Iceland!
I got into photography many many years ago, and have dreamed of being able to travel and photograph the beautiful experiences earth has to offer. I saw an image by Thomas Heaton of this canyon in Iceland, that absolutely blew me away. I was jaw dropped. My wife and I spent the disposable money we had to travel Iceland for 10 days and finally get to travel and photograph incredible things we had not experienced.
We had 9 days of cloudy skies, and exactly 1 night of clear skies. We also had exactly 1 night of high activity northern lights. Both of those nights landed on the same night. No clouds, high activity.
After watching the northern lights dance for HOURS above our heads, I finally set my tripod up over the canyon and waited. And waited. and waited. I watched the lights dance everywhere else in the sky. Until they finally settled above this canyon. I waited until the moon went behind thick enough clouds, as it was killing my image, and I took this.
I likely will never get to experience something like this again. This image is irreplaceable.
The voting on this contest is interesting to say the least...