In an age where everything seems to have been explored and there is nothing new to be found, we celebrate a different way of looking at the world. ~ Atlas Obscura
While I have zero interest in becoming the Mayor of Subway or checking in at my local drinking hole, I am in the throes of an unmitigated love-in with the website Atlas Obscura.
Atlas Obscura is what you get when you tear out all the interesting pages from travel guides, scour the net for unusual experiences, and pick the brains of your fellow travellers for the bits that rarely see the light of day. It ignores the bulk of predictable travel landmarks in favour of the odd. It’s perfect for those who want to explore beyond the Eiffel Tower and Times Square, and want to know what they don’t know right now.
Readers are invited to delve into the database of places, things and cultural experiences, read articles, go on adventures, submit tips, and add new entries or beef up existing ones. It pins the places already visited, and tracks those yet unexplored.
I’ve done the bulk of my retro-pinning, and recently moved on to new explorations in Vermont, New York State, Montreal and closer to home. I expect that my upcoming sixth visit to NYC will be the charm and I’ll finally shed the feeling that I’m missing all the good stuff. Then with another trip across Canada this summer, I look forward to adding my own collection of treasures to the mix.
Finally, here is an engaging collaborative project that piques my perpetual curiosity while usefully pointing me in the direction of new adventures.
