Lasker
Wanderlust (n.): a strong, innate desire to rove or travel about.
Broke (adj.): having completely run out of money (see also; you).
Here’s a nice little paradox: You need both money and time to travel. The more money you want, the more you have to work; the more time you spend working, the less time you have to travel.
It’s a seriously vicious cycle, nearly impossible to break out of. Luckily, you don’t have to blow your life savings and quit your day job to satisfy your wanderlust.
Believe it or not, you can do that right here in Uncle Sam’s backyard with these 19 breathtaking places in the us of a:
1. Antelope Canyon, Page, Arizona
This breathtaking slot canyon, located on a Navajo land preservation, is split into two different sections known as “The Crack” and “The Corkscrew” and is best known for its iconic color, “this absolutely cannot be a real thing” red.
2. Niagara Falls, New York
Niagara Falls is the collective name for the group of three waterfalls that establish a border between Real Life and Just Fantasy (especially when lit up at night.)
3. The Grand Canyon, Arizona
Carved by the Colorado River, the Grand Canyon is a 277-mile-long steep-sided canyon, spanning up to “SERIOUSLY?!” miles wide and reaching depths of over “YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME”.
4. Thor’s Well, Cape Perpetua, Oregon
This salt water natural fountain off the coast of Cape Perpetua in Oregon appears to be the result of an attempt to divide by zero.
5. Muir Woods, San Francisco, California
This Giant Redwood Forest located in San Francisco is also the only free university in the states where you can earn a dual degree in humility and feeling small in one quick visit.
6. Grand Prismatic Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
The Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park is the largest hot spring in the United States, and is (unshockingly) famous for its striking Instagrammability.
7. Punaluʻu Beach, Hawaii
Punaluʻu Beach is a beach between Pāhala and Nāʻālehu on the Big Island of Hawaii. This beach’s black sand is actually the natural result of lava flowing into the ocean and exploding as it cools.
8. Pueblo de Taos, New Mexico
This 1000 year old pueblo belonging to a Taos speaking Native American tribe of Pueblo people got voted “Most Terrifying Place To Tell Ghost Stories” in its high school yearbook.
9. The Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California
This California icon is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate strait, a mile-wide, three-mile-long channel between SF Bay and the Pacific Ocean. Won’t you save me, San Francisco?
10. Skagit Tulip Fields, Mt. Vernon, Washington
With over 300 acres of gardens and botanical glasshouses, the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival 2014 receives more than 1 million visitors each year. This year, as you continue to blossom with your endeavors, call it home.
11. Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Keystone, South Dakota
This National Memorial exhibits the faces of past presidents Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore — and if we do say so ourselves, it ROCKS.
12. Pfeiffer Beach, Big Sur, California
The unbelievably ~GNARLY~ purple tint of the sands of Pfeiffer Beach comes from its dominant mineral quartz combined with some ~COWABUNGA~ manganese garnet deposits found in the surrounding rocks, DUDE.
13. The French Quarter, New Orleans
Grab some crayfish, some bourbon, and maybe even a saxophone to experience the central hub of the Big Easy in the most stereotypical way imaginable. *JAZZ HANDS*
14. The Caves at Mendenhall Galcier, Juneau, Alaska
Better visit this ethereal ice haven while you still can 🙁
15. The National Mall, Washington, DC
This national park in downtown Washington, D.C. contains some of our country’s most important and iconic landmarks and memorials. (ProTip: Items are for display only, as this is not an actual mall.)
16. Times Square, New York City, New York
Glowing epicenter of urban life, or tourist filled hub where most dreams just don’t make it out alive? You decide! The choice is yours!
17. Las Vegas Strip, Las Vegas, Nevada
(See Times Square)
18. The Badlands, South Dakota
Awh, those “sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles, and spires” don’t look so bad…they’re probably just misunderstood.
19. Glass Beach, Kauai, Hawaii
This industrial area located in Hanapepe Bay, near Port Allen Harbor, is entirely coated in sea glass, and also entirely beautiful (as long as you’re wearing shoes.)
If you’re too jaded to want to visit these awe inspiring places solely for the out-of-body experience, at least do it for the Instagram?
And on your adventures, you can find even more wonderful things to do in these cities and beyond through Vimbly. Happy travels!