This topic makes me think of my annoyance with my ex-wife - no, not for the obvious reasons! I funded her through A Level togging, HND then a degree in Media Production (Photography), took her along with me to some great locations (Namibia being the most amazing). She produced some very good images and even sold one from her exhibition at the end of the degree course. But she wanted to be a pro travel photographer, she thought she could take loads of holidays to exotic locations and earn a living from NatGeo. When I pointed out that people also travel to Yorkshire, Devon, Gloucestershire, where many superb images have been shot, she wasn't interested. All she could see was big landscape, dark skin, temples and wild animals in her imagination.
What I'm saying is that it is preconceived notions that are/were blinding her and the OP to the opportunities that are available nearer home. Of course there are fantastic things to be seen and photographed in exotic or extreme locations, but what strikes the viewer often more forcibly is a new way of seeing the commonplace. That is art.