The main purpose of a vacation is to get away from all the troubles and hassles in your daily life. To truly get away from these, you have to travel as far as you can to places you wouldn’t have otherwise thought about visiting. Of course, with some of the most remote locations, half the effort is finding the place and getting there. Here are eight of the most remote places on Earth.
1. Tirebolu, Turkey
Image via Flickr by Charlie Brewer
Although this small town is home to more than 14,000 people, it’s located on a single hill named Ayana that rises from the Black Sea shore. This town is known for its fishing fleet and the local economy depends on growing hazelnuts. If you plan on flying here on Turkish Airlines, you’ll need to fly to Trabzon, which is about 50 miles away.
2. Oymyakon, Siberia
Image via Flickr by Blogpaedia
Siberia itself is well-known for desolation and cold temperatures. The tiny town of Oymyakon, which is home to about 472 souls, is the coldest inhabited spot in the world. On February 6, 1933, the temperature dropped to a deathly -96.2 °F. Aside from its extreme weather conditions, this area is known for being an air route during World War II and having unbalanced days and nights throughout the year (3 hours of daylight in December and 21 hours in June).
Siberia itself is well-known for desolation and cold temperatures. The tiny town of Oymyakon, which is home to about 472 souls, is the coldest inhabited spot in the world. On February 6, 1933, the temperature dropped to a deathly -96.2 °F. Aside from its extreme weather conditions, this area is known for being an air route during World War II and having unbalanced days and nights throughout the year (3 hours of daylight in December and 21 hours in June).
3. Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland
Image via Flickr by Taraji Blue
Ittoqqortoormiit is firmly nestled within Greenland’s eastern shore. About 500 people live here, taking advantage of the hunting and fishing to make their livings. Since the surrounding sea is generally frozen over for most of the year, the town is largely isolated and depends on a tiny heliport. The area is known for its wildlife, including polar bears, seals, and muskoxen.
4. Svalbard, Norway
Image via Flickr by Vidar2010
The fact that Norway is well ensconced right above the frigid Arctic Circle makes it remote enough. However, Svalbard is even more remote since most inhabitants are either scientists or miners. Aside from the continuous cycles of constant light or darkness, the small island houses the famous Global Seed Vault, where seeds for the world’s plants are safely kept.
Before housing the world’s seeds, the island was first used as a whaling base in the 17th and 18th century. Coal mining took over in the 20th century while several permanent communities were established. Although there are a few settlements here, there are no roads to connect them. Instead, inhabitants use snowmobiles to travel to and from destinations located within.
5. Alert, Canada
Image via Flickr by thatmjs
Canada has many remote areas, but none more so than Alert, Nunavut. It’s so isolated that the closest village is more than 1,000 miles away. It’s one of the most northern towns in Canada and has a population of zero; although, it does house military and scientific personnel. If you’re hoping to visit this isolated region, you’ll most definitely want to bring a pair of boots as the area is covered with snow 10 months out of the year.
6. Barrow, Alaska
Image via Flickr by ARM Climate Research Facility
If you love continuous darkness, then the largest city in the North Slope Borough of Alaska is sure to interest you. It might take some time to get to Barrow, however, being that it’s the most northern part of the United States. With a small population of about 4,000 and two months of darkness, it’s definitely the place to go if you’re looking for isolation.
7. Easter Island
Image via Flickr by Ndecam
Although it’s widely known and treasured, Easter Island is incredibly remote. Also known as Rapa Nui, this Polynesian island sits in the southeastern Pacific Ocean and is home to about 4,000 residents. It’s famous for its 887 surviving monumental statues created by the early Rapa Nui people. Easter Island is now a World Heritage Site (since 1995).
8. La Rinconada, Peru
Image via Flickr by John Donaghy
It takes more than a plane to reach La Rinconada, Peru. This city is in the Peruvian Andes is known as the highest city in the world, towering 17,000 feet above sea level. Not only is this town located near a gold mine, but it offers beautiful views of the mountains nearby. The town has no plumbing or sanitation system, so don’t expect flushing a toilet or taking a hot shower when visiting.
If you really want to get away, it might take a serious trek. Would you travel by helicopter, boat, or snowmobile to get to your vacation?
This is a guest post by Miles Young.
Francis Tapon is half Chilean and half French and he was born and raised in San Francisco, California. He’s been to over 80 countries, but he keeps coming back to this magical city because he loves earthquakes.
He spoke Spanish at home, French at school, and English everywhere else. He can get by in Portuguese and Italian, barely survive in Russian and Slovenian, and speak a few other languages.
Francis has an MBA from Harvard Business School and co-founded a successful Silicon Valley company that did robotic vision. He left his technology life to walk across America four times. He has thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail, and in 2007, became the first to do a round-trip on the Continental Divide Trail. In 2009, he was one of the finalists for the California Outdoors Hall of Fame, which “features nominees who are world-renowned for their skills and who have helped inspire thousands of others to take part in the great outdoors.”
Francis has written a couple of travel books including The Hidden Europe: What Eastern Europeans Can Teach Us and Hike Your Own Hike: 7 Life Lessons from Backpacking Across America. He also produced a 77-minute video about his CDT Yo-Yo.
