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Glaciers( Alaska)
The glaciers lining Alaska’ s coastline are renowned far and wide— icy behemoths that crawl at a glacial pace across mountain ranges to reach the ocean. The end result is one of nature’ s best shows: As the glaciers calve, rattling booms are the soundtrack for icebergs plummeting into the water below.
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Maya Ruins & Cenotes( Mexican Caribbean)
The Mexican Caribbean is home to two bucket-list experiences. The first is the remnants of the Maya empire— and of the various sites, Chichén Itzá’ s impressive step pyramid is the star of the show. The second is the cenotes that dot the forest: These naturally formed swimming holes radiate an aura of mystique and enchantment and make for a one-of-a-kind dip.
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Machu Picchu( Peru)
The ancient Inca citadel sits cradled in the rugged Andes mountaintops; these cloud-coated remains are the stuff of legend. As one of the few remaining intact Inca ruins, it provides an unparalleled look into the bygone empire.
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Galápagos Islands( Ecuador)
The Galápagos are the living embodiment of Darwin’ s theory of evolution— an expedition across the islands lets you follow in his footsteps to admire a medley of species that seem like funhouse-mirror variations of their cousins on the continent 600 miles away. As stunning as the scenery is, it’ s the scale of time clearly displayed via evolution that packs the most awe.
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Antarctica
The world’ s southernmost continent is about as close as you can get to a different planet. The vast sheet of frozen landscape is downright alien; even just glimpsing the edges of the continent is an adventure in its own right— especially when that entails sighting the odd whale breach and legions of Adelie penguins while zipping about in a Zodiac.
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