"Travel" the World in your hometown

[Reditor]

I was walking around part of Chinatown the other day and as I walked by a strip of shops with ladies fanning their produce in the sun and cheesy music playing from within.

I had one of those flashbacks that reminded me of walking through similar markets in Borneo and Cambodia. Something in the sounds and smells was familiar to my memory....

It got me thinking if anyone actually goes to seek out these type of reminders or experiences, on purpose, in their home towns? If so....what do you do and where do you go?

(Aside from the obvious - going for a restaurant meal of your favourite exotic food.)

[sinecure]

There's this soap shop in the mall here that sells a soap made with lemongrass that is so potent that it takes me back to Thailand immediately. It's soo addictive!

[IncaTrail50]

There's an alpaca farm near us in southern Ontario. We go for the alpaca-shearing days and fondle the wool, check out the knitted hats, etc. Takes us right back to the wonderful ladies at Ccaccaccollo in Peru!

[ballu]

We have a multicultural festival in my hometown. I can't say it really reminds me of any of my travels....but I find it funny when I see the same souvenirs sold in a tent in Kitchener, Ontario that I've seen in Peru, Egypt, Guatemala, Tanzania etc.

[Reditor]

Nice!
The alpaca farm sounds like fun. I've driven by one quite a ways north on the way to Blind River (somewhere near there I think) but haven't seen one in Southern Ontario.

[thecakeisalie]

Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago (my home) has a nice African exhibit that always makes me a little nostalgic for the savannah. I'm not sure if its the smells or the sights in particular, but the sounds have a lot to do with it as they pipe in background "chatter" of birds, insects, etc., and there's a hyrax living there that is extremely loud!

Also, this may be a bit weird, but if I get a whiff of diesel fumes on a hot summer day it instantly transports me to the tropics (the Caribbean, Costa Rica and the Philippines, in particular).

[Reditor]

Sniffing diesel to get your travel fix huh? Ha ha........
The zoo makes sense....if they go to that much effort to make the animals feel like they're "home" it should work on us too!

[onyx007]

When I go to the movie theatre on a journey and at home some month or years after I see the movie again I get that feeling.

[thecakeisalie]

[quote="Reditor"]Sniffing diesel to get your travel fix huh? Ha ha........
/quote]

Maybe I should rephrase that?

And onyx007, I get that feeling too. Same with music. I've found myself listening to the Lion King soundtrack more and more lately...

[onyx007]

Sniffing diesel to get your travel fix huh? Ha ha........
/quote]

Maybe I should rephrase that?

And onyx007, I get that feeling too. Same with music. I've found myself listening to the Lion King soundtrack more and more lately...

Yeah, with music it's sometimes the same, so
Shrek 2 will be forever linked to British Columbia (Victoria and Prince George)
Bruce Almighty to Broome in Australia
Spiderman 2 to Winnipeg
and so on...