Standing in the Sicilian sun with your feet washed by the waves of the Tyrrhenian Sea, it’s easy to forget that there’s more to the tri-corner island than beauty. The beaches are magnificent—turquoise waters stretching out to the horizon, soft sand, gentle waves and some of the clearest water in the world. In the distance, on the rockier portions of the coast, volcanic rock juts out of the sea, its dark color and jagged edge adding drama to the vista.

Inland, the hills rise up and greet the sun, patched with golden fields of grain, vibrant citrus orchards, and the vineyards that produce Sicily’s fragrant nero d’avola wines. The skies are blue, the weather is warm, and somewhere, a few steps down a narrow street, someone is rolling fresh pasta to tempt you back from the shore. (more…)

Tags: advance, adventure, adventure worth, aeolian islands, Agrigento, ancient greeks, appeal, arab architecture, architecture, arm, avola, awe, Baroque, beat, beauty, cascade, century, cerulean, citrus orchards, clearest, climate, climb, coast, color, complex, Concordia, construction, countryside, crater, culture, Day, distance, divot, drama, edge, entrance, exhaust, Fahrenheit, feeling, ferry, fire, fire god, flavors, force, fragrant, fresh pasta, gentle waves, god, grain, greeks and romans, Hades, hasn, hazy, height, Hera, Heracles, history, home, horizon, hover, humility, hydrofoil, intoxicate, intrepid, island, Italy, jagged edge, mainland, man, medieval, Mediterranean, memory, millennia, Modern, mouth, nero, nero d avola, Normans, north, olive, Palermo, part, pasta, payday, peak, picturesque, playing soccer, point, poison, power, profile, relief, ridge, road, rock, rockier, Romans, row, Sacred Way, sanctuary, sand, sandstone, sea, shade, shore, Sicilian, sicilian sun, Sicily, side, slope, smoking, smudge, soccer, soccer in the streets, soft sand, someone, span, standing, station, street, sulfur, summer, sun, sunshine, sweat, swell, temple, Temples, top, train, trip, trouble, turn, turquoise, turquoise waters, tyrrhenian sea, umber, valley, view, vista, vittorio emanuele ii, volcanic rock, volcano, voyage, Vulcano, water, wave, weather, wind, world, Zeus

Much like Kashmir or Iran, the Golan Heights have the dubious honor of appearing more often on newspapers’ front pages than in their travel sections. Since Israel captured the Golan during the Six Day War in 1967, this region, which stretches from the Sea of Galilee in the south to Mount Hermon in the north, has been one of the world’s most contested pieces of political real estate.

It’s also one of the Earth’s hidden gems. The Golan’s 1,200 square kilometers harbor a treasure trove of lush farmland and sky-scraping volcanic terrain, the fate of which forms the crux of one of the world’s most notorious geopolitical disputes. A visit to the Golan Heights grants travelers access to the natural and human worlds behind the headlines, challenging minds with a ground-level perspective of the machinery of conflict and resolution. (more…)

Tags: access, Annan, Anti, array, Avital, background, basalt, Beginners, Bental, bit, border, bottom, buildup, bunker, Cabernet, cabernet sauvignons, Café, capital, center, challenge, challenging minds, cities of refuge, coffee, collection, conflict, conflict and resolution, Council, country, crux, Day, Defense, difficulty, disposal, distraction, dormant volcanoes, dozen, dubious honor, Earth, equipment, estate, extreme, farm, farmland, fate, fertile farmland, firing, flock, frigid, Galilee, gamut, Gilabun River, Golan Heights, greenery, grip, guest, gun, heat, Hermon, hidden gems, hike, history, honor, hotspot, IDF, intersection, Iran, Israel, Israeli, Jordan River, Kashmir, land, Lebanon, level perspective, limestone, line, lookout, lug, lush farmland, luxury, machinery, Merlots, Middle East, Minefields, Mount Hermon, mountainside, mountaintop, name, nature, New England, newspapers front pages, north, northern extreme, northern Golan, notoriety, number, option, park, peace, peak, perspective, planet, plateau, pool, range, ravine, reconnaissance, recreation, refuge, region, Regional, Reserve, resolution, resort, rhythm, safety, Sauvignons, school, sea, sea of galilee, seasonal stream, side, signpost, Six, ski, skiing, south, spot, square kilometers, Stream, swimming, Syria, terrain, Today, Tours, Trails, Travel, travel sections, treasure, treasure trove, trek, trove, turn, UN-administered, underbrush, versatile, view, visit, visitor, volcanic highlands, volcanic terrain, War, warning, water, waterfall, way, wind, wine, winter, world, zone

Admittedly, it takes some will power to peel off your sleeping bag and get out of a car when mist still creeps across the fjells – the mountain plains in Norway – at 45°F on a chilly summer morning. However, traveling by car is the best option to explore this country, which would reach from the mouth of the Mackenzie River to Bristol Bay in the south-west of Alaska, if you transferred it from Europe to the American continent – or, in other words, it would stretch from Maine to Alabama.

The Norwegian Automobile Federation offers 268 camp sites and additionally there are about one thousand other camp and cabin sites as well as parking lots for caravans and recreation vehicles throughout the country and its fifteen national parks. Due to the Norwegian allemannsretten (everybody’s right), you may also park your car somewhere beside the road for just one night, which makes it easy to follow Norway’s national roads and enjoy the quiet lakes, dense woods, gentle hills, steep mountains, roaring waterfalls, sparkling glaciers and narrow fjords alongside. (more…)

Tags: Alabama, Alaska, allemannsretten, altitude, american continent, art, Artists, August, Automobile, bag, Baltic Sea, Blessed, boat, Bristol Bay, building, cabin, camp, canal, car, Caribbean Sea, century, chilly summer, church, cliff, coast, Columbus, cone, continent, Copenhagen, country, cradle, cycling, Dalen, difference, Eighth, eighth wonder of the world, end, energy, entrance, Europe, everybody, exaggeration, fall, farm, Federation, festival, fifteen, fjellveien, foot, Gaustatoppen, gentle hills, geology, gulf stream north, Hardangervidda, Heddal, hiking, history, home, hotel, house, hydroelectric power stations, interior, isn, itinerary, Jens Esmark, king, Kjerag, Krokan, Lake Bandak, Lake Norsjoe, level, longships, lot, Lysebotn, Lysefjord, Mackenzie River, Maine, masterpiece, Meandering, medieval, middle, mist, morning, mountain, mouth, Museum, narrow fjords, national roads, Newfoundland, night, north, North Sea, north sea oil, Norway, Norwegian, Notodden, offer, oil, option, Oslo, paddle, parish, parking, path, peel, place, plenty, power, Preikestolen, professor, pulpit, quiet lakes, raft, raft wood, recreation, region, resort, right, Rjukan, road, roaring, rock, sail, Sauland, scenery, sea, season, sentence, Skagerrak, Skien, skiing, south, southern neighbors, steel, steep mountains, Stream, summer, summit, Telemark Canal, Textiles, the Gulf, Tinn, Today, tourism, tourist, town, trip, troll, Tuddal, vacation, valley, Vemork, Vestfjorddalen, Via, view, visitor, waterfall, waterway, west, Wonder, wood, world, year

Everyone in Bali smiles. Big, broad, beaming smiles. And all that’s necessary to evoke it is eye contact. Even when they may be preoccupied with weaving their scooters through traffic or carrying a heavy, flailing pig across the road, you only have to hint at a smile from your own lips and the response is immediate and electrifying.

“Transport?” queried a smiling young man on a sidewalk in Ubud, an artsy town in the south-eastern hills. It’s a frequent offer on the streets of nearly every town in Bali. Everyone with a car will offer you a ride for a small price. You may say “no thank you” seven times on Monkey Forest Road in Ubud. But what’s heart-warming is that you will always receive an enthusiastic “Welcome!” in response. (more…)

Tags: apple, approach, Arung, awe, Bali, Balinese, balinese landscape, bamboo, Big, bike, brown snake, Buddhist, buddhist history, buffet, cacao, car, coast, coffee, coffee beans and tea leaves, combination, compound, contact, conversation, country, countryside, crowd, Culturally, cycle, daytrip, dialogue, dinner, eagerness, economy, edge, end, English, Everyone, everything, exception, excitement, excursion, Exploring, eye, eye contact, family, feast, foreigner, Forest Road, fountain, France, friendliness, fruit, gateway, genuine friendliness, ginger, ginger tea, Group, Hallo, Happiness, heat, heavy, Hindu, history, home, host, Indonesia, indonesian islands, landscape, leftover, life, luxury, man, mangosteen, meal, middle, mixture, Monkey, monkey forest road, Moon, morning, Mount Batur, mountain, mountain bikes, music, Muslim, muslim country, nut, offer, office, orchard, papaya, path, peanut, peanuts, pear, pig, price, pride, response, reward, rice, rice terraces, ride, road, roosters, salak, school, selection, sentence, service, seven times, sidewalk, skin, smile, society, sound, spicy, stop, table, tea, temple, time, Tour, town, traffic, Transport, Ubud, use, van, village, visit, wall, wave, way, Wide-eyed, wind, year, zeal