YouTube 2022 Edition: Travel 1

Here we go! Another month, another set of Our Favorite YouTube Lists 2022 Edition. We are hoping to get these three out on time so cross your fingers and pray that we are able to! This month's focus is on Travel and our hope to travel again. Once we went to Ecuador in 2020, we have been planning on different locations we want to go to and have enjoyed following various travel channels. This first list mostly focuses on Carpetbagger with one from Best Ever Food Review Show. Now BEFRS we love EVERY episode he puts out. The topics, the video, the edits, his personality, the information, the cultures, the food, the people he meets...just EVERYTHING. So though we don't have a lot of his videos on our lists, we always recommend going to his show. Of his shows, we try to select the few that REALLY hit us and make us go "Wow, I want to save this to rewatch/show others because of *specifically* X, Y, and Z!".

So though a lot are by Carpetbagger, it's that he went to the locations we took note of and are eager to see because of his video. Plus his being Autistic (and a sensory seeking one which is weird for us) helps makes his videos quite relaxing for us to watch. Except for his dark rides and haunted house locations. Those are the videos we just can't stand it. He SEEKS these sensory inputs while we avoid them (lots of people, flashing, horror, screaming, 'jump scares', etc). While we are flipped when it comes to rollercoasters and rides that flip you upside down and seeking THOSE rides. It's fun to see our Autistic differences but fully understand the similar processing.

Anyways, enough of that. Let's get into it!

NIGHTMARE Egypt Food Tour!! POLICE Shut Us Down!!

https://youtu.be/Y53hOrNU1u0

We have watched his channel for a while and were honestly astonished by the amount of difficulties in Egypt. We were also astonished that this happened in Egypt. Kind of expected better But things are as they are. Hopefully, because of this video, their government will take another look at how to fix these concerns. And fix them. This video would have been a spectacular view of modern-day Egypt with its blend of ancient history...but it ended up being tainted with all the struggles JUST to film there. I digress. This is also why we enjoy watching travel channels. We like to see and experience what it is like there and see if it would be a good fit for us. If these struggles shown in the video were NOT present, would you want to go travel there?

World's Strangest House? - Korner's Folly

https://youtu.be/NdVWnXSqIek

This house is EXCITING! Ever heard of the Winchester Mystery House and the crazy construction of the building? This is similar! But I think based more on creativity and whimsical fun rather than paranoia. So much fun we can't wait to go visit! Highly recommend watching the video and seeing for yourself.

Seismique - Houston, TX

https://youtu.be/X-EaTvTKEBs

THIS PLACE LOOKS FUN! *ahem* excuse the yelling. We have been to Meow Wolf in New Mexico but THIS. THIS looks even better! Rewatched the video to be instantly excited again. It's a fun art experience that plays with various senses and emotions. Very creative and something we hope to be a part of creating/making/building of someday! Yet ANOTHER video on this list we HIGHLY recommend watching. There are going to be a lot of these for this list isn't there?

Branson Aquarium at the Boardwalk

https://youtu.be/nVXlgREQ-m4

Such a beautiful and FUN aquarium! The artistry and how everything blends together would make any kid giddy with excitement. I don't think we need to talk too much about this. I think you know what to expect in an aquarium generally but we think you should skim through the video just to get an idea of how well-thought-out this location is! We are needing to search for an updated video of the Branson Boardwalk and wonder what else has been opened since?

Making Our Own Funko Pops at Funko HQ - Everett, WA

https://youtu.be/S9sY3jSodkE

Funko Pops are adorable. Expensive. But adorable. I've always wanted to create a toy base that we could make variations of for....almost two decades now. And as a secret: we were planning on molding and creating our own down the line for our website! But those are plans down the road when we have a house that we can possibly pour molten metal at. This place is crazy with so many different versions located in one building. Also didn't realize how many were exclusives at certain stores! Love that marketing idea. We were choking a little seeing how many Jenn decided to buy...so expensive! But the price for creating a custom one seemed the most reasonable to be spent. Though we are a little picky and wish they had a few more options. (And by this point, they very well may have!) We love these toys even though we don't own even one. =) We don't want to start in this obsession but appreciate the art and design of it!

Mardi Gras at Universal Studios

https://youtu.be/fLxvnGPJ9HA

AHAHAHA!! Ok, so this video isn't necessarily the location....as much as the parade at the end of the video at this location. It became hilarious just to hear Carpetbagger yelling for beads basically the whole parade. Skip to 31:30 if you just want to watch that portion. We aren't sure why but we find this hilarious and now is an inside joke between us.

IAAPA 2021 - Amusement Park Trade Show

https://youtu.be/cdOjJEMngF8

We are really hoping one day to attend this trade show! The creativity (and business side of it) under one roof...but with the focus on things like AMUSEMENT PARK RIDES OR ATTRACTIONS!! Yes! You heard that right! They have a paid tier where you get to even try some of the rides there. Some of the newest ideas popping up to see and experience first. Really exciting and highly recommend watching this video! The trade show does travel so possibly see if they are going to a place near you! (This is so much better than going to an actual theme park. #notgonnalie )

Rubber Chicken Museum at Archie McPhee - Seattle, WA

https://youtu.be/cSYzx1NDoHk

This. We didn't know we needed this museum until we saw it. We first thought it was just someone's large obsessive collection. It ended up being more with fun surprises. Just a silly place we would love to go run around in and act like kids! How can you be serious in a place like this? Still a fun video and on our 'To Go' list.

Meow Wolf: Convergence Station - Denver, CO

https://youtu.be/R_eCSPgzoCI

Pros and Cons of this video for us. Pros: We love the idea of it all, the build, the artwork, the execution, the in-depth care of the story and details, etc! So much going on and so artistic. Cons: interacting with people. For us, that is a huge anxiety that ends up impacting our other senses. We tried this at Denver Science Museum and was on a day where tons of summer groups of kids were everywhere. Our senses were so overwhelmed we had huge painful headaches after three hours that made us physically sick. I mean VERY physically sick. The number of people set off so many alarms we just can't turn off: the intensity of lighting, the high pitch sounds, the DEPTH of sounds (i.e. tons of conversations going on at once and building sounds), the level of cleanliness of people around us, and so much more. We can't help but pick up on various things most overlook. Our senses are much more sensitive while also taking longer to recuperate from these severe, intrusive impacts. It doesn't help that we also have high anxiety being around people, some of it trauma-related keeping us alert at all times. With all of our attention focused on self-preservation and internal self-awareness, we lose the energy and capacity to take in our surroundings. Even at the Denver Museum, we had to go through my photos and videos to catch what was going on. Our headaches were so bad we couldn't comprehend what we were reading or remember what we just saw. So it took a few days for the pain to abate and we went through the pictures later. The same will happen to us at locations like this. We understand there will be other visitors like us there and they generally won't talk to us. They'll be taking it in and talking to their group. HOWEVER, workers who are PAID to talk to visitors are what worries us. We put a lot of care and thought into each interaction so it is draining with each person we encounter.

Woah sorry didn't mean to go into all of that. But we want to emphasize that there are certain barriers to locations that many don't see. We have to take into account a lot of aspects that would impact us and the amount of time for recovery after. For some, this would just be a day trip and they would be fine the next day after a full night's rest. We don't get that luxury of sleeping even decently most nights, with chronic pain and PTSD nightmares almost nightly. So on top of that, it takes us a bit longer to try and recover.

Still, we really love what they did here and can't wait for this style of attraction to spread more! Exciting to see what they will release next!

Wonderworks - Branson, MO

https://youtu.be/SB0WFRcGPNQ

This location reminds us of Ripley's Believe It or Not! Of course, we love those locations so after seeing this, we definitely were interested in going. It was also refreshing to see Carpetbagger with his supportive friend going through everything. You can see their friendship and it adds to the fun of the location. Check this place out!

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Whew! And that concludes part one of our Travel List part 1! Wide range of different locations, most shown from the same person, but luckily that is the point of his channel. He travels quite a bit and is very dedicated to his documentation of roadside attractions, amusement parks, and oddities! Which of the videos caught your eye or which one excited you the most to visit and see?

We hope you are just as excited to see the next list's locations as much as we are!

See you in the next post~