Special Ultimate Experiences
15 Experiences To Change Your Perspective
Slide Nr 1If you’ve been paying any attention, you’ll know that we like to encourage our readers to collect experiences, not just things. Every time you experience something new, your perspective on the world changes ever so slightly. These unique and eye-opening events, courses, projects and volunteer opportunities around the globe may even do a whole lot more – so get ready to broaden your horizons and re-evaluate your position in the universe by daring to try something new.
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Special Ultimate Experiences
15 Experiences To Change Your Perspective.
Slide Nr 3Sometimes the smallest things make the difference. For example, not speaking seems easy enough. Simply shut your mouth and stop talking – done! And yet, a silent retreat at a monastery can be one of the most profound experiences. Whether you’re religious or not, simply sitting, working and going about your day in silence allows your thoughts, feelings and your view of the world to marinate a little more intensely than usual. Try a retreat in California, Kentucky or Hertfordshire, UK. [Photo courtesy The Abbey of Gethsemani]
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Special Ultimate Experiences
15 Experiences To Change Your Perspective.
Slide Nr 4In the same vein, pilgrimages have become increasingly popular in recent years with non-religious participants. Pilgrimage paths like the Kumano Kodō in Japan, The Pilgrims’ Way in England, or the Camino leading from all over the world to Santiago de Compostela in Spain all allow participants to walk in silent contemplation, in prayer, or simply in unity with the surrounding landscape and the path ahead.
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Special Ultimate Experiences
15 Experiences To Change Your Perspective.
Slide Nr 5Far be it for us to discourage you from visiting museums on your next city trip, but don’t forget that art needn’t be relegated to institutions. Get out there and explore the street art, too, especially in cities known for their vibrant scene. For example, prowl the colourful alleys of Melbourne, Australia on a guided tour with a graffiti expert to discover its street art small and large. [Photo courtesy Melbourne Street Tours]
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Special Ultimate Experiences
15 Experiences To Change Your Perspective.
Slide Nr 6Once you’ve been to Vancouver, you’ll never look at film scenes set in New York the same way again. Why? Well, during your visit, you will have learned that the Canadian metropolis stands in for the American city quite frequently. In fact, the city known as Hollywood North is one of the most-filmed places on earth. It has also doubled as San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago and even Tokyo on screen, while the surrounding natural beauty has mimicked everything from Alaska and Washington State to North Korea and remote planets. Join a walking tour to take it all in. [Photo courtesy Fans of Vancouver]
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Special Ultimate Experiences
15 Experiences To Change Your Perspective.
Slide Nr 7No matter which city you visit, check in advance whether you can get a different view of the sights – and help tackle homelessness at the same time – by hiring a homeless tour guide. In Prague, Pragulic guides share the city’s hidden spots and their own life stories. In Barcelona, Hidden City Tours offer more conventional sightseeing tours led by homeless guides, while in Munich, BISS City Tours take visitors way off the beaten tourist track, offering a glimpse of the rich city’s underprivileged aspects. [Photo courtesy Pragulic]
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Special Ultimate Experiences
15 Experiences To Change Your Perspective.
Slide Nr 8Go underground in one of the many tours exploring the hidden underbelly of cities around the world. Marvel at the endless tunnels stacked high with bones in the Paris Catacombs, shiver at the thought of the unsanitary conditions that prevailed in Mary King’s Close in Edinburgh before the street was walled up and forgotten for centuries, speculate about the illegal goings-on in the so-called Shanghai Tunnels in Portland, Oregon, and don’t get claustrophobic in the narrow Cu Chi tunnels used by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War.
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Special Ultimate Experiences
15 Experiences To Change Your Perspective.
Slide Nr 9Get down and dirty in a different way by exploring aspects of city life that also take place underground, but without the whiff of the illegal, sinister or morbid. In fact, they will open your eyes to the hidden work that goes on “below the scenes” to keep a city running on a daily basis. The G-Can flood surge tunnels in Tokyo give you a glimpse of the engineering efforts that keep Tokyo dry in rainy season; Vienna’s old “Third Man” sewers function as an introduction to sanitation and film history; you can see where drinking water lives in a disused underground water cistern in Istanbul; find out where too much of it goes on a once-yearly tour of Sydney’s stormwater tunnels; and see where it gets treated on a tour of New York City’s wastewater treatment plant.
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Special Ultimate Experiences
15 Experiences To Change Your Perspective.
Slide Nr 10In the same spirit, discover that one city’s rubbish is another tour group’s treasure on A Rubbish Trip of London. The tour takes in historic dumps and landfills, offering the opportunity to discover historic trash, a recently discarded bit of rubbish or lost items washed ashore by the river in Greenwich. [Photo courtesy Dotmaker Tours]
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Special Ultimate Experiences
15 Experiences To Change Your Perspective.
Slide Nr 12See the world through different eyes – or rather through night vision goggles – and you’ll soon discover an abundance of wildlife previously hidden to your insufficient human sight. Night vision tours are often offered by zoos and wildlife sanctuaries, but in Byron Bay, you can explore Australia’s nocturnal animals in their natural habitat. [Photo courtesy Vision Walks]
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Special Ultimate Experiences
15 Experiences To Change Your Perspective.
Slide Nr 13Closer to home, fostering an animal big or small could be the most rewarding thing you do this year. Not only can you give a temporary home to an animal in need, you can also help a local animal shelter by lightening their load. In return, you will gain a new furry friend, perhaps get the odd sloppy kiss or cuddle, and hopefully watch the animal go to a new forever home eventually. Maybe you want to enjoy the company of a pet without the permanent commitment, perhaps you want to treat fostering as a trial run for adoption, or you see it as a lesson in the responsibilities of pet ownership for your kids. Regardless of your motivations, contact your local shelter to find out if your new animal lodger is already waiting for you there.
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Special Ultimate Experiences
15 Experiences To Change Your Perspective.
Slide Nr 14If you’ve ever felt like you’re lacking in practical hands-on skills, let 2019 be the year you learn that there’s nothing you can’t learn. There’s great satisfaction in building something you can actually use – and it doesn’t get much more useful than putting a roof over your head! The Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales offers courses that teach you to build a tiny house, from the ground up. The centre’s focus is on sustainability, so skills acquired include relevant renewable systems, insulation, a compost toilet and low-energy heating. [Photo courtesy The Centre for Alternative Technology]
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Special Ultimate Experiences
15 Experiences To Change Your Perspective.
Slide Nr 16City dwellers can put their agricultural knowledge to use in an allotment, on their balcony or in their own garden. Supplement that knowledge and make sure your crop is pollinated by taking a course in urban beekeeping. After all, without the buzzing busybodies, up to one third of the food we eat would be in danger. Due to the mysterious colony collapse epidemic and the pesticides used in agriculture, it is increasingly important to protect wild bees in urban areas. Even if you don’t go on to start your own hive, your new skills will help you cultivate a bee-friendly garden. Check out courses in London, Sydney and Toronto.
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