Travel

Gatlinburg’s traffic crawls through Great Smoky Mountains National Park while parking lots overflow before 9am. Holiday weekends bring 25,000 daily visitors to Tennessee’s most crowded peaks. Three hours from Roanoke, lodging costs $200 per night and commercialized strips sell moonshine everything. Two hours north, Fayetteville guards West Virginia’s first national park where winter snow dusts … Lire plus

Morning mist clings to Molokai’s west shore as I first glimpse the massive anchor resting in crystal-clear water. This isn’t another Hawaiian beach story. At Dixie Maru Cove, a 1916 shipwreck transforms peaceful swimming into maritime archaeology. The remnants of a wooden fishing vessel create an underwater museum where snorkelers drift above history. After rain, … Lire plus

Nassau’s cruise terminal releases 12,000 passengers per ship into jewelry-store gauntlets and $18 Bahama Mama cocktails. Paradise Island’s Atlantis towers over what used to be quiet beaches. Downtown Nassau traffic crawls past the same duty-free shops while tour buses idle in diesel clouds. This isn’t the Bahamas you imagined. Ninety minutes away, a short bridge … Lire plus

December swells build across the North Pacific, and Maui’s northwest coast waits. Honolua Bay sits quiet most mornings, glassy water reflecting ironwood trees, a few fishing boats anchored offshore. Then the right swell arrives. Within hours, a perfect right-hand point materializes along the rocky headland, waves peeling for 400 yards in crisp winter light. This … Lire plus

The morning ferry cuts through crystalline water toward golden cliffs. Sicily’s butterfly-shaped secret emerges from Mediterranean mist. This is Favignana, where 4,500 residents still outnumber summer visitors and ancient quarries became accidental paradise coves just 19 miles from Trapani. Most travelers rush past this tiny island toward Sicily’s famous destinations. They miss Italy’s quietest escape. … Lire plus

Forget Sardinia’s Cala Mariolu where boat tours cost $90+ and summer crowds pack every pristine pebble. Sicily’s Cala Rossa delivers the same neon turquoise water against limestone cliffs for half the price. This ancient quarry bay on Favignana Island sits 30 minutes by ferry from Trapani. No boat tours required. Golden limestone walls frame electric … Lire plus

Sperm whales breach 100 feet from your boat in December waters warmed to 82°F. Steam rises from jungle pools heated by volcanic veins. Emerald gorges narrow to swimmer’s width between towering walls. Welcome to Dominica, the Caribbean’s overlooked nature island. While Costa Rica charges $75 park entries and battles crowds on every trail, this 290-square-mile … Lire plus

Forget Koh Phi Phi where tour boats dump 3,000 daily visitors into Maya Bay’s chaos. Koh Nang Yuan delivers the same turquoise-meets-white-sandbar drama via a peaceful 10-minute boat ride from Koh Tao. This trio of connected islets offers Thailand’s most photographed viewpoint without the crushing crowds. Why Phi Phi lost its paradise status Maya Bay’s … Lire plus

The ferry rounds the rocky outcrop and there it is: water so impossibly blue you blink twice to make sure your eyes aren’t playing tricks. This is Comino’s Blue Lagoon, a shallow bay where limestone cliffs cradle turquoise water that seems lit from within. The island itself measures just 1.4 square miles with only 3 … Lire plus

Summer weekend mornings at Sliding Rock bring a familiar scene. Cars line Forest Heritage Scenic Byway by 9am. The parking lot fills before most families finish breakfast. By midday, rangers close the gates. Visitors turn away, defeated by crowds seeking North Carolina’s famous natural water slide. Meanwhile, families pay $49.95 at Dollywood Splash Country for … Lire plus