I'm quite fortunate in that my family loves to travel. Ever since I was little they were taking my sister and I places we could barely comprehend, but we still had fun and there was always something to do. I've been to 11 countries, on several different trips, and here are a few of my favorites and some things to do that you might miss the first time.
Jamaica
I was only able to spend a day in Jamaica, but I'll never forget the scenery and the environment. It's hard to pick out what to do if you only have one day, however, we found something that ate up our entire afternoon. While in the taxi, talking to the driver in order to find the best spots to visit, he suggested we take an hour long drive around the island to a jungle tour. The tour was a bit different though, because all you did was climb a waterfall. I don't mean hiking around so you can stand at the top, we literally climbed through the rushing water to reach the top of this beast. I can say with 100 percent confidence that I have never done anything like that in my life, and I urge everyone to give it a try.
Austria
Austria is one of the coolest countries I've ever seen. The small towns contrast with the ginormous mountains in a way that simply cannot be described. Although the mountains are gorgeous, it's what's under those mountains that really blew me away: The Salzburg Salt Mines. These salt mines are still active today, but they still let you take a look inside and see how it all comes together. There's something humbling about looking up and knowing there's thousands of tons of stone above your head. This is something you're not going to want to miss, as the 7,000 year old mine still has much to show you. Plus, there's even a slide at the end.
UK
The UK is a close competitor for my favorite country in my list. Maybe it's the seafood or maybe it's just because they speak the same language, but regardless, London is somewhere that I'll always want to revisit. Now, I went to the UK back in 2008, so I was only about 10 at the time. My parents took me to this place called The London Dungeon, full well knowing that it would scare me to tears. The London Dungeon is sort of a history tour, except they do live action displays that are incredibly realistic and true to the subject matter. What is the subject matter that made 10 year old me never want to visit the continent again? Serial killers. That's right, my parents took their 10 year old son and 7 year old daughter to see a live action historical tour about Jack the Ripper and Sweeney Todd. If I went now, I would have thought the show was incredibly well put together and so different from any other tour, but back then I didn't think so. So if you want to experience something that is truly unique and a little strange, The London Dungeon is a great place to visit, but maybe leave the kids at home.
Others
What can you do to find these off-the-wall activities in places other than the three listed? It's simple, talk to the locals! Every single one of the strange attractions was discovered by just asking around and seeing what we could find. Sure it's nice to have a planned vacation with a schedule to follow and everything booked through priceline, but leave yourself one day to really just walk around and see what you can find yourself, trust me, it'll pay off.
