Having an interest or theme when you travel can add a dimension to your travels. It helps plot your journey as you find nearby or yet unseen places in your area of interest. Here are some ideas:
Independent bookstores: We don’t go out of our way (except for a special few like Powell’s) but George and I do enjoy browsing local, independent bookstores. They often pick interesting books for their shelves, not just the mass media popularity winners, and often independent bookstores feature local authors.
Baseball stadiums: One couple we met had a goal of watching a baseball game in every stadium.
Nascar aficionado: Watching races at each track is another possible goal.
State capitols: Janet and Barry’s goal was to visit every state capitol in the lower 48.
History themes: Chuck and Ginny followed the Oregon Trail, the path of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, Little House on the Prairie sites, and others.
Bead stores and more: Beaders and quilters love to see the selections available in shops wherever they travel. Donna sells her beadwork, but can easily spend the profits in one visit to an interesting bead store.
Fishing: Often Workampers pick their spots by the fishing available nearby. They may even get the use of a boat on off-hours. Other RVers enjoy fly fishing or lake fishing too.
Rails to Trails: Bikers often seek out Rails to Trails paths. You can find locations throughout the U.S.
Geocaching: Caches range from easy to hard to find. You can add geocaching to hiking to increase the exercise component.
National Parks: Collect cancellation stamps from all National Park entities in your passport book or the larger Passport Explorer edition.
Workamping or having a focus as your travel could even stave off Alzheimer’s or dementia. Read more here.
What sort of things do you seek out as you travel? Share your ideas in the comment section! Jaimie Hall Bruzenak
Explorer edition of the NPS Passport Book
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Jaimie Hall Bruzenak
Those are amazing to see! We worked in Glen Canyon and found many in our explorations. It is special to come across one or track it down.
Jaimie Hall Bruzenak
Don L Griffin
Marilyn and I like to find natural bridges and arches in the Moab, Utah area. There are many outside of Arches National Park. These generally require travel on Jeep roads, hiking, and scrambling. Some of them have been a real challenge to find.
Jaimie Hall Bruzenak
What a variety – great ideas for themes.
Jaimie Hall Bruzenak
Sally
Some of the themes we’re working on:
Civil and revolutionary war sites
major art museums
college football
wineries
Jaimie Hall Bruzenak
Richard, are there any Web sites to help you find hole-in-the-wall juke joints? Sounds like fun!
Dick, we love finding hot springs. On Twitter I found a link to GPS readings for hot springs in B.C. We are hoping to search some out on our way to Alaska. A cowboy theme sounds like fun too.
Thanks for the ideas!
Jaimie Hall Bruzenak
Dick Boak
We select a theme for each trip we take. In June it is a Cowboy theme as we travel the Chilcotin Plateau in Central BC out to Bella Coola on the coast, and in September we will have a Hot Springs tour in the East & West Kootenays of BC, Canada. We will visit Halcyon, Ainsworth, Radium, and Fairmont Hot Springs. Good golfing in each area as a bonus.
Richard
I am a blues fan and music is a very regional thing once you get past the top 40 list so one of my ideas for a theme is to visit all the hole-in-the-wall juke joints in the country and perhaps a few in CN and MX too. I figure that would keep me occupied for a few years and fill up a blog entry or so.
-rgh