smells when travelling

[file cabinet]

I remember reading once that some countries/regions smell different (due to environmental/geographical reasons). have you been to a country that smelled? was it good/bad?
has anyone travelled to the US from somewhere else...does the US smell good/bad?

 

[disregard]

Bali smells of Frangipani (plumeria).. It's wonderful.

 

[Geoff]

I remember reading once that some countries/regions smell different (due to environmental/geographical reasons). have you been to a country that smelled? was it good/bad?
has anyone travelled to the US from somewhere else...does the US smell good/bad?

The northern forests of US and Canada smell dramatically clean... like pine-scent fresh. They are also seem very dry to the nose of this Englishman, from his humid populous country. I'm talking about New England and the Maritimes.

Belgium smells of cows, to me. You get used to it after a while, but it's quite agricultural.

 

[Lateralus]

The entire state of Nebraska smell like shit.

 

[disregard]

The rural parts of Ireland smell like cow manure.

 

[Usehername]

THe year I had two summers (Jan-April in Africa; normal north american summer) it was the middle of my north american summer, and i was sitting outside on the deck, reading.

It occurred to me that I had a smell-memory but I couldn't place it. It was sorta unpleasant, but I closed my eyes and took a big whiff. *what iss that smell?!* I thought to myself. SOO familiar.

I opened my eyes, and noticed there was a large bag of hot garbage right behind my patio chair. FYI, Africa smells like hot garbage.

 

[swordpath]

I'm pretty sure Guatemala had a smell but I was like 7 when I was there. Can't fully recall.

 

[skip]

When I do LD backpacking I can smell a town coming up. It isn't necessarily bad, just a distinctive mechanized smell that is very different from the woods, ocean, or desert.

India smells amazing - all that food!

 

[disregard]

The southern California (far inland) desert, when it rains, has the most beautiful scent.. it is of one of the bushes.. I cannot recall which..

 

[Recoleta]

Buenos Aires smells like car/bus exhaust when you're walking in the city, but in Patagonia the air is pristine and fresh.

During the summer, Seville, Spain (when it gets to be about 115 F) smells like horse poop and dust...if you're in the center of the city where all the horses are (pulling carriges for tourists) it is almost like you're choking on the dust and smell....gross.

Mexican markets have this really unique, kinda gross smell of trash/spices/fruit/raw meats...it's hard to describe, but it's unmistakeable.

The city where I go to school smells like urine/B.O. in the poverty-stricken areas...

Portugual smells like the sea with warm and moist air...lovely

 

[skip]

it is of one of the bushes.. I cannot recall which..

Probably desert sage. I'm not a fan of the desert but I love that smell, too.

 

[Valiant]

Southern France and northern spain in the summers, that's one hell of a good smell.
Sun, dry dusty dirt, oaks, the smell of someone cooking

 

[pure_mercury]

Los Angeles and Philadelphia smell differently (moisture, most likely). The Lancaster area smells of manure (especially the Amish communities). The Poconos have more coniferous trees than does SE Pennsylvania, and it is a pinier, drier smell. The worst place smells I've come across are:

running water at the Jersey Shore (awful, sulfurous, rotten-egg smell; never drink tap water down there and avoid you didn't bring)

Philadelphia's Chinatown in the summer (like a potpourri from Hell)

 

[prplchknz]

My friend told me not to drink jersey water, we were going to go to her grandparents in New Jersey because we decided we wanted to go to New York and they live an hour from the city and their's a bus so we figured we could stay at her grandparents place I go into the city for a day but then her grandparents got sick and one died so that never happened. I have yet to go to new jersey beyond the newark airport.


I really like how land by bodies of water smell particularly creeks and rivers. I also like walking though the tall grass in the middle of july as the sun burn you and the top of your head feels really hot and you can feel your skin being burnt. I also like when it snows and the cold wind against my face.

 

[CzeCze]

I have no sense of smell and if I had one I'd suprress it (which I normally do anyhow). Most things with a smell are not worth smelling -- i.e. they smell bad. Which makes sense because I think the sense of smell in humans was largely developed as a warning system, no? To tell you if something were safe to drink/eat, if godawful smelly predators were near, etc.

I just remember my summer in NYC. Just don't inhale. And for god's sakes don't take the subway.

The only natural smells that stand out to me are water, stone, and trees. The vastness of the Grand Canyon and big parks seems to translate to a 'big' wide-open smell. Or rather constant breeze. I equate places like that more to a cool breeze than a smell. But maybe that's just a mental thing. The Portland area also smells a little like that, being that it's a big outdoorsy, hippie enclave.

Also unpleasant smell that I (unfortunately) remember, rest stop and beach bathrooms. I set personal best records for holding my breath in and 15 feet from those.

 

[Clover]

Aww guys, NYC doesn't smell that bad. You get used to it I guess.

Oh my gosh, every time I travel upstate the only smell I can remember is the stench of skunk. Ewww.

 

[booyalab]

I really like the smells of prairie grass, wildflowers, smokehouses, coniferous trees, woodsy smells, snow, and post-thunderstorms. So I'll probably never leave the midwest.

edit: I just remembered a smell I miss from Minnesota (especially on field trips as a kid) - apple orchards. I also wondered why I haven't heard about any in Kansas until I did some reading just now. Apparently MN has over 100, mostly in the southern half, and KS has 13.

 

[sandwich]

The Chinatown market in San Francisco has some of the same smells as the big marketplace in Guadalajara: sweaty bodies, spicy food, old or hot leather, goats?, and some other indistinguishable smells... it's been a long time since I've been to either place, but they were definitely the same smell.

Arab markets reek of spices, especially cumin. It's tantalizing.

 

[Ivy]

The strongest smell/travel association I have is from Salt Lake City. I don't know if it always smells like this, but they day I was there the whole place smelled like death. The lake had a cloud of insects on its surface and a few dead animals floating here and there, and the smell was overwhelming.

Paper mill towns smell pretty bad, too.

 

[pure_mercury]

The Chinatown market in San Francisco has some of the same smells as the big marketplace in Guadalajara: sweaty bodies, spicy food, old or hot leather, goats?, and some other indistinguishable smells... it's been a long time since I've been to either place, but they were definitely the same smell.

Arab markets reek of spices, especially cumin. It's tantalizing.

There is an overwhelming bad-fish smell in Philly's Chinatown. San Francisco's wasn't as bad (but I was there at night). Haven't made it down to Guadalajara.

Hey, that reminds me of "My Old School" by Steely Dan. "Whoa, no! Guadalajara won't do now!"