Highway 85 drops through creosote flats two hours southwest of Phoenix. Then the mountains part and white stucco walls appear around a plaza rimmed with palm trees. This is Ajo, population 3,500, where a copper baron built mission-style architecture in 1917 and the town froze when mining stopped in 1985. The New Cornelia open-pit mine … Lire plus
Santa Elena Canyon pulls 300 paddlers on spring weekends. Rangers manage parking. Shuttles run on schedules. The 13-mile float through Big Bend’s most famous limestone walls feels managed because it is. Mariscal Canyon sits 70 miles south on the same river. Ten miles of water. Walls pressing 1,400 feet overhead. Winter flow at 600 CFS … Lire plus
The unpaved lava road to Mahaiʻula Beach keeps most rental cars away. That’s the point. Drive it at 15mph and you reach white sand that holds maybe a dozen footprints by 9am. Three beaches, zero entry fee, monk seals resting in morning shade. Kona resorts 15 minutes south charge $300 per night for the same … Lire plus
“`html Tulum’s beachfront hotels charge $180 per night for rooms steps from turquoise water that 50,000 monthly visitors crowd into selfie queues. Southwest Bay on Nicaragua’s Big Corn Island costs $35 per night for cabanas facing the same Caribbean turquoise where you might count 20 people all day. Same water temperature. Same white sand. Different … Lire plus
“`html The highway north from Rome climbs through oak forests before the golden stone appears. Soriano nel Cimino sits at 1,380 feet on Mount Cimino’s slope, population 8,500. The Castello Orsini rises above medieval alleys built from peperino, a local volcanic stone that glows amber in late afternoon light. This castle held prisoners until 1989. … Lire plus
The ferry from Marsh Harbour leaves at 8am. Twenty minutes later, Great Guana Cay appears as a thin green line backed by white sand. The water between you and shore glows turquoise over a sandy bottom you can see 100 feet down. This is the Bahamas 150 residents kept quiet while Nassau built 400 hotels. … Lire plus
The ferry from Port-Blanc takes 5 minutes. You step onto Île aux Moines and hear what’s missing: no engines. Just bicycle bells, low voices, waves against stone docks. This Breton island outlawed cars in the 1960s and 617 residents kept it that way. The Gulf of Morbihan stretches 7 miles across. Île aux Moines sits … Lire plus
Big Bend’s shuttle buses idle at Santa Elena Canyon. Rangers check parking permits at Hot Springs. Chisos Basin fills with construction crews starting May 2026. Meanwhile, 20 miles west on Terlingua Ranch Road, a creek drainage cuts through rust-red canyons in absolute silence. No signs. No infrastructure. Just crystalline pools reflecting winter clarity and 4WD … Lire plus
“`html Maldives overwater bungalows cost $500-1,200 per night. Mabul Island water chalets cost $225-450. Same turquoise water. Better diving. The Celebes Sea off Malaysian Borneo delivers what Maldives promises at 70% less, with macro critters Maldives reefs can’t match. Mabul sits 26 km from Semporna in Sabah state, a 45-minute speedboat ride from mainland Borneo. … Lire plus
Zion’s Narrows sees 100 to 500 hikers on a winter day. The shuttle runs every 15 minutes. Entry costs $35 plus parking. Most visitors photograph the same canyon walls from the same crowded spots. Muley Twist Canyon in Capitol Reef gets fewer than 10 winter visitors daily. No shuttles. No lottery. Just 35 miles of … Lire plus