The INSIDER Summary:
• Breakups suck. Traveling doesn't.
• From Mephis to Osaka, there's a whole world calling your name.
• Spread your newly single wings and fly to one of these awesome travel destinations.
The holidays are a notorious culprit when it comes to breakups. Maybe it’s the added stress of spending so much time with family, the way the holidays force a kind of intimacy on couples who might not be ready for it, or just the definitive marker of the end of the year. Either way, it’s the broken hearted who deserve a trip, preferably one where you can commune with like-minded souls. Sure, Horace claimed that “the sky, not the state of mind changes, when people flee across the sea,” but Horace is dead. You’re alive. Heartbroken and depressed, but alive. At the very least, fleeing across the sea to one of these destinations will mean weeping someplace more interesting than your own apartment, and discovering that gelato is a more delicious alternative to Ben & Jerry’s.
Jennifer Wright is the author of It Ended Badly: Thirteen of the Worst Break-Ups In History, which will put even your worst heartbreak in perspective.
Winchester Castle, Hampshire, England
Eleanor of Aquitaine was way ahead of her time, especially considering her time was the 12th century. In 1173, she convinced three of her sons to revolt against their philandering father King Henry II. They were unsuccessful, and Eleanor spent the next fifteen years imprisoned at this castle. She outlived Henry, though, and was liberated. When her son Richard the Lionheart went away on crusades, she ruled England in his place. Today, the castle’s recreation of a medieval garden is named after her. Considering that Henry’s mistress was known as “the rose of the world,” the grounds are hopefully filled it with a different kind of flower. It’s a reminder to hang in there—you’ll win out in the end.
The Museum of Broken Relationships, Zagreb, Croatia
The worst thing about a break-up can be living among the ruins of the relationship. What are you supposed to do with her running socks? His not particularly beloved books? Or all the other stuff that doesn’t seem worth returning, but that you can’t quite bring yourself to throw out? You are going to donate it to the Museum of Broken relationships. The museum in Zagreb, Croatia is filled with “exhibits” sent in from people all over the world. They range from Teddy Bears holding “I love you” balloons to wedding dresses. Each item is accompanied by the former owner’s description of the object—so for instance, the Teddy Bear with the “I love you” balloon is accompanied by a descriptor that proclaims, ‘“I love you” – WHAT A LIE! LIES, DAMN LIES!’
Angelo Love Hotel, Osaka Japan
Maybe the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else. The Angelo Love hotel, which was featured in the documentary Love Hotel is one of 30,000 Japanese Love Hotels that cater to visitors’ most outlandish fantasies. In this case, that means themed rooms ranging from a boxing room to an animal room. There’s also sexy underwear that can be delivered to your room in pneumatic tubes. Rika, a dominatrix who works there, mentioned in the documentary that visitors “All have a common sense of loneliness and a dissatisfaction with their daily lives.” You’ll fit right in.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider