Lately I’ve been thinking about the concept and future of travel, especially with the proliferation of technology.
I think I was in Seattle when this occurred to me in reference to a World’s Fair. From what I understand, people used to travel from far and wide to attend World’s Fairs. But now if you want to see what type of food people eat in Japan or the newest German invention, you can just go online and read about it.
I started thinking: Will this apply to travel and tourism too? The Great Wall of China is a remarkable architectural achievement, but in a world of HD images and virtual reality, will people be satisfied with looking at the wall remotely instead of going through all of the inconveniences to get there?
So lest this become reality, I thought I’d make a list of the 3 most beautiful places I’ve ever been. My memory of these sights is that they were so overwhelming beautiful that I felt entirely unequipped as a human to fully comprehend the beauty. For each of these places, photos truly do not do them justice.
Bryce Canyon at sunset
I visited Bryce Canyon (Utah) with my family when I was a kid. I distinctly remember watching the sunset one evening when we were ready to go back to our lodge, and I was simply in awe. I don’t know how to describe it–it was so much beauty that I literally found it difficult to breathe.
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is an odd one, because it’s both majestic and ordinary at the same time. It’s out in the middle of nowhere–people chose to build it in this specific place. I think its beauty is tied to how ancient it is. I could have stared at it for hours.
Kyoto trees in the autumn
When I studied abroad in Kyoto, I biked through and past these leaves every day. Yet despite how commonplace they were, I couldn’t help to constantly be struck by how beautiful my surroundings were. I grew up in Virginia–we have autumn there, and it’s pretty. Yet it doesn’t hold a candle to Kyoto in the fall.
What are the 3 most beautiful places you’ve ever been? Places that no photograph, video, or virtual reality can ever capture as well as physically being there?