The current 2019 Novel Coronavirus pandemic brought the travel industry to a screeching halt and decimated it. Flights were canceled. Hotel and resort properties were closed. In some cases, entire companies have gone out of business…
Travel Destinations That People Miss the Most
…and although most tourist attractions worldwide — no matter what level of popularity — have not been accessible to visitors, not all vacation memories are equal; and some destinations create warmer and more vivid memories than others.
Of the 208,362 posts with the hashtag #TakeMeBack on Instagram which were analyzed during the past winter and spring, the top five places in the world, in the United States, and in the United Kingdom were the ones which users of Instagram missed the most; and this article — which was written by Barbara Davidson from CashNetUSA — gives more details about them.
I have been given express written permission to use the images and the verbatim text from the aforementioned article in this article. With articles such as this one, I sometimes add brief notes — but in this case, I replaced some of the photographs with those of my own at the top places in the world which people miss where I have visited.
The Places in Every Country That People Miss the Most
Whether it‘s a dream vacation destination, a childhood home, or just a favorite spot to relax in, people are using the hashtag #TakeMeBack on Instagram to tag old pics of themselves in the places they long to return to.
Instagram isn’t just about sharing the moment. It’s also about nostalgia for the recent past. And among the hashtags for #ThrowbackThursday and #FlashbackFriday, you’ll find a very specific trend: the cry to #TakeMeBack!
The #TakeMeBack hashtag is a bittersweet celebration of past vacations. Whether you’re bored at work, trapped in an elevator, or staying safely at home, nothing can conjure that ‘gone fishing’ feeling like a few minutes spent staring at your phone and carefully editing or re-posting a forgotten holiday snap. (Because a trip is only as good as the photos you share, right?)
The World: The Top 5 Places
1. Giza Pyramid Complex — Giza Governorate, Egypt
2. Bali — Bali, Indonesia
3. Santorini — Greece
4. Magic Kingdom Park — Florida, United States
5. Eiffel Tower — Île-de-France, France
The Giza pyramid complex is the destination Instagram’s vacationers miss the most. It has twice the number of #TakeMeBack tags as second-place Bali, and it’s easy to see why. The colors are bright and minimalist, and the neat geometry and sheer scale of the complex look great in that little square Instagram frame. Plus, of course, it takes a long time for the magic of the ancient site to wear off: “I got to witness the beauty & mystery of The Great Sphinx of Giza,” writes Instagram user Chantel Bedward. “It was just beyond words, really and truly.”
United States: The Top 5 Places
1. Magic Kingdom Park — Florida, United States
2. Brooklyn Bridge — New York
3. Times Square — New York
4. Walt Disney World Resort — Florida
5. Central Park — New York
The most nostalgic tourist spots in the USA are all household names worldwide. But it is telling that the number one destination to which Instagram users would like to return is a children’s theme park. Do parents simply enjoy the time they spend with their kids at Disney World? Or might #TakeMeBack also refer to our guilty desire to return to our own childhood? Commenting on a video of long queues of cars outside the Magic Kingdom entrance, self-confessed ‘Disney obsessed mom’ @disneyworlds_jasmine provides the answer: “You know it’s going to be a good day when you see this sign!”
United Kingdom: The Top 5 Places
1. Tower Bridge — London
2. London Eye — London
3. Buckingham Palace — London
4. Notting Hill — London
5. Warner Bros. Studio Tour — Hertfordshire
“It didn’t rain so much in London,” reports @ever_bloom, wistfully, from number one #TakeMeBack destination Tower Bridge. The UK has plenty of wonderful cities besides London, but the capital is so big and busy that it’s impossible to do the whole place in one trip. And some London attractions always have more to give. From the Changing the Guard ritual at Buckingham Palace to the music and colors of Notting Hill Carnival, London’s top destinations are living monuments that can’t wait to welcome you back.
Sometimes Instagram is as close as you can get to the vacation memories you value the most. But with thousands of other users also sharing their wish to #TakeMeBack, you’re sure to find a community who miss your favorite destination as much as you.
Did you spot any of your favorite places on the interactive map? Please click on the orange EXPLORE button above to find out.
Methodology and Data Sources
To create this map, location data for 208,362 Instagram posts with the #TakeMeBack hashtag was extracted. The data was then cleaned up and organized it by location to help create this article. The Google Places application programming interface was used to normalize place names — for example, the Eiffel Tower’s location name can be ‘Eiffel Tower’ or ‘Tour Eiffel’ or ‘La Tour Eiffel’ or ‘eiffel tower’ or ‘エッフェル塔’. Merging all these items manually was virtually impossible; so the geographic information service of Google was used.
The data was gathered in April 2020. For the full research, visit bit.ly/TakeMeBackData
Summary
Countless places around the world are missed by millions of people and were not included in this article. I could cite places in six continents which I believe should have been included in this article — but I want to read what you believe are places which you miss the most. Please post your thoughts in the Comments section below.
Thank you.
Unless otherwise noted, photographs ©2007 and ©2008 by Brian Cohen.
