Some of the best things that happen while travelling are never planned. They’re not on the itinerary, they’re not in the guidebook, and you usually only find them because something else didn’t work out.

This video came from one of those stretches of travel. I was on my way to Bruges, moving slowly through Belgium, when I kept stumbling across things that made me stop, laugh, detour, or just stand there quietly taking it all in. A statue I didn’t expect. A castle I’m not sure I was meant to be inside. A mechanical marvel hidden in a small town. An art studio I walked into completely by accident. Even a town that almost disappeared entirely.

None of these moments were planned — and that’s exactly why they stuck with me.

This video is about eight completely random discoveries that turned an ordinary travel day into something memorable. And if you hang around to the end, the final story is a surprisingly hopeful one about a town, its people, and the very long fight to save it.

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🎥 Watch the Video

If you prefer watching rather than reading, the full video is here.

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🗺️ What This Video Covers

• Unexpected stops while travelling toward Bruges
• A statue with a very specific fashion origin
• An almost-abandoned castle encounter
• A surprise UNESCO World Heritage Site
• A medieval beguinage and the women who lived there
• One of the world’s most extraordinary clocks
• A town that was nearly erased — and how it survived
• Proof that detours are often the best part of travel

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📍 The Story Behind the Scenes

This journey really drove home how often the best discoveries come from small inconveniences. I only ended up in one town because the campsite I wanted was full, so I drove a little further than planned — and accidentally landed near a UNESCO site I didn’t even know existed. That detour led me to an extraordinary piece of mechanical engineering that I never would have sought out deliberately, but was absolutely worth the stop.

Along the way, I found myself face to face with a statue dedicated to the duffel coat — named after the cloth that’s been made in the town of Duffel since the 15th century. It was one of those moments where you realise how deeply everyday objects are tied to place and history, even when we never think about it.

There was also a castle. A very quiet one. The kind that looks abandoned enough that you’re not entirely sure you’re allowed to be there — until someone almost runs you down and you realise it’s still very much in use.

In Lier, I wandered through a 13th-century beguinage, once home to independent, devout women who took vows of chastity and obedience — but not poverty. They worked, earned their own money, and lived quietly behind gates that were closed each evening by the Grand Mistress. The last beguine there died in 1994, which somehow made the whole place feel closer in time than expected.

Then there was the Zimmer Tower and Museum — the result of one man being very into clocks. Lodewijk Zimmer built mechanisms so precise they track astronomical movements, including one dial that takes 25,800 years to complete a single rotation. Standing there, it’s hard not to feel very small in the best possible way.

And then, without warning, I walked into an artist’s studio. No plan. No expectation. Just one of those lovely human moments that travel occasionally hands you.

The final stop, though, was Doel — a near-ghost town that was meant to be demolished to make way for a port. For decades, locals fought to stay. Artists were invited in. Street art bloomed across empty buildings. People lived without water, without services, refusing to leave. And after all that… the town was saved.

That alone made every detour worth it.

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🧠 Things I Learned

• Detours often lead to the best stories
• UNESCO sites don’t always announce themselves
• Engineering can be just as awe-inspiring as landscapes
• Places aren’t abandoned — they’re often being resisted
• Talking to locals changes how a place feels instantly

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💬 Over to You

What’s the most unexpected place you’ve ever ended up while travelling?
Was it a mistake — or one of your favourite memories?
Let me know in the comments — I read every one.

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