As a recent graduate, I landed in Houston in July with the promise of a job, knowing little about the city beyond its unforgiving climate. But, as the months passed and the weather grew more pleasant, it revealed itself to be beguilingly alive.

It’s hard to talk about Valencia without comparing it to Barcelona. While the Catalan capital gets well-deserved love, the overwhelming crowds I experienced there last year were not something to love. A far more satisfying stay was two weeks in Valencia, an eastern Mediterranean port city that also features a stunning mix of Gothic and modern architecture, wide beaches, and an exciting food scene. Yet, Valencia has a vibe all its own: laid-back and less traveled, you quickly feel like a part of this vibrant city, not just a tourist.

This year marks the United States’ 250th birthday and it doesn’t get more Yankee Doodle Dandy than small town Bristol, in America’s smallest state, and home to the oldest, continuous Independence Day celebration in the country, dating back to 1785. But its patriotic vibe isn’t reserved only for one day in July — the center line on Hope Street, the town’s main thoroughfare, is permanently painted red, white, and blue, a federal exemption to standard traffic laws.

Go wild in 2026 and venture off well-trodden paths in the picturesque harbor of Cutler, located along the jagged, unspoiled coast of Maine.