I’ve done my fair share of exploring new places across the world. Whether it’s a cruise, visiting family, or making adventures out of cross-country moves, there’s nothing I love more than to be surrounded by beautiful, peaceful, and protected places. But it can be hard to settle on one location for a vacation. How can you choose when everything is full of its own unique beauty and personality? Don’t worry, here are my top five most favorite travel spots and why!
#5: Upper Peninsula, Michigan
The Upper Peninsula (UP) is a quiet area that’s not widely recognized, but what people don’t realize is that the UP is one of the most beautiful places to visit. Unlike a large portion of Michigan, there are small mountains, sandstone cliffs, bright turquoise waters, and quiet, underpopulated cities. The mountains made for lovely afternoon hikes and the temperatures are both beautiful and moderate. The Upper Peninsula is home to the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, consisting of giant, 200 ft tall sandstone cliffs on Lake Superior in Munising, MI. The cliffs are a multitude of colors, with crazy arches and dark forestry at the top. The water is a perfect turquoise color, with frequent waterfalls emerging from the cliffs, leaving me speechless throughout the entire boat tour. The views of the sunsets from the shoreline were astounding. Unfortunately, the night I visited that was intended to have the highest aurora borealis visibility ended up being too cloudy, but it’s quite common to see the night sky lit up in shades of green, purple, and maroon.
#4: Arches National Park, Utah
Arches National Park, located just north of Moab, UT, is a national park famous for its massive natural sandstone arch formations. Many of these arches are, similar to the UP, giant sandstone cliffs, making us people look like tiny little ants. Arches is in the desert, and the sandstone is a bright red/orange color, making it look like the golden gates of heaven during sunrise and sunset. You can stay on the ground and just look, or take the opportunity to walk up onto the massive arches, stand over cliffs, or walk narrow sandstone bridges with no railings. As for wildlife, Arches is home to an array of reptiles, small rodents, foxes, bobcats, mountain lions, owls, and more. Pets are not permitted on any hiking trails, and must be on leash whenever walking. It’s been known to be a beautiful spot for proposals and weddings!
#3: Zion National Park, Utah
Zion National Park is a park widely renowned for its steep red cliffs in the canyon (if you can’t tell already, I like huge cliffs!). Zion has many excursions to partake in, all of which are quite unique and special. The excursion I did was hiking the Narrows. The Narrows is the narrowest section of the canyon, where the cliffs get as close as 20 feet together, while being thousands of feet tall. You hike through a cold river, and people only make it all the way if they have special (and rentable) socks and footwear. At the end, you reach what they refer to as Wall Street, where the cliffs are only a few feet apart. Unfortunately for me, before I reached Wall Street, it began to rain down, and the threat of flash floods was enough to turn everybody around. The river can be deep enough where shorter people and children will have to swim at some points. Only one trail allows pets to travel with you, and the Narrows is not one of them. Proceed with caution, and enjoy the view!
#2: Roatán, Honduras
Roatán was one of the coolest spots I’ve ever been to. Docking there for a cruise, my family and I had a variety of excursions to choose from, including sloth tours, rum and chocolate tastings, ziplining, snorkeling, private tours, and many other adventures to choose from. My family and I chose the monkeys and sloths adventure excursions. One thing Honduras is known for are three species of monkeys including spider monkeys, white-faced monkeys, and howler monkeys. During our excursion, we went to hangout with white-faced monkeys, notorious for snatching your belongings and invading your personal space. Nonetheless they’re so cute and cool looking that no one seems to mind them climbing on your face, sticking their fingers in your ears, and trying to steal your wallet afterwards. They were very social and very curious! They also had huge parrots with bright red and blue and green feathers that you’re allowed to hold. They say, “Hello!” and they’ll just calmly hangout on your arm or shoulder. There were always professionals with us to help with all animals. I can’t quite remember the reason why, but during our excursion, we were unable to see the sloths. If I’m remembering correctly, there was an issue regarding too much stress that day for the sloths, and they were put away for the rest of the day. As much as I wanted to see one, it made me feel very delighted that park employees understand and care about their animals, and don’t exploit them for money. After, we went for a lunch provided for us on the beach, and were given a few hours to swim and hangout before our transportation took us back to the docks. The water was crystal clear, and above the sandy shores were tall mountains covered in greenery. It was enchanting. Every staff member we interacted with was extremely kind and excited to show us these experiences.
#1: St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
St. Thomas,one of the U.S. Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea hails at number one on my list for a number of reasons. I’ve been visiting the U.S. Virgin Islands for a very long time. My grandparents owned a house on a smaller island right off the coast of St. Thomas, on an island called St. John. They always had a boat, and we would visit various coves and beaches, as well as sunken shipwrecks throughout St. Thomas and its surrounding islands. An honorable mention is a small cove called Christmas Cove. In the water, there’s a smaller “island,” or cluster of rocks that stick out of the water. It made for great snorkeling, since these rocks were covered in coral with thousands of fish. When snorkeling there, I saw lionfish, spotted eagle rays, barracudas, sharks, angel fish, pufferfish, and so many more enchanting creatures. There’s a boat anchored there called Pizza Pi, where you can radio over, order pizza and/or gelato, and pick it up in a dinghy boat. The islands are surrounded by crystal blue water, and the islands are covered in giant mountains. However, due to worsening climate change, pollution, and disease, the coral is mostly dead, many of the fish populations have disappeared, and the oceans are overall not what they used to be. This leads me to remind everyone to use reef-safe sunscreens, to never touch the coral, and to acquire basic knowledge of how to be responsible in these kinds of ecosystems when visiting.
While these places are my favorite, they are just five of many other places I’d love to recommend. I feel as though each of these locations brings something new and unique to the list. The locations, the scenery, and the wildlife are all different and in each of these places. Depending on the kind of trip you’re looking for, whether it’s tropical sandy beaches or red/orange desert cliffs, there could be a spot on this list for you. Happy traveling!
A few honorable mentions that didn’t make the list:
- Everglades National Park, FL
- Cape Cod, MA
- Lake Winnipesaukee, NH
- Sierra Nevada Mountains, CA
- Grand Tetons National Park, WY
- Yellowstone National Park, WY, MT, ID