When people draw up their bucket lists or their holiday itineraries, very often the activities or places listed are not unique.
For instance, a recent survey by outdoor clothing company Helly Hansen revealed that before they die, the average person wants to have visited the Taj Mahal in India, walked the Great Wall of China and travelled to the Arctic Circle to see the Northern Lights.
While there is no doubt these are life-affirming experiences and well worth doing, it’s likely that when you get home to share your tales, you’ll speak to ten other people who’ve done exactly the same thing.
With this in mind, wouldn’t it be a great idea to draw up a list of a few things to do that will have your audience enraptured when you return to tell your holiday story?
Activity tours of America provide the ideal opportunity to add some quirkiness to your holiday itinerary, as the vast continent contains plenty of hidden gems besides tourist traps and hotspots.
International UFO Museum and Research Centre, Roswell
Fancy yourself as Mulder or Scully? Want to work out what really happened on that infamous night in July 1947 when a flying saucer was alleged to have crash landed in New Mexico? Well, a visit to the International UFO Museum in Roswell, the town at the centre of the alleged government conspiracy, could yield the answers.
Although you might not solve the mystery, you will have the opportunity to purchase some alien figurines that will make unusual holiday gifts for your friends and family.
Cadillac Ranch, Amarillo
No car symbolises USA living more than the vintage Cadillac, and in Amarillo, Texas, ten of these fine motors have been used to create a uniquely American piece of art.
Since the mid-70s, the cars have been buried nose down up to their back windows in the dirt alongside the highway. But far from being a dead and buried installation, Cadillac Ranch is a living, breathing work of art, to which visitors are encouraged to contribute. So take your spray can and leave your mark.
Live like an Indian in Monument Valley
Of course, the USA hasn’t always been a place of big cities, big roads and big dinners. So why not experience a simpler and more harmonious existence by spending the night in Monument Valley with the Navajo people?
Explore the magnificent red rock surroundings of this barren wilderness, before bedding down for the night in a traditional clay and wood ‘hogan’. It’s certainly an experience you won’t forget.
Enjoy a soak in Boiling River, Yellowstone
While hot tubs are great, they’re usually not in the most spectacular of locations. However, in Yellowstone National Park hikers can strip off and jump into Boiling River for a well-earned soak.
Despite the name, you won’t suffer the same fate as a restaurant lobster here, because on the 45th Parallel – the halfway point between the Equator and North Pole – a thermal spring mixes with the Gardener River to create pleasant water temperatures – allowing you to kick back and enjoy the spectacular mountain scenery all around you.
As you can see, it’s easy to have an unusual travel experience in the USA that will leave you with some great memories and interesting stories to take home.
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