Even though you can find a great road trip just about anywhere in the world, the United States’ wide roads and abundance of open spaces make it one of the best countries to explore by car.

With an abundance of playlists on standby and some snacks on hand, the journey just as fun as the destination. Heading from the West Coast and moving east, here are 11 of the best road trips in the United States:

Hawaii’s Road to Hana

Powerful bodies of water, bamboo forests, and hundreds of twists and turns––that basically sums up the Road to Hana. It’s a must-do for visitors to Maui!

This 64-mile road is no walk in the park, with its fair share of blind corners and narrow bridges. But if you’re careful and selective about which places to stop, you’ll be able to see some of the best of what Maui has

Sometimes life blows my mind a little bit. Just a week ago I was swimming in turquoise water with docile stingrays and reef sharks, and then came home to fall colors in Reno and binging on the Great British Bake Show (and I don’t even bake!), wondering if it was all a dream.

Mo’orea in French Polynesia is the stuff of fairytales, and I believed my very friendly cab driver when she told me that the movie Moana took heavy inspiration from the island.

The land formations are dramatic and jungly, almost like Pandora (Have I peppered this with enough pop culture references yet?), all encircled by a glimmering baby blue bay.

If you’re lucky enough to visit Mo’orea, these are some of the best things that you can do on the island, plus information on how to get there, how to get around, and where to stay:

Swim with

The waves that day had been fierce, the current strong, and the searches had mostly been busts all morning. 

The wild humpbacks we sought are the gentlest giants I’ve ever met – aware of their bodies and dancing through the water so effortlessly, in ways few animals can. 

Captain Onoi’s coffee brown eyes widened as she spotted the scene in the water. It was a rare and exciting opportunity to swim with a mom and calf while she was pursued by a juvenile male, hell-bent on mating. 

Sometimes whales make eye contact and play for hours with us, and sometimes they are too busy to care we are there – this drop would be the latter. 

Onoi put us in perfect position to slip in and see the show. She’s the only female boat captain in French Polynesia and between you and me – she’s the best. Her cascading mermaid

With the end of the year comes a new world of travel possibilities. You can spend December fully embracing the chill of the season, or find a warm getaway if that’s more of your style! Good thing the United States offers opportunities for travelers of all types, with destinations scattered throughout the country.

Starting from the West Coast heading east, here’s a list of the top 21 destinations to visit this December:

1. Joshua Tree National Park, California

Winter is without a doubt the best time to visit the deserts in California. Joshua Tree National Park is one of the best places to visit in the colder months. The park’s temperatures lower on average by December to a range of near 40 degree F overnight to near 60 degrees F by afternoon, which makes daytime hiking and rock climbing infinitely more enjoyable than the unbearable summertime heat.

Deserts make

Lake Tahoe, which sits on the California-Nevada state line, is one of the most popular destinations in the western United States, and with good reason. The massive lake is stunningly beautiful and crystal-clear, the surrounding mountains are a winter sports heaven, and the alpine forests between the two make for a hiker’s paradise.

In my humble opinion, it’s the most beautiful lake in the world. As someone who grew up loving the ocean, it almost satisfies my intense urge for the seaside given the sheer size. There’s something mesmerizing about the clarity, the depth, and the gorgeous surroundings that simply doesn’t exist elsewhere.

There is no shortage of things to do and see in Lake Tahoe, so to help you narrow it down, here’s a list of 50 of the best from a local:

1. Tahoe Rim Trail

The Tahoe Rim Trail, a 165-mile

As the leaves change from the vibrant greens of summer to warm tones of fall, The Blue Ridge Parkway is one of the prettiest ways you can experience the season. This 469 mile-long parkway runs through North Carolina and Virginia’s Appalachian region, connecting spots like Asheville and Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park.

If you want to explore the parkway to the fullest, camping is one of the best way to do it. Starting from western Virginia going south, here’s a guide to the parkway’s eight campgrounds:

Otter Creek Campground

About the Campground: Otter Creek campground is the northernmost of the parkway’s campgrounds. It’s located near Lynchburg, Virginia, by the James River. Since the Parkway is numbered from north to south, you’ll find Otter Creek on milepost 60.8.

The campground is currently closed due to COVID-19, but it