 2 months before Steve Irwins death. When we returned a year later everyone on the boats had either been with him or knew someone who had witnessed his demise. Grabbing a BIG stingray is not a typical thing one would do....you were in no danger. In Grand Caymen we dove Stingray City, touching them, feeding them....but not grabbing or hurting them. Glenda posts her photos of being there as well......

I've done Sting Ray City, Grand Cayman, twice. Last time with my grandson and he thought swimming with the stingray was the best thing.

Think the picture says it all :o) Cherish those memories with my grandson!

Wow, did this subject ever bring back long-ago memories. In the mid-1960s, six of us decided to drive from Balibago in the Pampanga Province of the Philippines to see the famous Pagsanjan Falls in Laguna Province which was a trip of over 100 miles. We decided to not take the normal driving route, but to drive through the jungle for the adventure of it. We were driving through a small jungle village when the villagers started throwing stones at us and yelling, "Yankee go home." Then some got on each side of the car and started rocking the car. The guy driving just kept on slowly driving, we all rolled up our windows and locked them, and tried to appear as if we were just out for a pleasant day of driving. Roy kept his foot steadily on the accelerator and we finally got out of that village, absolutely scared to death. But, being the dedicated travelers, we drove on to our destination and enjoyed the falls even taking the boat ride going under the falls. However, we did decide we would drive the normal route back to Balibago through Manila and not chance the hostile villagers again. To this day, just thinking about it makes me want to pee my pants.

What is the most out-of-the-way, end-of-the-world place you have visited?

Vietnam. 1969

Ever had any true adventures or unusually exciting experiences?

Nope.

This isn't super exciting, but it was frustrating/funny and I still remember it with a laugh.

I was in Bern Switzerland in 1979 to watch the Men's World Curling championships, back then it was known as the Silver Broom, ( you would know that I would be traveling to watch sports). We were doing some touring of the historic buildings and went into a very old church. There was no guide, and we walked around at our pleasure, really exploring the place. As we were leaving, we came upon a very tiny arch doorway in a little alcove. We poked our heads in to find it was a very narrow circular stairway. We decided to go up, see where it led. We climbed, what seemed like forever, and wondering if we had made a wise move, when there was a group of students coming down. There was barely enough room to pass each other, even with our backs turned to the walls. At least now we knew that there was something worthwhile to see at the top and kept on upward. We finally got to the top, and stepped out onto the catwalk around the top of the church. Breathtaking view!!! The kicker is, before we could go any further, a monk was standing there, collecting the price of admission!

Smart marketing ploy by the monks!! One might not pay to go up, if they were collecting the fee at the bottom, but after that climb, who wasn't going to pay when they got to the top! And the price of admission was worth it. The view of Bern from up there was worth every cent.

Great post! The trip to Antarctica sounds so wonderful. My favorite place was Chichen Itza -- the Mayan ruins in Yucatan, Mexico. I've always wanted to visit the Egyptian pyramids and Machu Picchu, Peru...but never made it there, so Chichen Itza was the next best thing. I was young and fit enough to climb the main pyramid, and that memory will be with me forever.

Traveled to China with 4 other educators. Toured Mainland China and was invited to spend couple nights at a University, as their guest.

Was told the campus was planning an event for us Americans and we were to plan to perform in front of the audience.

1500 students watched us perform the hokey pokey to their amazement, and even involved the college president to come on stage and do the hokey pokey with us.

Next day as we were leaving, our bus drove us around campus, and students were hanging out their dorm windows yelling HOKEY POKEY :o)

Do I get to share a second post on this thread? The place isn't exotic but it was an adventure. About three years ago my daughter and I were in a town in the Dordogne region of France. We went out to dinner in the old town and walked about six or eight blocks from the hotel to the restaurant. Since this was a working vacation for her, she had to get back to the hotel to take a Skype call. So she left me to pay the bill and come back to the hotel. Well, I managed to take a wrong turn outside the restaurant and got totally lost. After trying to retrace my steps and wandering in circles for a good half hour, I decided to try to get a taxi. Didn't see any on the street so I went into a restaurant and used my very limited high school French to ask if someone could call me a taxi. It took a good half hour for the taxi to arrive and at least another 20 minutes to find the hotel since the cab driver didn't speak any English. When I finally got back my daughter was gone. I did have a night code to get into the lobby but there was no desk clerk and the lobby was dark and I did not have the key. I never did panic because I knew that she was out looking for me. Sure enough a little while later a police car pulled up in front with my daughter and I was found at last.

I spent a year in the remote mountains of the Philippines in the late 60s. Upon my arrival, they asked to see my shoes. OK, they were Navy issued shoes. Nope - not good enough. They issued me some above the ankle boots. Why? Snakes. Oh yeah!

I have traveled on a lot of cruises, visiting more than 75 ports of call. Best one began in October 2013. 42 days, leaving Ft. Lauderdale with a couple of ports in the Caribbean. Then 3 ports in the Canary Islands before cruising to Tangier, Morocco. 5 ports in Spain, including Mallorca (really neat place). Then on to Italy (3 ports) and Sicily (2 ports). Due to storms, we had to miss Sardinia. Back to Spain for a couple more ports, then Gibraltar and Casablanca. Last port over there was in Madeira (part of Portugal). We re-crossed the Atlantic and anchored off a small island in the Bahamas and then back to Ft. Lauderdale.

The Alcazar and Alhambra were amazing. The Amalfi Coast of Italy was beautiful and being on Mt. Etna the day after an 'event' was exciting. Since we were on the ship for 6 weeks, we got to know well a lot of people. The 10-day cruise to Alaska was awe inspiring, but our Atlantic Adventurer cruise was the best.

To expand one I listed into a story:

It took four flights and effectively 24 hours to get to Madeira. We went to baggage claim and got my wife's bag, however my bag was not to be found. After a lengthy cab ride and checking in at the hotel, we needed to get out and stretch our legs. We first walked to the center on the main city, Funchal, and there found a gondola/cable car going up, out of the city to a suburb. At the top we found a hotel with scenic grounds with a small rustic stone hut. Inside the hut was a table with several wine glasses, a bottle of Madeira and a sign directing you to put 1 euro in box with a slot for a glass of Madeira. After the hassles and stresses of travel, sitting calmly, alone together, drinking a glass of Madeira was a singular perfect moment.

After that we toured through a nearby botanical gardens and after a late lunch in the gardens we took a lengthy hike along a "lavada", which is a narrow trail alongside a small irrigation channel. It passed under a waterfall and went on quite a way, much further than we felt like walking. We turned around and hiked back to where we started, and found that the gondola/cable car had stopped running for the evening. A passing cab stopped for us, he was officially off duty, and was going home for the evening, but consented to drive us back to our hotel, giving us a running commentary on the history of Portugal and Madeira along the way.

Then after a later dinner at a place the cab driver had recommended, we got back to our room and found that my bag had been found and delivered to our room. Lastly to top off the day we found out that a massive blizzard had gone through the Northeast states, and that if our tickets were one day later like those of another professor who was attending the same conference, we likely wouldn't have made the trip at all.

I too have visited Antarctica leaving from Ushuaia, Argentina, traveling through the Drake passage and returning past Cape Horn where the seas are so rough there is a map of shipwrecks in the area that would blow your mind.

Was in Antarctica for eight days and left the ship four times via Zodiak raft to walk with penguins and seals. That trip was followed by a week in Buenos Aires. Incredible trip!

Just thought of another travel adventure returning to the USA from the Philippines. We took the very last prop job airplane flight from Clark AFB to the US. The flight was a total of 36 hours in flight; we had two very short refueling stops at Guam and in Hawaii and had to stay on the plane, as I recall. The flight was during Easter weekend so we ended up having two days of Easter - one before crossing the international date line and one after crossing the international date line. Quite an experience with lots of small kiddos on the flight.