Many people feel like you become a more well-rounded individual if you travel more. Of course, you can only do so if you have the money to take a trip. If you’ve got the disposable income, though, and you feel like now is the right time to go on vacation, that might be the perfect solution if you’re restless or you’re ready for a change.
For lots of families and individuals, 2021 is the year they’re ready and eager to travel since they might have had to endure months of lockdown last year. Now, much of the country accepts visitors, and you might actively discuss different destinations with your family members.
You can always try to hit a popular attraction like Disneyland, but you might want to see particular geographic regions more than artificially-created tourist destinations. For example, if you’re from the Midwest, maybe you want to check out the desert for the first time since it’s so different than anything else you’ve seen before.
Let’s talk about some of the different areas you might want to explore. What’s so remarkable about the United States is that there are dozens of geographic regions, each one of which features very different flora and fauna.
The Forest
The first thing you’ll need to determine is how you’re going to reach your destination. You can always fly, but that can be pricey, and you may prefer to all hop in the family car and drive across the country.
Of course, the highways are busy during the summer, so accidents happen more frequently. That might make you more likely to fly instead of driving. If a car accident injures you or a family member, that will shut down your vacation instantly, so plane travel could be the optimal choice.
In any case, once you’ve figured out transportation, you might decide you want to visit one of America’s beautiful, unspoiled forests. There are some great ones, from the sprawling Pacific Northwest woodlands to California’s majestic redwoods.
Oregon is ideal for hiking, as you can find perfectly silent glens and waterfalls where deer and other denizens make their homes. You might also head to Tennessee and check out the Smoky Mountains. Some states with prevalent forests and hiking trails cost less to visit, while others are more popular.
The Desert
America also features some incredible desert landscapes, particularly in the Southwest. You might decide to visit Arizona if you’ve never been there before. There are also New Mexico and Nevada.
The desert is so strange and beautiful, and it’s so different during the day than it is at night. During the day, the temperatures are usually sweltering, especially during the sun’s peak hours, so you’ll likely want to walk around or hike in the early morning or right before sundown.
At night, it’s so much colder, and the landscape seems strange and alien, as though you’re walking on the moon. Being out in the Nevada desert and hearing the coyotes howl will give you a lonesome yet thrilling feeling you will not soon forget.
The Bayou
If you have never been to the deep South before, that’s another climate you should experience at some point. The swamplands, especially in Louisiana, present another atmosphere that’s so different than what you might have known and encountered all your life.
The creeping vines and lush vegetation seem almost tropical. There are birds and animals that you likely have never seen before in the wild.
If you do plan to explore this part of the country, though, make sure to take a guide with you rather than recklessly entering the swamp without a plan or destination. Some of the ground is not as solid as it looks, and there are also alligators, venomous snakes, and other threats that can cut your vacation short in a hurry.
The Mountains
There are also mountainous regions in many parts of the US that appeal to hardy and adventurous travelers. Some of them, like Yosemite National Park’s Half Dome, appear on postcards. It’s amazing to actually see them with the naked eye.
Maybe the Highpoint Trail to Black Elk Peak in South Dakota appeals to you. There’s also the Windsor Trail to Santa Fe Baldy in New Mexico or La Plata Peak in Colorado.
If you decide to hike up one of these famous mountains, you’ll need to be in excellent physical shape. You’ll also need to bring along sufficient camping gear since you can’t undertake most of these climbs in a single day.
The Plains
You may want to visit the wide-open spaces in Montana, North or South Dakota, Texas, Oklahoma, or Kansas. Some of them are incredibly beautiful yet so barren and desolate.
Choosing to visit a city like Santa Fe or Dallas is sometimes a worthy compromise if you want to see these breathtaking expanses, but you still want to rest your head on a nice, soft pillow in the evening.
You can hike out into the plains but then still return to the city and a luxury hotel that very same day.
Many individuals and families who have never explored the United States very much start to think of it as this monolithic entity. They believe that it is a certain way and no other.
The reality is that the US is so large that it encompasses many regions in one, and they can look nothing like each other. Once you start to truly explore it, seeing the seaside, mountain trails, swamps, deserts, and vast woodlands, you begin to appreciate it so much more. You start to comprehend that the people who live in these various regions are different from each other as well, so it makes sense that they prioritize different things.
US travel can expand your vision and is the very definition of horizon-broadening. If you undertake some days or weeks of exploration, don’t feel surprised if you are an entirely different person when you get back.
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