7. The Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon may perhaps be the world’s most famous hole in the ground. Like many of the entries on this list, you must see it in person to truly appreciate its scope and grandeur. Being dragged on a family road trip to the Grand Canyon has become somewhat of a cliché for many Americans, but that should not be a deterrent to visiting this awe-inspiring sight. If all that rock and dry air has grown old, cruise on over to the bright lights of nearby Las Vegas—the “Entertainment Capital of the World”!
8. The Maldives
The Maldives is the quintessential deserted-island paradise (well kinda). Tourism, particularly luxury tourism, is now flourishing in this small island republic of atolls and reefs. Remote, exotic, and still relatively unspoiled, treat yourself to an exclusive vacation experience here at one point in your life, and you’ll glad you left the all-inclusive resorts behind.
9. The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu
Sometimes where you’re going isn’t as important as how you get there. The real experience is the journey and not the destination—even though the destination itself is truly unforgettable as well. This challenging four-day trek takes active travelers past Incan ruins, mountain passes, and high-altitude cloud forest to South America’s most famous archaeological site. Get up before sunrise on the last day and beat the crowds of day-trippers. During a rare moment when you find yourself alone amongst the ruins, you truly feel like a modern-day explorer, such as Henry Bingham, who rediscovered the lost city in 1911.
10. Mt. Kilimanjaro and the Serengeti
Hemmingway noted that Kilimanjaro was “as wide as all the world, great, high, and unbelievably white in the sun.” You certainly don’t have to climb this mountain, the highest peak in Africa and tallest freestanding mountain in the world, but it’s truly an amazing visual image to witness the snowcapped mountain rising from the flat plains that surround it. Being that you’re already in the neighborhood, top those childhood visits to the zoo with a magnificent safari in the Serengeti, Masai Mara, or Ngorongoro conservation areas.
