Some holidays are excellent while they last…and then gradually become a collection of photos you rarely open. Others, however, remain surprisingly clear in your mind for decades afterward. Maybe you remember the first sight of a glacier from a helicopter, or the silence when an elephant blocks the road. Perhaps you sometimes think about that time you woke up on a train to find an entirely different country outside than the one you were in two hours before. Years later, you find that these are the details that are top of mind when somebody asks about the best trip you’ve ever taken.
For luxury travellers, spending more can certainly make such moments possible, although the price tag is rarely ever the interesting part. What’s really important is what it buys you: an excellent local guide, access to somewhere difficult to reach, or the freedom to change plans when something better comes along (and, of course, the memories you get to keep).
Experiences Best Seen From the Sky
Kauai makes a really convincing case for getting into a helicopter, as daunting as it might initially seem. After all, roads will only reveal so much of the Hawaiian island, while a flight will let you cross deep valleys, waterfalls, and the cliffs of the Na Pali Coast (including terrain difficult to reach by car). If you’re looking for more control over when and where you fly, a helicopter charter can also be useful when reaching a remote lodge, island or mountain region that would otherwise involve a long transfer. Depending on the mode and the surrounding areas, the transport really has the potential to become one of the best parts of a trip.
Here are a few different travel experiences that tend to stand out in people’s minds long after they’ve happened.
Bucket List Adventures Worth the Journey
If you’re traveling to Antarctica, the trip is undeniably part of what makes it memorable. What many visitors will do is leave from southern Argentina and cross the Drake Passage before Zodiac boats take over for shore landings, and this can mean pulling on layers and waterproof expedition gear before stepping onto a beach occupied by penguins. It isn’t especially convenient, but the visceral feeling of being immersed in the elements is often part of the appeal for the kind of people who seek out this trip. (It’s also why getting to the end destination is as relieving as it is exciting. Elsewhere, chartering a yacht through the Greek islands means being able to swim from the boat or visit a smaller harbour without checking the next ferry.
Switzerland’s mountain railways pass lakes, villages and Alpine terrain, while Canada’s Rocky Mountaineer puts the landscapes of western Canada at the centre of the journey. Sleeper trains offer the peculiar pleasure of falling asleep in one place and waking somewhere completely different. Road trips can be amazing, too, particularly when your schedule leaves enough room for the unplanned café, beach or viewpoint you might otherwise have driven past.
Luxury Stays That Feel Once in a Lifetime
There are hotel rooms you remember because they were comfortable, and then there are rooms you remember because even the act of opening the curtains was a whole event. Glass-roofed cabins in Finnish Lapland allow guests to watch the winter sky from bed and (when conditions cooperate) see the northern lights without repeatedly pulling on boots and a coat. Or when the shoes come off at the entrance to a traditional Japanese ryokan, you immediately know that this isn’t just another international hotel. Depending on the property, your stay might involve walking around on tatami flooring, wearing a yukata, soaking yourself in an onsen bath, and partaking of a kaiseki dinner served gradually over the evening.
And for any of these stays, you can bet that twenty years later, nobody is likely to ask you what toiletries were in the bathroom.
Wildlife Encounters You’ll Never Forget
An elephant blocking the road has no interest in your dinner reservation. And that’s certainly one reason wildlife trips produce such good stories: the animals haven’t read your itinerary. In Botswana’s Okavango Delta, an early drive or mokoro excursion could bring elephants, hippos, or even big cats into view. If you decide to go gorilla trekking in Rwanda or Uganda, you may have to walk for hours with trackers before locating a habituated family, with visitor time around the gorillas strictly controlled. When you encounter wildlife, the magic is in those close-up moments.
Oceanic Wonders That Arrest the Eye
Some of the world’s most remarkable landscapes need a much wider perspective…and some need altitude. Get on a boat on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, and your attention can go nowhere else but on the water around you (and what a view it is). From the air, separate reef systems and changes in water depth become visible across a much larger area.
Another stunning view is that of Iceland’s glacial rivers split into complex channels across dark volcanic landscapes, while an aerial route along Namibia’s Atlantic coast will reveal huge desert dunes running towards the ocean.
The Stories You’ll Still Be Telling in 20 Years
Perfect trips aren’t necessarily the ones where everything went perfectly smoothly, or where the accommodation was pristine. The boat might have been rough, the alarm might have gone off at 4.30am, or clouds may have hidden the northern lights until the final night. But those are the moments that will stick with you. Years later, you’ll remember the elephant that stopped the vehicle, pulling on waterproof gear before an Antarctic landing or the coastline appearing beneath a helicopter.
Luxury can provide comfort and access to remarkable places, but the stories that survive usually come from moments nobody could completely schedule. Those are the trips that keep turning up in conversation long after you’ve forgotten what you paid for the room.
