Airport security.
Paying an escort for a cavity search costs too much.
I know this will be an unpopular opinion, but airports. And their bars. I have had so many interesting conversations with random strangers at airport bars.
And I mean genuine, honest, conversations. I had a layover in Vegas the day after a guy killed like 60 people at that concert. I had been in the Vegas airport many times before and it’s always so loud with the slot machines and people are excited and happy…there’s a lot going on.
That day, it was absolutely silent except for people crying and quietly chatting. It hit like a ton of bricks…the contrast. But everyone wanted to talk about it and tell their story - what they saw, how they escaped, etc. And granted, this isn’t a typical story and it’s tragic as fuck, but everyone has a story and I find that fascinating.
The travelling itself. Destinations are never my main interest. It’s being in a moving vehicle. I enjoy buses and trains. Just sitting in the hum and watching the scenery zip by.
I hope that counts as travelling.
Usually that ends up looking as following: Start -> Train -> Waiting for a train back -> Train -> Back to start destination. If there’s more ways to travel though, I’ll join them. That means going there and back via different routes. So I may go into some city by train, and back by a bus or vice versa. Bonus points if I have to use city transport.
Even then, I still need preparation the 1st time. Looking through street view and learning the streets I’ll have to go through, searching for backup transport options, finding what bus companies I’ll use, reading their ToS (seriously), checking their fees, checking whether they are in TransCard system, checking photos and videos of how people get in and pay (details like “do I have to just tap the card, or press something on the screen?”, which doors are for entry and exit, do the doors use “open” buttons or are they driver-controlled, etc… Sometimes buses show up in backgrounds of local news reports, and that’s what I look for.), what are the buses’ license plates, what bus models the company uses and their colors, what route the bus goes through (on map - the longer the better, more distance between stops preffered), it shouldn’t be on Mondays and Fridays due to increased number of people.
And with my laziness that can take some time. But after the 1st time, I can just more or less spontaneously go there any time. Just need a few minutes to check whether the timetables and fees were updated, or if there’s something else important different (e.g.: closed roads that could result in skipped stops). If it isn’t obvious, I am not necessarily looking for anything new, just longer routes with less stops. The same route is still as enjoyable for me after taking it every work day twice for past 3 years just as it was the 2nd time.
Oh, but I really like temporary railroad blockages. The replacement bus still needs to take me to the same destination at (more or less) the same time, but via a different route.
The thrill of not knowing what comes ahead. How will the hotel be? Will the town be like the photos? I wonder that I’ll get to eat. And other things like that. The expectation is a journey in and of itself.
Oh god, I’d die of anxiety. Unless being guided by someone, and by guided I mean just being given commands on exactly what to do and exactly where to go, I need them details.
Even then, going somewhere for the first time is not the most pleasant. 2nd and more is fine though, once I had at least a bit of experience with the place.
Exploring different cultures and food is definitely high up on my list.
