Machu Picchu.
Cusco Region · Peru · 7,972 ft
It was 2005 — my first real trip overseas. I remember thinking: how is this possible? The green goes all the way up the mountains. I've seen a lot of the world since then. Machu Picchu is still on the list. Some things don't need to be revisited to be remembered.
Cape Farewell.
Golden Bay · Top of the South Island · New Zealand
Most people drive straight past this headland. We almost did too — it didn't look like much from the road. Then we crested the hill and it all opened up. Perfect green grass, limestone cliffs dropping a hundred feet to the ocean, golden hour. We spent the next two hours just running from hill to hill. I'm not sure I ever want to go back.
Navagio Beach.
Zakynthos · Ionian Islands · Greece
A shipwrecked freighter rusting on white sand, surrounded by vertical limestone cliffs dropping straight into water so blue it looks edited. You stand at the cliff edge and look down and just can't make sense of it. Santorini gets all the attention. This is what people think Greece looks like — and it actually looks like this.
Boca do Inferno.
São Miguel · Azores · Portugal
I drove around São Miguel thinking the island was fine. Nice enough. Then I got to Boca do Inferno — the "Mouth of Hell" — and was absolutely blown away. A collapsed lava tube where the Atlantic crashes into a cathedral of black rock. The rest of the island is worth the trip. This viewpoint is the reason for it.
Reinebringen.
Lofoten Islands · Norway · 1,483 ft
The Lofoten Islands are already one of the most dramatic places on earth — jagged peaks rising straight out of the Norwegian Sea, red fishing villages clinging to the rocks below. Reinebringen puts you on top of all of it. You summit and the whole archipelago is laid out in every direction. I've been to 39 countries. Nothing has topped this.