They say the best way to understand the world is to travel around and see as much of it as you can. Having grown up crisscrossing the glove due to my father’s job, I have to say I agree. While sitting around in trains, planes, and buses may not always be pleasant, the destination and experience is always worth it in my opinion.

And just in case you’re making a bucket list or planning a trip (jealous!) here are 15 spots seasoned travelers say you can’t miss.

#1. So much beauty.

“I’ve been to 49/50 states so people ask me a lot which ones were my favorites (just missing Alaska). People always scoff when I say South Dakota is up there, there’s so much beauty in that state it doesn’t get the credit it deserves. The badlands and the black hills. And the corn palace is just a bonus.

Honorable mention: Wyoming for the same reasons as above.”

#2. Easily the coolest place I’ve ever been.

“Edinburgh, Scotland. With all that different architecture from over nearly a thousand years, it’s easily the coolest place I’ve ever been.”

#3. Indescribable.

“The Louvre.

I’m not a huge art buff. I dropped art history class back in college because I literally couldn’t stay awake. Still, the majesty of seeing hundreds of paintings twice as old as my country with such breathtaking detail that has held up for centuries… indescribable.

If I could, I would go back and spend a full day or two there. Four hours is certainly not enough.”

#4. Absolutely stunning.

“Cliffs of Moher.

The view is absolutely stunning and really puts our size in perspective.”

#5. Heaven on earth.

“Zanzibar….its heaven on earth.”

#6. For all the right reasons.

“The Amalfi coast. Positano is the most magical place I’ve ever been.

And reminded me of Mario Sunshine, for all the right reasons.”

#7. A breath of fresh air.

“Iceland. Its so peaceful, Especially for people who live in busy cities, Iceland will be a breath of fresh air, Literally.”

#8.  Nothing can top it.

“Hands down, New Zealand. I’ve been there in 2016 and we’ve traveled from Auckland to Christchurch and I wanna go back there so so bad to see it all again and even more. The landscape is absolutely breathtaking, the people there are all so damn fucking friendly it’s sickening adorable. I honestly can’t think of a place where the landscape can change so fast, where you can see so so much, like, okay we’re in Franz Josef now with these big ass mountains and snow and everything and now let’s just gonna drive two hours and we’re back at the beach going swimming. I absolutely loved Kaiteriteri Beach, we’ve had the most lovely little motel there, they handed us fresh milk as our welcome gift. We took a sideseeing tour in Wellington and our guide was so damn proud to have been in LOTR and showed us a picture where you could actually see him in the movie. There was this cute little Italian restaurant in Auckland where we’ve had some of the best pizza ever and on our way to Rotorua we went shopping at a supermarket and had trouble finding water. In the end four people were helping us finding it, all of them costumers of course. In Rotoura we went to the see a Maori village, I still get goosebumps when I think back to their Haka they did for us. We couldn’t go hiking in Tongariro because of bad weather but man that motel was cozy as hell and their spareribs were the best. It was so lovely and tiny we would have stayed for longer if we could have. And man, don’t let me get started about Te Anau! That glowworm cave? You have to see it for yourself, it was the most beautiful and amazing thing I’ve ever seen. It was so dark you couldn’t see a thing and then above your head, hundreds and hundreds of tiny glowworms making it seem as if you look into another galaxy. We did sky diving in Queenstown, went to Fangorn forest and saw the Misty Mountains, had the best burger in the world at Fergburger and drove in a fucking Hummer limo to a small restaurant in Franz Josef for free just because they were new and it was my sister in law’s birthday. We saw penguins and sealions at the Milford Sounds, we saw dolphins at the Marlborough Sounds, we saw so many adorable mischievous Keas, it was amazing. It was the best trip I’ve ever done and I would go again and again and again because there is so much to see. Go to New Zealand, seriously. Nothing can top it.”

#9. That tourist trap.

“Your own hometown.

There are so many people who would never consider to be tourist where they live, but haven’t been in the local cathedral, haven’t been at ‘that tourist trap’, or haven’t taken a museum tour ever.”

#10. By far my favorite.

“I visited south east Asia recently and Vietnam was by far my favorite.

Started in chau doc then Saigon, then worked our way up the coast to Hanoi.

My favourite place was Hoi An, it was the most beautiful town I’ve ever seen in my life. I see why they call it ‘the city of lanterns’. I also got a tailor made suit there too.”

#11. Rich with history.

“Greece. Not the touristy islands but the mainland and less visited islands. Seriously my favourite country in the world. Rich with history (there are literally ancient ruins in the most random places, it’s insane), breathtaking nature (gorgeous mountains and the stunning sea), great food and it’s actually relatively affordable if you don’t go where all the tourists crowd around. I’ve been all over Europe and Greece was definitely my favourite place to visit. Something about it separates it from everywhere else. I would go there again in a heartbeat.

Edit- I always see people asking whether they should go to Italy or Greece. I would choose Greece. Italy was also beautiful, but it was incredibly expensive and packed with tourists. Already planning my next trip.”

#12. Impossible to imagine.

“The Cologne Cathedral in Cologne, Germany.

It’s impossible to imagine how impressive this cathedral is without seeing it in person. It also has a super interesting history, consisting of literal hundreds of years of construction.

Also, Cologne is a very cool city, in general.

Pretty much every place I would recommend is in Germany or Austria. Such astoundingly beautiful countries, and completely unlike anything you could see or experience in the United States (where I live/am from).”

#13. Unlike any other city.

“Tokyo, biggest city you’ll see, yet the cleanest and one of the safest. Unlike any other city.”

#14. They come before tourists.

“Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai Thailand.

In the north of Thailand there are a lot of elephant camps for tourists. With some of them it’s pretty obvious they mistreat the animals, they let you ride them which is a big no-no. In other parks it’s more subtle but doing some deep googling I’ve discovered problems with most of the other camps as well (including the very well known Elephant Jungle Sanctuary).

Except ENP. This place is the only one I found to be really ethical. They save abused elephants from other camps and from farmers. A lot of their elephants are wounded or disabled from past abuse. Babies are cute and bring visitors but still they are not so happy if one is born in the camp because the resources could instead go for an abused elephant in need. Everything is focused on the elephants, they come before the tourists.

As an elephant lover I did one of the more expensive packages and I am still in love with the place, planning to come back in later years and do the week long volunteer program.”

#15. Pictures don’t do it justice.

“The three most impressive “pictures don’t do it justice” places I’ve visited: (1) Iguazu Falls. You have to see it up close on the Argentine side. Not just see it, but hear the roar of the water, feel the mist in the air. (2) Lake Morraine in Banff. I had seen pictures and wondered if it was truly as beautiful as it looked. Did not disappoint. It was an emotional experience seeing it for the first time. (3) Bay of Kotor in Montenegro. The hike to the fort overlooking the bay is not easy, but well worth it.”

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