Scotland. I'm sure everyone has seen the usual pictures, like this one of Glen Affric: But did you know that we have beaches, too? There's something about the bleakness of Scotland that I really like. Mountains covered in trees don't seem to do it for me. As far as foreign places go, Kyrgyzstan is top of my list for natural beauty. The drive from Bishkek to Osh is spectacular.
I have a few places: Berchtesgaden: Mont Blanc: Even my own neck of the woods isn't so bad: I was in a hostel a while ago, and two French guys were talking. One was showing the other pictures of Algonquin Park, saying something along the lines of, "You need to go here, it's so amazing, it'll change your life". I guess everyone likes to romanticize other parts of the world and downplay their own, because I went to Algonquin a bunch as a kid and never thought of it as being particularly special.
Oregon. Basically a bunch of this: Some of this: This stuff: And loads of this: These are all places I've hung out at multiple times since I was a kid (Punch Bowl Falls, Cannon Beach, Trillium Lake and various vineyards), but I always forget that Oregon is an outdoorsy destination spot. Everything here is really pretty, if you come in the summer. Unless you like rainy damp, in which case, come whenever. Bonus picture of something in the actual city of Portland:
There is a reason it is called The Land of Enchantment. It is surprisingly hard to find photographs that get near capturing it all. I'm just going to go with pictures of where I grew up. I wish I could just upload the photographs in the book Under the One-Eyed Sky by Max Evans and Jan Haley. This is in northeastern New Mexico on Sierra Grande Mountain looking towards Colorado and the Sangre De Cristo's. Spoiler On top of the same mountain from a different vantage point. This is towards Oklahoma according the caption. Spoiler More sky from the same mountain. Spoiler Sierra Grande in winter. Spoiler Capulin Mountain (very near Sierra Grande Mountain) at winter. Spoiler Capulin is a well-preserved cinder cone volcano and is a national monument. . Rabbit Ear Mountain at sunset. Spoiler A sunset in Union County New Mexico. Spoiler A prairie somewhere in northeastern New Mexico. Spoiler Dat sky should really be the caption for all of them. And then New Mexico still has all sorts of different wilderness areas, pueblos, White Sands, the Organ Mountains, and on and on and on. Then I move to Kansas where the flint hills are supposed to be a big deal. Woooo some hills. I bet it's like seeing Stonehenge minus the why the hell is this here bit of wonder. Credits go to Timothy Keller and the AA Roads Blog
Not my "home"...but I've spent enough "vacation" time flying in and around the place to count for something I suppose. The Hindu Kush. In a word: Rugged. Endless. And full of history.
If you're in the Mid-Atlantic region, we've got some stuff you can look at. You may have heard of us. I will say, there are worse places to get your buzz on from the roof deck of the W Hotel. If you're down south in Virginia a bit, the views from Mount Vernon are pretty spectacular. If you have the opportunity to get in on one of the wine or beer festivals, drinking in Mount Vernon does not suck. Get a DD. VA cops do not fuck about.