Home, Stimulating Home - Reversible Destiny Lofts

Home is a place where you should be able to relax and feel comfortable. Unless you live in one of the Reversible Destiny Lofts in Mitaka, Japan, where the architecture is designed to constantly challenge your brain and keep you on your toes. The concrete floors feature random bumps. Random ladders, poles and balconies are situated everywhere. Nothing is shaped as it should be, including the rooms themselves. 

The goal of the architects was to design a living space that will keep its inhabitants’ bodies and minds stimulated so that they can live longer. Sort of like an architectural version of Sudoku. I get what the designers were going for, I really do … but I dunno. I think I’d rather be able to shuffle to the bathroom in the middle of the night without tripping over an artfully placed mogul. 

Tight Landings - Maho Beach

If plane spotting is your thing, then you'll want to book a trip to St. Maarten in the Caribbean, where planes get so close to Maho Beach while landing that beachgoers can practically touch them. As it is, the force from the plane is so strong that sand often goes flying, and sometimes people are actually blown off their feet!

Why people would be trying to feel the underside of a descending jet instead of running screaming from it is beyond me ... oh, who am I kidding? If I were there, I'd be trying to cop a feel, too.

Treetop Dining - Soneva Kiri Resort

Never dined in a treepod before? Well, then you’ve never lived, my friend. At the Soneva Kiri Resort in Koh Kood, Thailand, visitors can opt to take their meal in a wooden pod that’s hoisted into a leafy rainforest canopy and served by a waiter via zipline. Even glasses of wine can be delivered to you by this wonderful, flying man.  

I am currently saving every penny to be able to blow it all on this experience. After all, it’s not every day that you get to eat like a very rich monkey!

Wheeee! - Ten-Story Slide at City Museum

What's the best part of the playground - the swings? Nah. The monkey bars? Boring. The see-saw? That's just an accident waiting to happen. Here's the correct answer: the slide! And here's where you can find the most awesome slide in the whole world: City Museum in St. Louis, Missouri, which features a 10-story slide that deposits you in a room called "the Fungeon."

Actually, all of City Museum is pretty cool, created by an artist who wanted to build a museum-playground that would appeal to kids and adults alike. Among other attractions, there's a giant indoor tree house and a human-size hamster wheel, as well as a display of the world's largest pair of underwear. And everything's made from reclaimed materials. But seriously? They had me at "giant slide."