Where No Man Has Gone Before...

June 17, 2009 2:22 PM

Give me some ideas on some exotic and "remote" places to vacation. Remote as in, obscure, sparsely populated areas. I've already considered Greenland. Anything similar?
posted by Avenger to Travel & Transportation (24 answers total)

Well, my fabulous world-traveling great aunt visited Antarctica in her 80s...does that count as exotic?
posted by emilyd22222 at 2:24 PM on June 17, 2009

Best answer: Svalbard!
posted by Sova at 2:24 PM on June 17, 2009

Best answer: Nunavut.
posted by jessamyn at 2:25 PM on June 17, 2009

Easter Island. A friend just got back from there and LOVED it.
posted by meerkatty at 2:28 PM on June 17, 2009

The Azores or some other "far away from everywhere else" type island?
posted by glider at 2:28 PM on June 17, 2009

Best answer: Kamchatka is also similar, but a little warmer, and with a few more people.
posted by Sova at 2:28 PM on June 17, 2009

Kiribati. You might also want to check the UN's "least developed countries" list or their "small island developing states" list. I probably don't need to tell you that lack of "development" pretty much ensures almost no touristy infrastructure, but it seems like that might be what you are looking for.
posted by jessamyn at 2:34 PM on June 17, 2009 [1 favorite]

Hebron, Labrador
posted by mattbucher at 2:46 PM on June 17, 2009

Best answer: If you want to stay stateside (or visit the U.S., if not already), the national grasslands in Wyoming are some of the most remote places I've been lately -- there's nobody for miles, few trees, rarely any telephone poles, you can drive thorugh them without meeting another car for hours (they have warnings about this on signs when leaving the last populated areas; if you run out of gas, you're going to be stuck a while). A couple years ago my daughter and I stopped and walked a good half-mile into the grasslands, and was overwhelmed at the lack of noise - any noise - other than wind in the grass and a rare distant grasshopper. Most "remote" areas in the U.S. seem to be mountainy or foresty; the grasslands are a different beast.
posted by AzraelBrown at 2:49 PM on June 17, 2009 [2 favorites]

Socotra?
posted by chairface at 3:06 PM on June 17, 2009

Best answer: Jan Mayen, Franz Josef Archipelago (as yet by permit only), Little Diomede (in the Bering Strait), and (picking up on Jessamyn's idea) Alert, Nunavut.
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 3:14 PM on June 17, 2009

Alaska's North Slope. ANWR.
It is a beautiful place.
posted by Flood at 3:29 PM on June 17, 2009

Cape Verde.
posted by mdonley at 3:32 PM on June 17, 2009

Best answer: Uranium City, Saskatchewan, Population 89. Atomic bears prowl at night.
posted by benzenedream at 3:32 PM on June 17, 2009

Cerntral Baja California. It contains a very unique desert and not much else. There are a few tiny towns to stay in, but it is definitely not touristy like La Paz at the southern end.
posted by Gneisskate at 3:50 PM on June 17, 2009

Best answer: The climate is different, but the population density is similar: The Australian outback.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 4:31 PM on June 17, 2009

Best answer: Central Australia; particular the vast, sparsely populated parts of the Northern Territory, northern/central WA and northern SA.
posted by andraste at 4:38 PM on June 17, 2009

I liked Kosrae. It's a quiet little island.
posted by univac at 5:58 PM on June 17, 2009

Best answer: If you're digging Nanavut, there's the Canadian North: Great Northern Arts Festival in Inuvik July 10th to the 19th.
posted by porpoise at 6:47 PM on June 17, 2009

Response by poster: Interesting links, everybody. I'm actually seriously thinking about that Northern Arts Festival in Inuvik. Anybody up for some arctic road trips?
posted by Avenger at 8:36 PM on June 17, 2009

Avenger; I brought that up because I want to attend that event.

It's "drivabable" (ie., Canadian government acknowleged highways are open (parts of it are made possible by federally subsidized ferries) during that timeframe) but I doubt anybody would be willing to rent me a car to get up there (from Vancouver, BC). My plan to make an excuse to take some time off my grad studies was to take two weeks off to drive to Inuvik for this thing.

Looking up flights (it's accessible by flight year-round, ONLY accessible by flight much of the year) but can't find their airport code.

Right now, flights to Yellowknife (Yukon Terroritories), "reasonably" close by, are under $500 CDN. It's something I could do, if the Yellowknife -> Inuvik isn't exorbitant. Couldn't find anything online for a flight package to Inuvik, though.
posted by porpoise at 8:52 PM on June 17, 2009

St. Helena island
Tristan Da Cunha
Kerguelen
St. Paul/Amsterdam islands
Pitcairn Island
posted by pintapicasso at 9:21 PM on June 17, 2009

Big Bend National Park, in southwest Texas, has a lot of room. There are areas where you can park and hike, and see noone for a day. In the same area of the state are other chunks of parkland that are even more remote, wild, dangerous, and desolate. And beautiful.
posted by Midnight Skulker at 6:11 AM on June 18, 2009

There are plenty of places in the Northwest Territories or Alaska where you won't see people, planes, cars, etc. Moreover, you'll see animals that have never seen people before. They're curious about you, but not flighty. They just don't know what you are. That's pretty amazing.
posted by craven_morhead at 5:30 PM on June 18, 2009