the Columbia River Gorge is spectacular.
you can never go wrong with Yosemite Valley
if you like your scenery a bit more dry, Zion National Park is a treasure.
i need to get out more. i used to spend every summer going to national parks.
Sorry, I was being pretentious and wrote the Arabic name. It's Aswan, one of Egypt's southernmost cities on the Nile.
I hope you do too! Egypt is beautiful; parts of it in any case.
I went there but it was SO EXPENSIVE we only stayed two days. But it was pretty magical, with walking trails through the mountains to different towns, old medieval villages, just beautiful mountains and valleys and rivers.
Yeah like 2 sandwiches was $40. We didn’t eat much til we got to france lol
We should appropriate Switzerland after the revolution and turn it into the people's sabbatical retreat. Everyone gets 3 months every 5-7 years.
I wasn't in position to take a picture at the time. And the camera I had wouldn't have been good enough get anything anyways.
But I was in a desert once, I don't remember exactly where. Like a real desert, not like a movie desert or cartoon desert. There was absolutely nothing in 360 degrees around me. It was just flat, no dunes, no mountain ridges, no cactii, no tumbleweed. Just .... flat.
When night would roll in, and when there weren't any dust storms, it was the most beautifully clear night sky. No clouds, no moisture in the air to give stars their twinkle that I was used to, no man made lights from horizon to horizon. When you would look up, it was the most amazing scene. Every part of sky was absolutely filled with little points of light.
Stars, planets, moons. Bright chips of light that traveled a few minutes and tiny dim motes, barely visible, that traveled dozens or hundreds of years. And it didn't matter where you looked because there was no place that was empty, no dark spots.
So when you go out at night and look up and see nothing but a black sky know that there is an entire universe of light shining down on you.
Hopping some freight trains is a good way to get to see the stars!
The most beautiful place I've even been is Bulgaria's Black Sea coast just south of Sozopol. Water was fucking amazing, super clear, and the surrounding countryside had a sort of Mediterranean feel. It seemed like there was a ton of wealth around there though, which sort of sucks. Also my Bulgarian friends said parts of the Black Sea coast could be like our (American) Jersey shore for Western European tourists. Which also sort of sucks. But the area I was at was beautiful.
There are a lot of beautiful vistas, cliffs and rock formations in the Shawangunks. Maybe not the most beautiful place on Earth, but still visually stunning. It's got interesting geology, it's own little micro-biomes going on, ice caves, sky lakes, renowned rock climbing.
Parts of it are also fire-adapted ecosystem. There was a significant wildfire 5 years ago and the parts that burned are now overrun with blueberry bushes. Wild berry bushes for literal miles. We found a couple piles of bear shit and even that was stuffed with berries.
Be interesting to go to the volcanos in ethiopia or maybe Juifen mountain on Formosa Maybe also Zhangye Danxia mountain range in China. Also Vinicunca mountains in Peru are pretty. I also want to go through Qeshm Island and Hormuz Island in Iran. And maybe also Cetina river in Croatia truth be told there's an entire world I wish I could see, the world is a beautiful gem you have to see from different angles to truly appreciate it
Haven’t traveled much but seeing the Scottish highlands / isle of skye was a spiritual experience
Miners Castle in Munising, MI is one of the more beautiful places I've been.
Socotra island. It looks like it escaped from Dr seuss.
Also, if you can find old pictures of Afganistan. Probably don't google that though.
I think the canary islands have those cool trees too. I want to go there for sure at some point. Looks beautiful. And i love Spanish culture and food.
Patagonia and Atacama. Maybe not the top 5 but worth exploring
